Hi suma friends,

We’re welcoming Momoko Saunders as our new Vendor Manager, celebrating the success of our summer crowdfund, and gearing up for our expansion to the Lents International Farmers Market on September 1st. With the new market, we’re also looking for someone to join the suma team, look for more details below!

Thank you for your continued support,

Jacqueline

Welcome Momoko!

We have a new addition to the suma team! We’d like to introduce you to Momoko Saunders, our first Vendor Manager. Momoko is a dedicated bike advocate and the Co-Founder of Bike Farm, a community-driven initiative promoting cycling as a sustainable and healthy mode of transportation. She previously served as the Executive Director of the Community Cycling Center and as the General Manager of Biketown. Momoko brings a strong background in clean mobility, software engineering, and nonprofit management to the team. We’re so excited to team up with her!
​

Hiring

We’re searching for someone to join our team for the rest of the farmers market season!

The position is part time, pays $25/ hour for 1 or 2, 6 hour weekly shifts.

​
Applicants should:

• Have availability from 8:30-2:30 every Sunday or Saturday until November 24
• Have reliable transportation (a car really to transport market materials)
• Be bilingual (English in addition to Spanish/Russian preferably).

​
Check out the full job description here. Please reach out to info@mysuma.org for more information or to apply!
​

Crowdfund

We are thrilled to announce the successful conclusion of our crowdfund campaign for the 2024 summer special! Thanks to your incredible generosity and support, we have raised $13,483 to connect our community to fresh food and clean mobility through the suma app.
​

Your contributions will have an impact on low-income community members, helping them access farmers markets and sustainable transportation options. This season, we saw a significant increase in engagement, with nearly 300 new users joining our platform.

​

Your belief in our mission and your willingness to support us has been inspiring. Thank you for being a part of our journey!

Broadband Affordability Program

Two workgroup sub committees, one focused on OTAP expansion and the other on other funding sources have now occurred. The question being asked- how do we generate sustainable, meaningful, and equitable funding pool without passing down additional costs to consumers when broadband providers can’t be regulated/taxed? A set of recommendations will be brought to the main workgroup happening on Monday August 13 between 1:30 - 3 pm where some decisions will be made. If your community has been directly impacted by the ending of the ACP and you’re interested in this issue, please let malena@mysuma.org know and she will share further details and meeting link information.
​
​Upcoming Funding Opportunity

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced the NOFO for the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program. This is a national grant opportunity with $5-12 million dollars being awarded for a 4, year grant period. Any interested partners who would like to collaborate on this grant, please review the NOFO here and reach out to malena@mysuma.org to connect you to the larger coalition of digital equity on any planning event happening! Applications are due on September 23.

New Home Screen

The home screen got a makeover! This week, our development team rolled out updates to

enhance the user experience on the app’s landing page. The old landing page needed revising after we changed the order of our checkout process. Now, the new landing page prominently showcases our app offerings, allowing users to quickly and easily see all that we provide.
​

​

​

Lents International Farmers Market

Suma is thrilled to announce that we'll be at the Lents International Farmers Market on

September 1st! This marks our official expansion of the summer special to Portland’s southeast communities. We’re excited to bring the benefits of the suma app to even more people. With Lents added, we’re now at three farmers markets: St. Johns, King, and Lents.

​
​