14 December 2020

An Announcement from Portland Farmers Market

Dear Portland Farmers Market Community,

For the past 10 years, Portland Farmers Market’s vendors and shoppers have benefited tremendously from the passion, dedication and leadership of our Executive Director Trudy Toliver. Trudy has announced that she is ready to move on to a new chapter in her life, and so she will be leaving the Portland Farmers Market team this spring. We are full of gratitude for her decade of service.

Trudy leaves an incredible legacy of accomplishments that nourished the organization to blossom and grow. As she embarks on this new phase, we celebrate the many triumphs of Trudy and her team during her tenure:

Refreshing the image of the market with an updated logo and style guide (2011)
Opening the Kenton Farmers Market (2012)
Establishing a winter, then year-round, market at Portland State University (PSU) (2012, 2015)
Hosting Martha Stewart at the market (2014)
Overseeing the creation and publication of the first “Portland Farmers Market Cookbook” (2016)
Promoting and celebrating Portland Farmers Market’s 25th anniversary with at-market parties and a local chef dinner series (2016)
Establishing a successful Durable Dining program to reduce at-market waste (2015)
Acquiring the management of the Lents International Farmers Market (2016)
Leading strategic planning to ensure the organization remains focused on its key mission
Building strong sponsor partnerships with integrity and longevity
Navigating and reducing the impacts of COVID-19 on the market

Trudy has always sought opportunities to elevate the vital role that our region’s farmers play in all of our lives, highlighting individual market vendors in advertising, social media and news stories. She has held market operations to the highest standards, ensuring an excellent shopping experience. Portland Farmers Market provides a strong framework for all of the farmers markets in the area, and Trudy and our team have managed to keep the unique flavor of each individual market, while they all collectively benefit from the strength of the larger organization.

In addition to her work in service to Portland Farmers Market, Trudy co-founded and launched the Farmers Market Fund as a charitable nonprofit companion organization with its own board and staff. She was the executive director for eight years, after helping volunteers shape the organization. She served for six years on the PSU Alumni Association Board of Directors and is currently on the PSU Advocates Committee, which provided her the opportunity to build relationships with PSU leadership and to gain a unique perspective on the university’s challenges and how they relate to the operations of the year-round market located at PSU.

On behalf of the Portland Farmers Market Board of Directors, I would like to extend our deep gratitude to Trudy for her focused commitment to supporting the prosperity of local food producers throughout her tenure. Her dedication has had a lasting positive impact on the regional food economy and on many individual farmers and food artisans. Trudy’s leadership has benefited staff members, vendors and shoppers in countless ways.

As we begin our search for the next executive director of the Portland Farmers Market, we are confident that the work Trudy has helped us accomplish in the past decade to strengthen the region’s food economy, promote the livelihood of market vendors, and foster an atmosphere that brings shoppers back each week will give the new executive director a solid foundation upon which to build.

It is difficult to imagine Portland Farmers Market without Trudy Toliver; fortunately, the fruits of her labor will live on season after season.

Warmly,

Debbie Elliott

President, Portland Farmers Market Board of Directors

P.S. For details about our search for a new executive director learn more here. Please share with your network!