Ownership and Board

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Members

Membership

The co-op is member owned. Our Member-Owners make the co-op possible. You are invited to become a Member-Owner.

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors consists of 9 members elected by our Member-Owners. Each Director serves a term of 3 years, or other shorter terms when applicable (i.e. if a vacancy occurs mid-term).

Our Board of Directors Meetings are held monthly. Specific dates may change depending upon availability of meeting facilities.

Attending A Meeting

Any Member-Owner is welcome to attend the monthly meetings during the open portion of the meeting. During this time, 10 minutes of every meeting agenda are scheduled for Member-Owner comments or questions. Please keep your comments or feedback within 5 minutes to allow others time to speak.

After the open comments section, please do not join the discussion unless specifically asked. When an executive session is called, Member-owner guests will be asked to leave.

To register to attend a Board Meeting, please send an email to julieharner75@gmail.com.

AUGUST 2026

Monthly Board Meeting:
August 6, 2026

6:00-8:00pm

Location:
Lovettsville Library

SEPTEMBER 2026

Monthly Board Meeting:
September 3, 2026

6:00-8:00pm

Location:
Lovettsville Library

OCTOBER 2026

Monthly Board Meeting:
October 1, 2026

6:00-8:00pm

Location:
Lovettsville Library

NOVEMBER 2026

Monthly Board Meeting:
November 5, 2026

6:00-8:00pm

Location:
Lovettsville Library

Joining the Board

The Board election process begins in January with a solicitation letter to Member-Owners calling for nominations. Requirements to run for a Board seat and required tasks are described in detail in the Lovettsville Cooperative Market ByLaws. Before submitting your name for nomination, please refer to Article 4 of the ByLaws.

General Board member time commitment includes: Approximately 8-12 hours/month; to include attending regular meetings; working by email; participating in tele-meetings; attending special Co-op events for membership and directorship.

If you want to nominate yourself for Board consideration, send an email letter of interest and include your bio with Subject: Board Nomination to Ellis Burruss, Nominating Committee Chair, at membership@lovettsvillemarket.coop

2025 ANNUAL REPORT

2025 FINANCIAL REPORT

2024 ANNUAL REPORT

2023 ANNUAL REPORT

2022 ANNUAL REPORT

Meet the Board

Julie Harner

Chair

Julie and her husband, Craig, moved to Lovettsville from Falls Church in January 2017. She spent 35 years at Verizon, the majority of her service supporting the federal government telecommunications and technology. She was responsible for government programs generating $25 million in monthly revenue. She and her husband, Craig, own a small business in Lovettsville. Julie has had a long career on the volunteer side as well. She served multiple terms as PTA president and in other capacities during her children’s elementary and middle school time. Julie also served on the board of the Fairfax Voluntary Action Committee, which identified corporate sponsors to support local projects serving the underserved Fairfax County community. She also supported the Falls Church Community Service board with the inventory and delivery of food items to county clients. Her hobbies are her grandchildren and quilting. After joining the Co-op in 2017, Julie volunteered for several years at the Co-op’s seasonal market. In March 2018, she was appointed to the Board and became Chair of the Membership Committee. In 2020, she was appointed Vice-Chair. Julie also developed the Lovettsville Community Garden under the sponsorship of the Co-op.

Glenn Willard

Vice Chair

Glenn is a long-time resident of the Hillsboro area (originally from Michigan) and has been on the Board since 2016. He has practiced political law at Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP (including its legacy firm, Patton Boggs, LLP) in Washington, DC since 2003, and was previously counsel to a commissioner on the Federal Election Commission. Since 2015 he has also been on the board of the Catholic Climate Covenant, which helps guide the U.S. Church’s response to the moral call for action on climate change. He has been married for almost 40 years, and has 12 children and 18 grandchildren. He strongly believes in the cooperative business model, seeing in cooperatives the potential for them to be, as Pope Francis said, a “healing economy in the insidious sea of the global economy. A true economy supported by people who have only the common good in their heart and mind.” Specifically, he sees the Lovettsville Cooperative Market as a communitarian alternative to the chain store business model, a means by which all can participate in a fair, humane, local and sustainable economy.

Caroline Ahern

Treasurer and Chair, Finance Commmittee

Caroline and her husband, Frank, moved to Lovettsville in 2016, trading in their 100 year old row house in downtown DC for a 100+ year old farmhouse on a winding dirt road. Since moving to Lovettsville, they’ve welcomed two sons to their country brood and also added a dozen chickens, a garden, and a puppy to their farmette, which they hope to expand in the coming years. Caroline is currently the Senior Vice President of Finance & Accounting for EB5 Capital, a real estate investment firm in Bethesda, MD. In her current role she manages all corporate finance and accounting functions including financial reporting, budgeting and forecasting, treasury, and income taxes, as well as human resources and payroll. Prior to her current role at EB5 Capital, she was the Assistant Controller for the Washington Commanders. Caroline studied finance, accounting, and Spanish at the University of Richmond where she graduated summa cum laude in 2008. Upon graduation, Caroline passed the CPA exam in Virginia while starting her career as an auditor at Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP (formerly Beers + Cutler). In her spare time she enjoys trail running, cooking, traveling, and chasing after her two young sons. Caroline has served on the Lovettsville Cooperative Market‘s Board of Directors and Finance Committee since January 2020 and is now the chair of the Finance Committee. Caroline is passionate about the Co-op’s mission, especially its quest to serve as a hub for community building, gathering, and learning.

Carrie Blough

Secretary

Carrie joined the Board as a Director in 2024. Carrie moved to Brunswick in 2013 with her husband, who is a professional chef, and always looking for quality, local ingredients! Now they can find exactly what they need at the Co-op.
Carrie is committed to the vision of the Co-op, and will bring her skills and passion to the board. She has served on other boards in the area: the Friends of the Brunswick Library and the MARC Riders Advisory Council. She currently works at a museum in Washington, DC where she is a curator and registrar. She spends her time gardening, reading, hooking rugs, and playing with her two cats.

Alex Brant

Director

Alex moved to Lovettsville in January 2020 after finding a place that reminded him of his hometown of Cumberland, MD. He and his wife, Lauren, wanted to be part of a community and called DC quits after 10 years. Alex has two toddlers and 3 Baltimore rescue dogs that keep him on the move.

Alex graduated from Carnegie Mellon with a triple major in history, Italian, and international relations and has an MS in public policy and management. He has worked for the State Department in Rome, Italy, the Department of Homeland Security, and served three Presidents during ten years at the White House. He is very proud to have started the micro-lending program for farm ownership and operating loans at the USDA.

Alex comes from a multi-generational restaurant family and has owned his own business importing Italian food products. You can find him on the weekends pouring wine at a local winery where he tries to keep his sommelier skills sharp.

Molly Darr

Director

Molly Darr served as Forest Health Extension Specialist in Washington State University‘s Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Program. Her specialty is in forest and tree health, with a concentration in community outreach and education related to forest entomology and integrated pest management techniques. She received her PhD in Entomology from Virginia Tech in 2017. She has previously served as Director of the Southern Forest Health and Invasive Species Program at Clemson University; and, served as a tree fruit entomologist in Wenatchee, WA, providing expertise in entomology, pathology, tree health and management in an orchard setting. Recently, she stepped down from her role at WSU to manage her family’s business, Parsonage Handmade Soaps, based in Lovettsville. Currently, she lives in Brunswick, MD with her husband, Louie, and their dog, Blackbird. Molly joined the Co-op Board in 2026.

Sarah Searle

Director

Sarah is a Lovettsville native dedicated to viable economic systems in our peri-rural community. She and her family live on a small farm, Quartzwood, just outside the town limits where they grow culinary mushrooms and manage a small-batch winemaking business focused on hybrid, resilient varieties of grapes. In her "day job", Sarah works in global public health and brings those skills in diplomacy, creative problem-solving, effective management, and data-driven decision making to her roles in the community. Sarah holds a Bachelor’s degree in Foreign Affairs and Spanish; and a Master of Science degree in Public Health. She is a former Chair of the Co-op and rejoined the Board in 2026.

Shelly Tomlinson

Director

Shelly and her husband, Andy, moved to Lovettsville from Leesburg in 2000. They have two adult children and a daughter currently attending middle school. For 28 years, she has been an Oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration developing forecast models for harmful algal blooms around the country. Over the years, Shelly has participated in numerous Co-op support activities, including being a member on the Membership Committee and membership outreach events prior to the store opening; conducting bread making classes online during COVID; supplying her sourdough bread to the Co-op farmers market; participating in the Co-op‘s annual Adopt-a-Highway cleanup; and was Election Committee Chair for the 2025 Co-op Board elections. In her free time, Shelly enjoys watching her daughter’s softball games; baking sourdough bread; and spending time in nature by kayaking, camping and hiking. She joined the Board in 2026.

Chris Van Vlack

Director

Chris lives in Lovettsville where he owns and operates his small custom hay and grain farming operation, Hanging Rock Hay & Grain. In his ‘day job’, Chris is the Urban/Ag Conservationist for the Loudoun Soil and Water Conservation District where he works with local farmers, suburban and town residents on conservation programs and projects. Chris grew up in Fairfax County and came to agriculture after receiving a Political Science degree from American University. After graduation, he took what he thought was a summer job at Frying Pan Park in Herndon. This led to three years learning about agriculture and teaching adults, school and scout groups about farming.
Now in his role as a local producer, Chris grows hard and soft wheat, oats, and experiments with other small grains. Also, he grows grass hay for horse, cattle, sheep and goat operations and bales straw for mulch and stall bedding. In addition to his farming, Chris continues to serve on the Loudoun Farm Bureau Board where he was a Past President. Other organizations in which he works include the Regional Ag Workgroup through the Washington Council of Governments, Loudoun’s Rural Economic Development Council, and is a proud member of the National Farmers Union and the Common Grain Alliance which is a regional grains group including farmers, millers, bakers, and maltsters.
Chris joined the Board in 2024 and is working to build more links to local producers and build on the great relationships the Co-op has already established.