A Conversation with Ballard Food Bank Board Member Dakota Rieke

Dakota Rieke (pronounced REE-key) joined the Ballard Food Bank board of directors last September. A finance professional with interests in wellness, food and people, Dakota serves as assistant corporate controller for Ballard-based Trident Seafoods, the largest vertically integrated seafood company in the nation.

Ruth, our communications manager, sat down with Dakota to talk about the food bank and why she joined the board.

Tell me about yourself and how you came to work at Trident Seafoods.

I grew up in Leavenworth, Washington. I am very much a small-town girl and it was fun growing up in the mountains. I went to Central Washington University, finished my master’s in accounting there and immediately started off in public accounting. I spent the first part of my career traveling all around the state and I specialized in financial statement auditing and assurance practice for different industries.

One of the sectors I always loved was doing single audits and some editing work for nonprofits. It was such a rewarding experience. The best people worked for those nonprofit organizations. At the same time, I was doing internships with an NGO when I was in college, so it has always been close to my heart.

After several years in central Washington, I was still working for the same public accounting firm but decided it was time for a change. My boyfriend and I moved to Seattle about five years ago. At that point I started thinking I might want to be home a little bit more. It’s a hectic travel schedule working in public accounting. Kind of out of the blue, I was recruited to interview with Trident. After talking with them and learning that it’s a family-owned company and just how amazing they are in taking their role seriously in providing a wild food source to America and the world, I fell in love with that idea and being a part of the food industry. Being a foodie myself, it just made a lot of sense.

I have been at Trident now going on three years and I love it. It feels like a very small, close-knit culture here even though we are a big global company. It’s like a hidden gem in Seattle in terms of big, international companies — just a very special place.

Tells us more about the nonprofits you interned at and what you did there.

When I was in my master’s program, I was contacted by a friend who was a year ahead of me and graduating. She had just done a year working for HopeSource, an NGO in Ellensburg that offers a bunch of different services in Kittitas County. I interviewed with them and fell in love with all the great people there and what they were doing for the community.

They did a great job running a transportation service in Kittitas County, offering free or reduced-fare service and connecting people from lower to upper Kittitas, ranging from Ellensburg all the way up to the Cle Elum area. They also specialize in weatherization services, and they run a food bank, and so it was really fun getting to know just how contract administration worked, especially because there were so many different services they were offering. I got a great glimpse into the NGO space and what sort of resources were out there for people.

Board Member, Dakota Rieke

How did you come to know about Ballard Food Bank and how did you get involved?

I drive by the new home of Ballard Food Bank all the time because I work in Ballard. So I knew of the organization and then, coincidentally, I was chatting with a former co-worker, Nate Walker, who mentioned he was on the board of the food bank and how wonderful it was. I was telling him that ever since coming up for air after Covid I have been wanting to get involved in another organization and find a way to give back to the community.

I told Nate, “I don’t know if they are interested in any finance professionals. I have all of this experience and interest and I would like to offer my support in any way that makes sense.” So he put me in touch with Kathleen Murphy, the director of programs, and I got to talking with Jen Muzia, the executive director, and it was such a great fit and I am so excited to offer my support however I can.

What work are you most enthusiastic about at the food bank?

The food bank does so many things well — the obvious being just the new building and how intentionally it was designed to serve members of our community. I love the thought that went into that space — the feeling of a grocery store, the high windows to offer privacy, the warm atmosphere you immediately notice when you walk in. Not to mention the Kindness Café. That is the greatest idea! I love the community togetherness concept. I think they just nailed it.

But when you start to peel back the surface, you realize there are so many other incredible things they are offering the community. The Weekend Food for Kids program really touched my heart. I come from a place of privilege and so hunger was never an experience I had to navigate as a child. But I certainly had friends and knew of many families where that was a huge issue. ... I feel people know about the program here if they are in the school system, but if you don’t have kids, this is something that is not thought about. So, in terms of getting the awareness out there of so many things the food bank is doing for the greater Seattle area, I am really excited to be an ambassador of the mission and spread the word!

And the last question! You mentioned you are a foodie. I have to ask, what is your favorite thing to cook?

My favorite thing to cook happens to also be my favorite vegetable – cauliflower! The veggie gets a bad rap as a boring replacement for yummy carbs, but I love its versatility and fiber-rich nutrient profile. Cauliflower is so much fun to incorporate into a variety of healthful snacks and recipes – cauliflower pizza, cauliflower shepherd’s pie, cauliflower fried rice… the sky is the limit!