Rachel Ostlund has lived in Tompkins County for most of her life.  After graduating from Ithaca High School, Rachel traveled the United States, volunteering in AmeriCorps, teaching environmental education in Tennessee, co-founding a student-run organic farm in Connecticut, working and living in rural northern Georgia, doing field botany work in Arizona, and starting her first business at a farmers market in Montana.  During this time, Rachel also earned her BS in Plant Science from Cornell University, and has worked on organic vegetable farms around Tompkins County.  

She brought her first business (Iron Owl Kitchen) back to Tompkins County and sold prepared food (noodle bowls!) at the Ithaca Farmers Market, the Trumansburg Farmers Market and the Cornell Farmers Market.  As Iron Owl Kitchen grew, Rachel partnered with other businesses, including Wide Awake Bakery, and started catering and baking for events throughout Tompkins County.  She then started two other business ventures - Kinship & Company, and she co-founded the Sweet Bough Wedding Collective.  Kinship & Company was focused on milestone event planning (weddings, memorials and other events), with the goal of building community while managing events that strengthened and supported our local region’s economy, all while supporting couples and families.  Sweet Bough was founded with the goal of fostering collaboration (over competition) between businesses within the wedding/event/catering space, as well as ensuring inclusivity, transparency and ethical business practices amongst participating wedding vendors. 

For the past three years Rachel has been a volunteer with No Más Lágrimas, helping with their weekly free food distribution, managing all of the procurement from the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, and assisting with grant writing.  She served on the board of the Jacksonville Community Association, and currently is part of a community organizing coalition at the United Way of Tompkins County. 

As the next District 16 representative for Tompkins County, Rachel will bring her lived experience as a lifelong resident, a business owner, an entrepreneur, a parent and a connected community member. Rachel has been living in Jacksonville for the past 8 years with her partner Silas Conroy, her 5 year old daughter (an enthusiastic and delightful pre-k student at Trumansburg Elementary), and her curious and sweet 2.5 yr old son.

She loves to build and fix things, and can also be regularly found at Latin dance events throughout central NY.  She loves people and thinks we all deserve the world.