Candace Spencer Featured as Panelist at Cooperative IMPACT Conference

NCBA CLUSA’s Cooperative IMPACT Conference is the only national, cross-sector event elevating the national conversation around a trusted, proven way to do business and build communities. This annual event provides an unparalleled platform to reenergize the cooperative movement and galvanize its champions around building the next economy.

Meridian staff members Candace Spencer (Mediator and Program Manager) and Maia Hatchett (Program Associate) attended the 2023 Cooperative IMPACT Conference hosted by one of our food systems partners, the National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International (NCBA CLUSA). Candace served as a panelist for the “Conversations with Clinicians” session and discussed legal perspectives on food and land justice for historically underserved producers and communities around the country. Candace and Maia also heard from Malik Yakini, the Executive Director of the Detroit Black Community Food Sovereignty Network, who spoke to the development of food sovereignty in the U.S. that embraces BIPOC communities in the Americas, the Caribbean, and Africa.