On October 2, 2024, VNRC will host our 61st Annual Meeting at Farmhouse Flowers in Moretown, VT. Join us from 5:30 to 7:00 pm as we reflect on the past year and look ahead to the future. Enjoy hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar while mingling with friends and other VNRC members!
We are excited to introduce you to our new Executive Director, Lauren Hierl, and are thrilled to be joined by Samantha Langevin of the Vermont Releaf Collective to help us present the 2024 Arthur Gibb Award for Sustainable Community Leadership to Jess Laporte, Co-Director of Community Resilience Organizations.
As a part of the meeting, members will also get the chance to vote on proposed changes to the bylaws and to elect a slate of candidates to the Board of Directors.
Please register below. If you have any questions, contact Alex Connizzo at aconnizzo@vnrc.org or (802) 223-2328, x126. The suggested donation is $20.
2024 Art Gibb Award Winner
VNRC is delighted to present the 2024 Arthur Gibb Award for Sustainable Community Leadership to Jessica Laporte, in recognition of her deep dedication to Vermont’s land and people. Jess is a dynamic leader, collaborator and statewide advocate for community resilience and equity.
As Co-Director of Community Resilience Organizations, Jess has expanded the organization’s capacity, enabling it to support six times more community projects since 2020 and demonstrating how creative fiscal sponsorship can empower communities to respond to their own needs.
Jess was a foundational member with Seeding Power Vermont, a collective of organizers working on systemic changes for BIPOC self-determination and healing relationships with land and between people. Through this work, Jess played a key role in organizing, writing, and passing legislation that led to the formation of the Land Access and Opportunity Board (LAOB), a state entity tasked with improving access to housing equity and land for Vermonters from historically marginalized or disadvantaged communities.
Changes to the Bylaws
Members will be asked to vote on changes to our bylaws that will remove the Board business portion from the Annual Meeting, turning the focus of these gatherings to a celebration of the organization’s recent accomplishments and a preview of the work that lies ahead. Under the new bylaws, the Board of Directors will be responsible for electing new members and making future updates and amendments to the bylaws.
2024 Board Slate
Election for first full term:
Reed Kehler, Greensboro, (Youth Board Member): Reed Kehler (he/him) grew up at Jasper Hill Farm, a cow dairy and creamery in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Reed spends his summers making cheese, milking cows and goats, and making hay. In his free time, he will likely be somewhere without cell service backcountry skiing or rock/ice climbing. He feels he has a strong pastoral connection to the state’s working land and enjoys the raw wilderness his hobbies lead him to explore. Reed will be studying animal science and community economic development. He’s attending UVM’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences where he will be studying animal science and community economic development.
Will Stevens, Shoreham: Will Stevens has navigated the nexus between Vermont’s natural and managed environments as a commercial organic vegetable grower for more than 40 years. Golden Russet Farm, which he and his wife Judy founded in the early 1980’s, was named “Sustainable Farm of the Year” in 2004. Will has served his local, regional, and statewide communities in many ways over the years, including as chair of Planning Commission, Selectperson, and Moderator for the Town of Shoreham, as a board member for a number of non-profit organizations, as a four-term member of the Vermont House of Representatives (representing the Addison-Rutland-1), as a visiting teacher at Middlebury College, and most recently as an outreach representative for Senator Bernie Sanders (covering agriculture, economic development, hunger/nutrition and other issues). Will and Judy live in Shoreham and have three adult children. They are currently transitioning the farm over to their oldest daughter, who is continuing to contribute to the ecological and economic vitality of Vermont’s working landscape.
Reelection for second three-year terms:
Megan Camp, Shelburne: Megan Camp has served for over three decades as the Executive Vice President and Program Director of Shelburne Farms, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire and cultivate learning for a sustainable future. Shelburne Farms’ home campus is based on the traditional homelands of the Winooskik band of the Abenaki and is a 1,400-acre working farm, forest, and National Historic Landmark. Among other affiliations, Megan is a member of the IUCN (The World Conservation Union) Commission on Education and Communication, Vermont Farm to Plate Steering Committee, and serves on the advisory boards of the University of Vermont’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Continuing and Distance Education. Megan also currently serves on the board of The Vermont Council of Rural Development and Vermont Working Lands Enterprise Board. Megan lives in Shelburne with her husband and cat and loves to spend time in her garden, cook meals for friends and family, and enjoy the beautiful trails in her community.
Elizabeth Gibson, Pawlet: Elizabeth Gibson is a Director of the Dreamshadow Group, an educational nonprofit based in Vermont that focuses on personal development, community building, and the creative potential of exceptional experience. She has worked as an environmental consultant, teacher, and editor. Elizabeth and her husband Lenny raised their family in Pawlet, Vermont, where she has been involved in various community projects, including the Pawlet Energy Group, Emergency Management Team, and the Pawlet website and newsletter. She is especially interested in helping people build stronger connections to the natural world.
We also bid a fond farewell to Peter Sterling, who rejoined the Board at the 2021 Annual Meeting, and has served as Treasurer since January 2023.
We look forward to seeing you on October 2nd!