Buyers, merchandisers, and department managers have a unique position in the global supply chain; they have the power to manipulate the marketplace, to bend the future toward a more sustainable and resilient food system. During this workshop, participants will be encouraged to reflect on where they can leverage their agency to increase impact. This workshop will focus on strategies retailers of any size can use to increase support for local PNW farmers and producer groups positively impacting small farming communities abroad. Panelists will highlight the importance of farmer-led certifications in today’s marketplace and spotlight many of the farmers at the heart of this movement.

Dana Geffner

Dana Geffner is the Director of the Real Organic Naturland Joint Venture, where she works to build markets in the United States for small-scale farmers both domestically and internationally through a high-bar add-on organic certification that ensures crops are grown in healthy soil and animals are raised on diverse pastures. She is the former Executive Director and co-founder of Fair World Project (FWP), a nonprofit advocating for ethical, community-led fair trade and labor justice for workers and farmers worldwide. Dana was instrumental in co-creating the social pillar of the Regenerative Organic Certification alongside partners like Patagonia, Dr. Bronner’s, and the Rodale Institute. She also co-founded and co-hosted the For A Better World podcast and magazine, and has served on numerous boards, including Equal Exchange, the Regenerative Organic Alliance, and Grow Ahead. Dana holds a Master’s in Public Affairs from UC Berkeley and a Certificate in Food Systems from the Berkeley Food Institute, and brings decades of experience in ethical storytelling, strategic planning, and movement-building to transform global food and farming systems.

Jessie Myszka

In her time at Equal Exchange since 1996, Jessie has worked across very distinct areas: coffee sales, as Director of Operations, on the Board of Directors, and now in fresh produce. Thanks to these multiple roles, a degree in economics, and her experience living among coffee farmers in Nicaragua for several months, Jessie possesses an unusually broad and rich understanding of cooperative business and Equal Exchange’s unique supply chain. She also serves as a peer advisor to worker co-ops and microentrepreneurs on matters of business and governance.

Just this summer, Jessie co-led a delegation of retailers and ripeners to visit two banana cooperatives in Sullana, Peru. Earlier this year, she co-hosted a founder from a Mexican cooperative supplying Equal Exchange avocados on visits with customers in the Pacific NW. Whenever she finds an opportunity to open a two-way street between farmers and consumers, it re-energizes her decades-long dedication to deepening social justice through food.

Bernadette Brogden

Bernadette is based in Sacramento, California. They worked as the Produce Manager for 3 years at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op before joining the Real Organic Project certification team.

Before they found themself working in produce departments, they worked on Organic farms in Pennsylvania. They have a degree in Community Development with a focus in Sustainable Agriculture from Penn State University.

Joe Reyes

Joe is the produce manager at Ashland Food Co-Op and the head of operations and sales at Rolling Hills Farm.