Wpg Foodshare Co-op - Liz Dykman. Lissie (l) & LizSpark match! Food Matters Manitoba’s Lissie Rappaport has been matched with Peg City Car Co-op Board President Liz Dykman in a twist on our usual mentoring match.

Over the last few months, Lissie has taken on leadership of the Winnipeg Foodshare Co-op‘s Board of Directors. She wanted to make sure she does the best she can in the role, so she reached out to Spark for a Board Chair mentoring match. Our work is usually focused on enhancing the capacity of an organization, and while we work with boards, it’s with an eye to organizational capacity, not individual board member capacity. However, as Lissie is on the board as part of her work with Food Matters, this seemed like a good fit.

When we sat down to brainstorm who might be a good mentor for Lissie, Liz Dykman came to mind. I’ve been on the Peg City Car Co-op Board of Directors since January, and I’ve been impressed with her leadership. So I reached out to see if she’d be interested in passing on some of her extensive Board Chair experience, and happily she was.

Over the coming year, the two will meet monthly to share the joys and struggles related to board leadership of a small co-operative.