Team — FULTON STREET MARKET

Market Team

Dana | Executive Director

Entering her sixth season at the Market, Dana is proud to lead our dedicated team and steward a vision for the Market where all businesses can thrive. She spends her days supporting vendors, building community partnerships, and ensuring the fiscal health of the Market. As our food system continues to rapidly shift, Dana is dedicated to ensuring that the Market evolves to meet the needs of our producers and consumers alike.

Ron | Market Manager

As a former vendor and volunteer, Ron officially began working for the Market in January 2021. In his role as Market Manager, he is responsible for a diverse array of tasks including processing vendor applications, organizing events, and ensuring everyone follows the rules. During Market, you can find him chatting it up with vendors and customers while watching out for dogs and illegally parked cars.

DeAnne | Marketing & Communications Coordinator

Working with the Market since the start of its Centennial's Main Season, DeAnne's role primarily focuses on social media. Utilizing her degree in marketing from Grand Valley State University, DeAnne often creates graphics to promote events, films farm and shop tours, and responds to customer inquiries via the Market's social media channels. During Market days, you can find her taking photographs of customers, vendors, and their products to post online.

Dan | Food Access Coordinator

Initially starting at the Market as an intern from GVSU and Social Innovation graduate researcher, Dan joined the FSM team in an official capacity as the Food Access Coordinator in the spring of 2019. Heading up the Market Gleaning Program, Dan ensures community members have equitable access to healthy and nutritious foods while at the same time removing the environmental impact that comes with food waste. On Saturdays, towards the end of the Market day, you can find Dan organizing the collection of donations from our vendors to be distributed within the community and to partner organizations. From there, he, along with a cast of volunteers, sets up a curbside market in the Heartside neighborhood where any and everyone is welcome to grab what they need, free of cost.

Jowei | Market Innovation Intern

The latest addition to the Market’s team, Market Innovation Intern Jowei, is responsible for rebranding the Market for the next strategic timeframe. He can be found at the front desk on most Market days, dispensing wooden tokens and sharing information with marketgoers. Jowei is pursuing a double Master's in Social Innovation and Business Administration at Grand Valley State University. He sees this internship as the perfect opportunity to amalgamate both schools of thought— to invigorate the Grand Rapids community with love and innovative strategies.

Tessa | Farmers Market Food Navigator

Tessa is the Nutrition in Action Assistant Director at the YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids and the Food Navigator at Fulton Street Market. As Food Navigator, Tessa provides nutrition resources to shoppers while educating them on purchasing, storing, and preparing their market goodies. Through the Farmers Market Food Navigator program, Tessa can address barriers that shoppers using food assistance might face, like building confidence in talking with vendors, selecting produce, and using new foods.

Val | Market Master Gardener

Val has been a visitor to the Market for over 30 years. She became more involved when the Extension Office of Michigan State University staffed a Smart Gardening Booth with Master Gardeners in 2018. Her interest extended to planting a pollinator garden on the west side of the Market headhouse in 2019. With the pollinator garden established, Val began weeding and planting the landscape beds in the parking lot. By utilizing low maintenance, drought tolerant, and native plants in these gardens, she is setting them up to be easy to maintain and flourish in the future.