A leading advocate for independent businesses and sustainable communities, Mike Schreiner is well known for his leadership in co-founding the award-winning Local Food Plus organization and brings a proven track record in business and leadership roles to the GPO leadership. A respected, successful entrepreneur, Mike started his career in Toronto operating his own food distribution business for over 10 years that specialized in delivering local and natural foods to homes in Toronto. Building on that success, he established Local Food Plus, which worked to bring farmers and consumers together to promote financially, socially and environmentally sustainable local food systems. Actively involved in the Green Party of Ontario (GPO) for the past six years, Mike Schreiner was most recently the GPO candidate for the Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock by-election. Mike co-chaired the 2007 election platform committee for the party and served as Policy Coordinator from 2008-2009. For the first time in the party’s history, Mike Schreiner is a full-time leader who will travel the province in support of Constituency Associations and community engagement activities. An experienced fundraiser, Mike intends to turn the GPO into a well funded political party to ensure the Green voice is heard in the Legislature and across Ontario. Family and community are important to Mike. He lives in Parkdale-High Park with his wife Sandy and their two daughters. He spends his free time coaching his daughter’s baseball team and volunteering in other community activities. Mike recently served on the steering committee for Green Enterprise Toronto, an association of over 350 small businesses, and on the Board of Directors of FarmStart, a non-profit that assists new farmers in Ontario. Find Mike's acceptance speech here.