Board of Directors
Lena Helen - President
Lena graduated in 2006 with an MFA from Maine College of Art. Her art practice is inter-disciplinary; it combines performance, social anthropology and community activism. After graduation Lena moved to Philadelphia. She continued with her social- art practice, and began teaching digital art and design at Moore College of Art. Through Lena’s engagement with community politics, she developed the understanding that the well being of a community depends on its ability to self-sustain and self govern. This knowledge led Lena to stretch her practice away from the world of art and into the world of grassroots community activism. Having spent her adult life belonging to and supporting food co-op’s, Lena in 2008 reached out to her new neighbors in Kensington and Fishtown to open one of their own. Lena lives with her husband Paul Filanowski and her son William with their cat “Midnight”, their hen Snowy and rooster Cherlie.
Peter Frank - Vice President
Peter and his wife have been living in the East Kensington/Fishtown community since 2009, where he soon discovered the KCFC project and became immediately involved as a volunteer and is now chair of the Steering Committee and Vice President of the Board. He is also actively involved in the national Co-op movement working with Cooperation Works! as Advocacy Coordinator to support passage of the National Cooperative Development Act. He is also working on the regional Co-op movement by helping found the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance. As a loyal Co-op shopper in Ann Arbor, MI, he knows firsthand how a Co-op in our Philadelphia neighborhood can give us convenient access to healthy and delicious food, while serving as a trust-worthy and friendly business in our community.
Dina Richman - Treasurer
Dina moved from Gainesville, Florida in 2002 to Fishtown after finishing a doctoral degree in entomology. She has been working as a product development manager for FMC Corp ever since she transplanted to Philly. She purchased a house in Kensington in 2005 and has been living as an urban pioneer ever since. She is dedicated to improving the quality of life of her neighbors. Dina co-founded Philly Tree People in 2008 and got involved with the Co-op in 2009. She is now a member of the Steering Committee, the Member Services Chair, and the Treasurer of the Board.
John Kolodziey - Secretary
Originally from upstate New York, John, along with his wife Allison, came to Philadelphia in 2008 to pursue a master's degree. They fell in love with the city and decided to stay. While in school working on his MBA, he got involved with the KCFC project serving on the steering committee and as the chair of the planning and finance committee for a short bit. He enjoys traveling and the outdoors and is a NY State licensed guide. He recently spent five months in Nepal volunteering with an international organization working to help the rural poor. His professional background is in mechanical engineering and project management and is now working as a carpenter.
Jeff Carpineta - Director at Large
A 4th generation Philadelphian living in East Kensington- Jeff is a graduate from Penn State in philosophy, Buddhism, photography and writing. Jeff’s overtime career is working as a Realtor at Solo Real Estate, helping creative and community minded folks find/create homes and spaces in Phila. neighborhoods. Jeff has co-founded a record label for experimental music, taught darkroom photo at the Fleisher Art Memorial for many years, rebuilds rowhouses with friends, and creates spaces that build community. He serves as President of the East Kensington Neighborhood Association addressing neighborhood issues, open space protection and the need for heartful urban planning. Jeff’s experience with Multiple Sclerosis fostered a new awareness of the connections between health, energy, the things we eat and how we share health wisdom in our communities.
Brian Baughan - Director at Large 
A resident of Fishtown/Kensington since 2004, Brian Baughan oversees communications and public relations for a consulting firm with locations in Brooklyn, Durham, NC, and Philly. Before entering the field of social change, Brian worked as a book editor, and has published six educational books for kids and teens. Since doing a brief stint as a Weaver’s Way co-op member, he has been enthusiast of co-operative enterprises. Along with serving on the KCFC board of directors, Brian is on the board of Casino-Free Philadelphia.
Mary Freihofner - Director at Large 
Mary Freihofner is a local business owner since 2004 of Affordable Skin Care Salon. She is involved in many aspects of the community including the Fishtown Library Friends Group, Secretary to Fishtown Area Business Association, leader for Girard East-Philadelphia's Destination for Alternative Health and Wellness, KCFC board member, initial Shad Fest planner and other community events and projects. Mary was raised in San Francisco, moved to Philadelphia in 2000 and to Fishtown in 2004. She acquired her BA in Anthropology at age 40 from Temple University and enjoys archaeology, hiking, museums and cats.
Matthew Steele - Director at Large 
Matthew Steele is a community developer and urban economist in the fields of cooperative development and food systems planning. Experience with food systems and cooperative economic research as well as work with many organizing and advocacy focused non-profits in Seattle and Philadelphia continually inform his approach. His most extensive recent involvement has been the growth and expansion of The Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive, (CoFED). Matthew emerged as CoFED’s resident expert in campaigning, organizing, fundraising and planning (their 4 pronged approach). Matt hails from Seattle where he acquired Bachelor degrees in both Community and Environmental Planning, and Economics, focusing on cooperative economic theory at the University of Washington. Matt’s Senior thesis focused on common resource management and his senior project was the creation of the University of Washington Student Food Cooperative (UWSFC). Since moving to Philadelphia has been researching community-based food initiatives ethnographically through the University of Pennsylvania. Matthew intends to design a new vision for our food system, utilizing democratic economic models for development as part of efforts to expand employment opportunities, increase human capital accumulation and improve the livability of American post-industrial inner cities, especially for their current inhabitants.
