Board of Directors

Deep Roots Market’s Board of Directors hires and oversees the General Manager but the management and staff handle the daily operations. The Board and General Manager report to YOU, the Owners, on the state of the business at our Annual Owners Meeting. Finally, YOU support the growth and mission of Deep Roots through your patronage and loyalty. If you want to find out more, the Board of Director Meetings are open to all Owners and are held in the Community Room beginning at 6pm.

Meeting minutes are posted here after approval.

You may send the Board a message using the contact form below.

Board President Joel Landau

Joel has 30 years’ experience in natural foods retail management; 18 of those years were as Deep Roots Co-op’s General Manager. He’s planned and opened 2 new stores, one of those being Deep Roots current location. Joel also planned and opened his own natural products store, which he managed for 7 years before selling it in 2002. He's been through multiple Board of Directors trainings and has served on several nonprofit Boards. Landau also served 4 years on Greensboro's Planning Board, plus helped establish Greensboro's Sustainability Commission, which he co-chaired for 8 years. Joel's been on Deep Roots Board of Directors since May 2016 and has been Board President since January 2017. He occasionally provides business consultation to small businesses, nonprofits, and startups, helping with financial projections/spreadsheets, business plans, operational procedures/efficiencies, and Board trainings.

Vice President Chris Kwong

Chris has over 13 years of retail management experience stemming from Target, Bank of America, and Black Ice Sports, in which he excelled at business growth and customer service. He received his degree in Marketing from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, and his MBA from Wake Forest University. He has been an owner of Deep Roots Market since 2005 and is currently in his second stint on the Board of Directors. His first stint lasted from 2010 until 2014, where he served as President and helped lead the store in a successful relocation project to our current location in downtown Greensboro. In 2017, he rejoined with the Board where he hopes to help Deep Roots Market return to its core focus of being Greensboro’s Local Natural Food cooperative and informational hub to support local healthy living for everyone.

Treasurer Haley Mills

Haley joined the Board of Directors as Treasurer in May of 2019. She is passionate about reducing the waste in our community and was drawn to Deep Roots’ commitment to environmental sustainability and supporting local farmers. Haley has previously served on nonprofit boards and worked with them in a management capacity. Her professional background is in finance and budgeting with a focus on helping businesses achieve financial stability through budget management. Her role in the capital campaign is that of systems coordinator, which will help the campaign manage and develop systems to track campaign progress and performance.

Secretary Linda Sullivan

Many years ago Linda teamed up with a friend to buy bulk items from the precursor to Deep Roots. At the time, it was just a bulk food order operation in the basement of a Guilford College building. When it actually opened its doors as a store on Spring Garden St, near Chapman St, she began driving over from her home in Elon to buy organics and bulk foods. Kathie, long-term owner and cashier, encouraged her to join, so Linda became owner number 282. Linda graduated from Elon with a degree in English and French. Several years later, she added an accounting major to that degree. She worked at Burlington Industries in the Corporate Information Systems division as a Telecommunication Analyst where her project duties were both technical and financial. When Burlington Industries was taken over, she went to work for Guilford County Schools, working first at Grimsley High School and then at Kiser Middle School, where she went from ESL tutor to testing coordinator and finally to data manager. She retired in 2014. Linda joined the board of Deep Roots to be a part of its next stage of growth. She believes deeply in the mission of Deep Roots and its importance to the Greensboro community.

At-Large Hope McLean

Hope McLean is a long-term owner and customer of Deep Roots Market. She is a graduate of Hunter College of the City University of New York, where she received an honors degree in English. Her work experience includes 20 years at American Express as Customer Service Rep/Trainer/Manager, 8 years as owner/manager of a vegetarian restaurant in Greensboro, and 5 years at Deep Roots Market as Bookkeeper/HR manager. While at American Express, Hope participated in several business/management training courses which served her well in all subsequent jobs. In total, Hope has had over 36 years in the service industry. She is now retired and able to donate more time to her favorite community projects.

At-Large Kathleen Donahue

Kathleen has been a downtown Greensboro resident for over 10 years and a resident of Guilford County for over 20 years. Her professional career spans 30 years: as an Enterprise Account Executive, in various industries including Marketing, Television, Radio, Telecommunications, Non Profit and Technology. Through her work with the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, as the Director of Member Engagement, Kathleen was able to have a front seat view of the local economic climate and teams working within them to improve living conditions in Greensboro. Those local organizational connections ignited her passion for Deep Roots Market and its vital role within downtown and the community as a whole. Kathleen has a passion for Discovery, Being a Connector and Business Process Improver within organizations and their people. Her formal education was at SUNY at Buffalo, NY with a BA in Psychology and Biology. She considers herself a constant learner of all things. Personal passions include: economic development, food security, nutrition, gardening, physical fitness, reading, hiking and cooking.

At-Large Stefan Hauke

Stefan is the principal of World Artisan Guild LLC, a Greensboro, NC based importing and distribution company specializing in raw materials for the natural health & beauty industry. Before establishing World Artisan Guild in 2007, he worked for twelve years in business and brand management positions at Procter & Gamble and The Gillette Company, as well as several years as business consultant for international clients. While at Gillette, Hauke worked in the company’s two leading geographical markets: as Product Manager in Germany and as Marketing Director in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, he served five years as Global Business Director for one of Gillette’s business units with full P&L responsibility. His work as management consultant included projects in the United States, Germany, Morocco and Romania from clients of a variety of industry sectors, including telecommunications, consumer goods and trade show management. Born in Germany, Stefan holds business and economic degrees from the University of Cologne and Frankfurt University, respectively.

At-Large Yvonne Lee-Hawkins

Yvonne is a small business owner currently operating her own salon of 5 years. She holds a 25-year Cosmetology license and a 24-year Cosmetology Teacher’s license. Currently serving on the Deep Roots Board since April, of 2016, and serves on the Advisory Board with Empire Beauty Schools. She also served on the Board Directors for the Hair Design School and Director of the Winston Salem campus of the Hair Design School; her responsibilities included HR, payroll, ordering supplies, customer, student, staff relations, and covering teacher’s classrooms. Serving in the beauty industry for 25 years her background includes Salon Manager, with responsibilities including; HR, payroll, ordering supplies, customer satisfaction, and employee relations. Working in 2015 with the Passion to Purse program through the YWCA, training included a feasibility plan and building the components of a business plan. Other experience includes grocery, restaurant, and retail sales.