Two familiar faces are filling new positions within the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences Center for Cooperatives. Long-time South Centers employees Joy Bauman, now the Cooperative Development Specialist, and Charissa Gardner, the new Program Coordinator, have taken on new roles in the program.
Bauman began her new role on June 3, while Gardner’s first official day with the program was July 22. Both are very familiar with the Center, however, as Bauman previously served as the Program Coordinator, while Gardner has worked with the co-ops team on various projects throughout her career at South Centers.
The CFAES Center for Cooperatives comprehensively integrates the teaching, research and Extension programs of the College. The Center creates and extends knowledge to emerging and existing cooperatives in Ohio and beyond.
Joy Bauman has worked at the Ohio State University South Centers since 2006 and has been involved with the cooperative development efforts at the South Centers since that time, most recently serving as the Program Coordinator for the Center for Cooperatives. On June 3, Joy transitioned to the Cooperative Development Specialist role, where she collaborates with staff at OSU South Centers, Ohio State University Extension, West Virginia University Extension Services, USDA Rural Development and other rural economic development organizations to create and deploy programming to support the mission, goals, and priorities of the Center. Joy provides technical assistance to new and emerging cooperatives and rural businesses, develops and deploys educational programming on small business development, and communicates with the Center’s network of stakeholders internal and external to the University. She works to foster cooperative development, strengthen existing cooperatives, and educate the next generation of cooperative leaders.
She has facilitated the planning, organization, and delivery of cooperative development trainings and disseminating information about the Center throughout Ohio and West Virginia. She helped to form the successful Southern Ohio Grower’s Cooperative at market pumpkins and other produce. Joy is currently leading a North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (NCR-SARE) project–the Youth Cooperative Leadership Experience–an immersive cooperative educational program for high school students in the Appalachian region.
Joy holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from The Ohio State University, majoring in Agricultural Communication and Animal Science. Currently, she is pursuing a Master of Science in Agricultural and Extension Education. She is long-experienced in farm and agricultural business planning as a co-owner of Turkey Run Angus Farm in Adams County. Joy will help lead the Center’s work to develop worker-owned and agricultural cooperatives in rural communities.
Charissa Gardner began her career at The Ohio State University South Centers in 2011. She has served as the Program Coordinator/Assistant for the Specialty Crops program for the past seven years, and as Program Coordinator for the Direct Marketing program for the past five years.
For Specialty Crops, she managed the news and event publications, website, social media, listservs, and served as the event coordinator. Gardner was also Co-Editor of the VegNet and Hops Newsletters.
With Direct Marketing, she served as the Program Coordinator and managed the Ohio MarketMaker program, was the news and event publications coordinator, website, social media, and listserv manager, and was the event coordinator.
Gardner also served as the OSU South Centers Campus Campaign Ambassador from 2014 through 2018, and is currently a member of Chi Epsilon Sigma and JCEP.
Prior to joining OSU, she was an English teacher for Adams County Christian school for 3 years, and worked as a Business Manager for the Peebles Monument Company for 12 years.
Gardner is a graduate of Peebles High School. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Arts and English Humanities from Shawnee State University.
Her hobbies include gardening, raising market goats and rabbits, traveling, and keeps busy with 4-H, FFA, school, and sports activities with her teenage daughter, Carrington.
Gardner and her daughter currently reside in Peebles, Ohio.