Board of Trustees

Caroline Wadhams Bennett, Board Chair

Caroline grew up in Burlington, Vermont where her family moved in 1948 when her father bought the Lake Champlain Transportation Company with his long-time friend, Lew Evans, husband of VYCC Founder, Dot Evans. Caroline is the oldest of six siblings and is childfree with two cats. Her alma mater is Wellesley College where in 1962 she received a B.A. in History. After graduation, Caroline spent a year in London on an exchange program with the BBC. From London she went to Rome where she lived and worked for two more years, learning Italian in the process. In 1965, Caroline moved to Cambridge, Mass. to work at Arthur D. Little, a management-consulting firm. In 1970, she started a small production business with a partner in Harvard Square. She and her husband Peter, who also grew up in Burlington, returned to Vermont in 1989.

Upon her return, she was asked by Dot Evans to join the VYCC board. Caroline has also been a board member and past chair of the UVM Lane Series. She is the past chair and presently serving her ninth year on the board of the Northern Vermont Chapter of the American Red Cross. She loves animals. Caroline's other interests include skiing and hiking, gardening and birding, singing and music from Blue Grass to Bach, and reading everything from mysteries to history.

Caroline has served on the Board in a number of leadership roles since 1989, including the Campaign Committee Member, Chair of the Nominations Committee, and Board Vice-Chair. In 2009 she transitioned into her new role, as Chair of the Board! Her infectious enthusiasm, creative problem solving, and rock solid belief in the mission and day to day work of the VYCC has inspired all of us who have worked and laughed with her over the years!

David Conard, Vice Chair

David grew up in Vershire, Vermont, where his parents founded and ran The Mountain School, a rigorous college-preparatory boarding and day school emphasizing environmentalism and sustainability. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and his law degree from the University of Colorado.

After graduating from law school in 1986, David returned to Vermont and has practiced real estate and construction law in Burlington since then. He is currently a partner in the Burlington office of Langrock Sperry & Wool, where he represents clients in all aspects of real estate law including acquisition and financing, permitting, and land title litigation. He represents contractors, architects and owners in negotiating and administering construction contracts, as well as resolving construction disputes, whether through litigation or arbitration. David regularly represents commercial lenders in financing real estate development and construction projects. He also provides mediation and arbitration services in construction and real estate matters.

In addition to being a trustee of the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, David is a board member and past president of the Committee on Temporary Shelter, a Burlington based non-profit organization which provides services to the homeless and those at risk of homelessness. He has also served on committees of the Vermont Bar Association and is a past president of the Chittenden County Bar Association.

David indulges his passion for wooden boats on Lake Champlain and, more often, in his woodworking shop. He actively enjoys Vermont's outdoors on bicycles and skis. He lives in Shelburne with his wife and three children.

Rich McGarry, Treasurer

Profile coming soon!

Richard W. Darby, Secretary

Profile coming soon!

Judi Manchester

In 1993 Judi was recruited by Board Member Caroline Wadhams Bennett to join the VYCC Board. The mission of the VYCC, the conservation and State Park work accomplished by the VYCC Corps Members and staff, and the educational component of the organization made a good match with Judi's interests and priorities.

Judi grew up in New York and Connecticut. In 1969 she moved to Vermont from Colorado with her attorney husband Bob. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Education Degree at UVM. She taught at H.O. Wheeler School for four years until the birth of their children, Holt in 1973 and Jessica in 1976. Holt currently lives in Mill Valley, CA; Jessica is married with a child and lives in Boston.

Judi worked part time as a bookkeeper in her husband's law firm from 1983 through 1987, when she left to become part time bookkeeper for several area restaurants. She has enjoyed community service work by previously serving as Publicity Chair for Lilliput Children's Programs and on the Board of the Champlain Valley Junior Service League. She also served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Vermont Health Foundation. She was elected to two terms on the Shelburne School Board, serving as clerk of the Board and Vice Chair. She decided not to run for a third term. For 1987-88, she was elected President of the Auxiliary of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, a national organization based in Washington, D.C. From 1996 to 2001 she was a Tutor/Mentor for a student through the Teen Futures Program at King Street Youth center in Burlington.

Judi and her husband enjoyed establishing a grant at Brown University to award a Brown student a summer grant to work for the Irish Woman's Council in Dublin. Both served on the selection committee. She is a past VYCC Chair of the Board, as well as a past Treasurer of the Board.

Tom Johnson

Long ago I attended Williams College in Massachusetts where I discovered the great New England outdoors. I discovered the Sierras during graduate work at Stanford University. After stints as a freelance journalist, filmmaker, media consultant, and a teaching position as Director of Media Studies at Antioch College-Baltimore, I settled down in New York City and co-Produced and Directed a series of documentary films for theatrical and television release.

In 2001 I finally became a full-time Vermonter. In this most recent and very fulfilling chapter of my life, I am involved in philanthropy, civic engagement, and environmental health projects here in Vermont, and in the other places I call home.

Currently, I serve on the board of two foundations active in the fields of environmental health, youth and community development, and social change media. I am Clerk of the Board of the Robert Flaherty International Film Seminars and was twice President. I have served on the Board of Trustees of Bethany College in Bethany West Virginia since 1991 where I am on the Executive Committee. In September 2006 I joined the Board of Green Mountain College in my hometown of Poultney where I live with my partner Ina Smith and two cats. I have one son, Asa, who has a guest room for me in New York City.

Denise Barnard

Profile coming soon!

Liz Foster

Liz, born and raised in upstate New York, became a Vermonter in the same way as many in Chittenden County: she came to UVM and realized after graduating that she wanted to stay. She married Jim Foster, a Vermont native, and they settled in Hinesburg, where they raised a family (two children and a passel of dogs). Now in Charlotte, with grown children living in Colorado, Liz spends her time volunteering for several non-profits, running marathons and traveling as much as possible.

Her business life started at the Chittenden Bank followed by Rossignol Ski Company. After the kids went away to school, she operated a home-based stationery and gift company, using the business to generate income to support her favorite causes. In addition to having been District Commissioner of the local Pony Club and a mentor at King Street Youth Center, she has been actively involved with the Humane Society for many years, where she was instrumental in the successful fundraising campaign to build a new shelter. She has volunteered in a Guatemalan orphanage, and has recently returned from her third annual trip to Honduras where she volunteers with Hands to Honduras, a Shelburne/Charlotte Rotary project. Kids and animals are her passions.

Paul Haskell

Paul Haskell is an organizational transformation consultant and an advocate for justice and opportunity for Vermont youth. His career includes a decade with several local United Ways where he was a persistent pain in the side of those more interested in personal gain than making communities better. He left United Way shortly before William Aramony was charged with 25 counts of fraud and tax evasion. He spent the next dozen years converting a small town shelter into a multifaceted national model serving homeless adults, families, and youth in Southern Maine. During this period he served on the board of the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, DC where he was a vociferous advocate for expanded healthcare for the homeless.

Most recently Paul transformed the Windsor County Court Diversion program into a comprehensive community-based justice organization emphasizing therapeutic and developmental interventions. Recognizing the importance of personal responsibility, social capital and skill building, Paul and his staff worked closely with the VYCC to engage youthful offenders in the summer program. In less than four years, he cut offender recidivism by seventy percent.

Paul is currently the chair of the Council on Youth of the Vermont Human Resources Investment Council. On a local level he serves on the Town of Sharon's Planning Commission and the town's representative to the Vermont State Police's Community Policing Initiative. He also serves on a variety of non-profit organization boards in Vermont and New Hampshire.

He lives in Sharon, where he is restoring an 1840s farmhouse.

Matt Fargo

Matt is a telecommunications specialist. His company, The Final Connection, serves the Vermont business community by providing analysis, equipment, and implementation services to improve and support voice and data communication systems. Over 50% of The Final Connection’s work focuses on supporting nonprofit organizations. Prior to starting The Final Connection 13 yrs ago, Matt worked for AT&T and Lucent Technologies.

In the spring of 1992, Matt was introduced to Thomas Hark and the mission of “personal responsibility” taught by the VYCC. Tom's plans for the future engaged Matt's enthusiastic support from the start. Participating in and supporting the evolution of the VYCC and the establishment of its permanent home at The Monitor Barn in Richmond has been one of Matt’s greatest joys. Observing the increasing demand for VYCC programs throughout Vermont is yet another realization of the VYCC’s vision that had so excited Matt back in 1992. Matt also serves on the board of the Hart Foundation, a small foundation which supports environmental and social initiatives.

Matt lives in Westford, Vermont with his wife Lisa and their son Griffen and daughter Taylor (VYCC '04). Depending on the season, when it is time to play, you can find Matt either Ski Patrolling at Smuggs or riding his mountain bike.

Stacy Fender

Stacy works as a Fundraising consultant for IDC, an annual consulting firm that represents the University of Vermont and other organizations nationwide. Stacy grew up in Washington state, attended and graduated from the University of Idaho-Moscow, and has also lived in Hawaii and Indiana. Although she has tested out several areas of the country, she fell in love with Vermont and has called Burlington home for the last two years.

Stacy is currently pursuing a Master’s in Philanthropy and Development from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in a distance learning and summer residency program. Her passion for education and fostering personal responsibility among youth, paired with her desire to make a difference through fundraising, led her to meet with Tom Hark in early 2008; by the end of the year, Stacy had joined the board at the VYCC.

In her spare time Stacy enjoys indoor and outdoor, summer and winter sports, especially ones that she can do with her dog, Maggie.

Nicole Gorman

Profile coming soon!

Kris Roomet

Kris is an attorney at Paul Frank + Collins in Burlington, where she focuses her practice in the areas of environmental law, land use, property and development, and litigation. Kris grew up in Hinesburg and spent much of her childhood working on sheep and horse farms. Prior to attending law school, Kris worked with several non-profit organizations, including the Hinesburg Land Trust and a bicycling non-profit in Oregon. After attending school in New York and Boston, she has returned to Vermont to make it her home.

In 2010, Kris’ commitment to conservation and belief in development of youth through hands-on work steered her to become involved with the VYCC. In addition to her involvement with the VYCC, Kris serves on the board of the Catamount Trail Association.