Chris Hall, Market Manager - Chris has lived in Kensington since 1988. He began his early career in agriculture in 1974 when he began traveling the central valley of California selling supplies to nurseries and farms. He started his own business in 1982 and ran it successfully for over thirty-five years. He has been consulting with small businesses on how to get their products placed in the market and has helped introduce numerous natural food products to the buying public. Chris served on the board Beneficial Plant Research association, a non-profit, while running his own company, as well as consulting farmers and agricultural producers to the present date. He traveled extensively to many countries in Latin America over the years and has a masters degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies & B.A. in English from UCSB. He is a resident of Kensington with his wife Jennifer and their son Lucky.

 

Mark Altenberg, President - Mark has lived in Kensington since 1982, and has worked actively to support local groups such as the Kensington Education Foundation (KEF), the Berkeley Bicycle Club (former president) and the Berkeley High Jazz Ensemble. He previously spent many years working at high-tech startups including Genentech, Apple and WebEx, and now works locally as a photographer and filmmaker, spending more time with his family and in the community. Doing lots of cooking these days, too. With a background in high-tech startups, Mark is particularly interested in developing social media for the market and guiding it through the early stages of growth. He and his wife Barb have four kids, all of whom attended Kensington Hilltop School.

Meryl Natchez Rafferty, Secretary - Meryl has lived in Kensington since 2008. She is the retired CEO of TechProse in Walnut Creek. Her father owned a small retail store in which she worked after school, holidays and weekends throughout high school. Meryl served as Technology Chair for the Contra Costa Council. With the support of the Council and Contra Costa County, she founded the Opportunity Junction, a nonprofit organization in Antioch, now in its eleventh year. She has received the San Francisco United Way / Bay Area Works Award for assisting in welfare-to-work efforts, and a Founders’ Award from the Open Door Foundation, which promotes technical education at the Junior College Level.

Kay Reed, Treasurer - Kay has lived in Kensington since 1993. Kay has been shopping at the market since it's inception. For the past four years, Kay has organized the Smart and Green Day at the Farmer's Market. Kay is the Executive Director of The Dibble Institute. Kay comes from a farming family in Southern California. For three generations, her family cultivated oranges and other citrus. Her father branched out to include kiwi fruit on the ranch. She helped her parents market their products at 5 farmer’s markets in Santa Monica, Redlands, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ontario.

      

Connie McCullah, Board Member - Connie has lived in Berkeley since 1989. She is a pioneer and advocate for green building practices in residential construction and retired COO of a local building construction firm. She served on the board of directors for Build ItGreen and is a local and national speaker for healthy building environments and organic gardening methods. Connie is founder and owner of Sweet Tomato Farms, growing heritage produce since 1991, and the creator of the Food Explorer Program, that works with first and second grade children exploring local farmers' markets and the plants we eat. Her heritage in sustainable systems comes from growing up and raising her family in Western Nebraska and Wyoming agricultural communities. Connie is particularly interested in using her passions for gardening and cooking in conjunction with local farmers' markets to effect healthy changes in our food supply for future generations

Becky Stephens, Board Member - For the past 7 years, Becky has lived in Kensington with her 8-year old twins and husband, Eric. Before becoming a stay at home mom, Becky worked in the health promotion industry. She spent 10 years in Washington, D.C., encouraging legislators to mandate healthy lunches in schools and worked on getting a label approved for a health claim on soyfoods. After moving to the Bay Area, Becky worked for Vitasoy, an international soyfoods company. At Vitasoy she had the pleasure of managing the consumer hotline, advising on nutrition policy and public relation issues as well as developing recipes and marketing materials. Her last job before the twins were born was at the Better Health Foundation. Currently, Becky is an active volunteer at the kid’s school, Kensington Hilltop Elementary.  As a native Iowan, Becky has a true understanding of where our foods come from and an appreciation of local agriculture and its impact on our community and the environment. Becky is excited to bring her health promotion expertise to the market.