Staff
Executive Director – holly jo Sparks
holly jo has 20+ years experience in cooperatives, planning, and nonprofit leadership. She previously held the position of Executive Director for North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) and the Santa Barbara Student Housing Cooperative (SBSHC). She has served on many boards & advisory committees, including the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA), Shared Capital Co-op, the Kagawa Fund Trustees, National Association of Housing Cooperatives (NAHC), and Oryana Community Co-op. As a research associate for the The Democracy Collaborative, she contributed substantially to the report “Hospitals Building Healthier Communities: Embracing the Anchor Mission,” published in March 2013.
Prior to this, holly jo studied housing, community, and economic development at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and at MIT, from which she holds a Master in City Planning. As an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, holly jo was a member of the Inter-Cooperative Council, Ann Arbor.
Specialties: Housing and community economic development, shared-equity homeownership, cooperatives, leadership, nonprofit management, planning, communications strategy, democracy and action research.
Member Services Coordinator – Marty Sloan
Marty Sloan first became involved with the Spartan Housing Cooperative when he moved into Bower House the summer of 2014. He was the membership officer for Bower House for 2 years before moving into Beal House the fall of 2017. He served as the Corporate Secretary from fall 2017 until becoming President of the SHC in spring 2018. After finishing his term and graduating from MSU with a BS in Computational Mathematics and a BA in Spanish, he moved to Spain to teach ESL for 2 years. He now serves as the Member Services Coordinator of the SHC while still teaching ESL on the side. As Member Services Coordinator, he manages accounts receivable, supports the Membership and Education Committees with their goals, handles member communications and office administration, facilitates and coordinates trainings, manages and oversees all member contracts, and assists in conflict management. He enjoys cooking, eating, playing World of Warcraft, and drinking beer on porches.
Maintenance Coordinator –
Mike McCurdy
Mike McCurdy has worked with the MSU SHC for over 10 years. Before then, he lived at Rivendell Cooperative House in Lansing. He also, in his youth, lived at Howland House. Mike McCurdy is a jack-of-all-trades, and knows how to do most things maintenance! He is a licensed builder. He’s left a legacy at every single one of our Cooperative Houses, whether through routine maintenance or his master carpentry skills. He responsibly logs wood destroyed by emerald ash borers to utilize as window frames and other countertops throughout our cooperative system. He creates unique and stunning structures for pots and pans holders, cabinet stabilizers, and even makes trash bin drawers look good. He, apart from being a life-long cooperator, organizes for social justice and has done peace work in Palestine. He is is a proud father of 3 and grandfather of 2, and spends most of his free time with his family.
Financial Cooperator – MC Rothhorn