Staff

Vancouver Farmers Markets Team

Bre Hamilton
Interim Executive Director
brehamilton@eatlocal.org

Bre is an experienced nonprofit leader and convenor with passion for supporting local food systems and ensuring equitable access to local food within our communities. With over fifteen years of nonprofit and business leadership experience in the health policy and research, climate, technology, community services, retail and content sectors, Bre is thrilled to be providing sound interim leadership for VFM by working to improve processes, grow and steward its financial resources, foster positive relationships with its partners and stakeholders, and grow its positive impact within the community.

Bre has been a customer of the Vancouver Farmers Markets since the 1990s and has recently learned more about home food preservation, especially canning and pickling, using her family’s recipes and produce from the markets.

Laura Smit
Executive Director
On leave until August 2024
laura@eatlocal.org

Randy Elliott
Director of Operations
randy@eatlocal.org

Randy has been working with us for over 12 years and has worn a wide variety of hats (for those of you who know him, literally and figuratively). As the Director of Operations he is responsible for overall Market Operations, Management, Administration and Site Development, leading our operations team of four full-time managers, 3 part-time managers and over 20 seasonal crew.
When Randy’s not at the farmers market he can be found in the kitchen cooking his seasonal market finds to tasty plant-based dishes or on his bike cycling around the city!

Christa Wood
Office Manager
christa@eatlocal.org

Christa has worked in a range of roles at Vancouver Farmers Markets for over ten years. She currently serves as our Manager of Finance and Administration, overseeing our financial, human resources and administrative systems.

Hannah Megally
Market Manager and Operations Assistant
hannah@eatlocal.org

Hannah is the Trout Lake Market Manager and VFM Operations Assistant. Growing up, farmers markets were an exciting outing with the promised reward of her favourite snack, a pickle-on-a-stick. Later she shifted into the vendor space, growing and selling ecologically grown veg and flowers while working on a small family farm in Pennsylvania where she spent many Summers.

Prior to her work at VFM, Hannah graduated with a degree in History and Environmental Studies and began researching and writing stories for a small documentary company with a focus on nature and the environment. She is Permaculture Certified and has experience working and volunteering on farms, in gardens, and for several community-based food and agriculture organizations. Hannah believes in the connective nature of food and the land and feels grateful to be welcomed into the VFM community where neighbours line up at the crack of dawn for tomatoes, staff hand-sew pockets into their high-vis vests, and the crows are always keeping watch.

Katie Simmons
District Manager
katie@eatlocal.org

Katie’s background is in Global Food Security and International Agriculture. With rich experience of working for non-profits that focus on the local food system, Katie brings a immense value to Vancouver Farmers Markets team. Katie was introduced to the Vancouver Farmers Markets as part of vendor team bringing fresh produce to markets for Fresh Roots. However that soon translated into her working directly for VFM and she hopes to continue to work towards a food secure community. Katie works as a District Manager at Vancouver Farmers Markets and she oversees a few different market locations!

Laura Gibson
District Manager
gibson@eatlocal.org

Laura G started with VFM in 2011. First as a volunteer, then crew at (nearly) all of the market locations before moving onto Manager of Mt Pleasant Market (now in its 11th season!) and now finally as the District Manager of Hastings Park and Mount Pleasant Markets.

She also coordinates our wonderful Volunteers and Buskers each season.

Outside of the markets, Laura G works as an illustrator and volunteers as a team leader coordinating Canadian teams for Habitat for Humanity builds around the world.

Monika Chowdhry
Communications Manager
monika@eatlocal.org

Driven by a deep-seated passion for promoting sustainable agriculture and fostering resilient food systems, Monika brings almost two decades of diverse experience spanning the realms of corporate communications, public policy, consulting, and entrepreneurship.

At Vancouver Farmers Markets, Monika manages communications and marketing, orchestrating the website, monitoring social media, creating engaging newsletters, managing media relations & PR, running promotions for markets and vendors, and literally everything that empowers our market community.

Paige Leslie
District Manager
paige@eatlocal.org

Paige has her BA in Creative Advertising from Humber College in Toronto. She worked in advertising for 4 years before moving to BC looking to do more meaningful, nature and community based work. Her passion for environmental sustainability, farming, gardening and herbal plant medicines brought her to work in regenerative agriculture and local food systems for the past 3 years.
Paige has been a vendor with VFM, working at the Mt. Pleasant, Downtown and Riley Park markets with KPU Farm Schools. Most recently she was working at a charity called Urban Bounty doing food security work in Richmond and working as a VFM market crew part time before taking on her current role as District Manager for the Downtown, West End and Hastings Park markets.
In her free time she enjoys working in her garden, wild forging, making her own natural products, swimming, hiking, camping, photography and traveling.