Board of Trustees

Ron Redmond, Chair

Ron Redmond is executive director of the Church Street Marketplace (Burlington, Vermont), a business improvement district and four-block pedestrian mall established in 1981. He joined the Marketplace in December, 1998. Prior to joining the Marketplace, Ron worked in corporate marketing, advertising and public relations for twenty years in Southern California, Tennessee and Vermont. In Vermont, he served as the first marketing director for the Burlington Free Press and for six years managed the cause-related marketing program for Long Distance North/Frontier Communications, a long distance phone company.

He is a board member of the United Way of Chittenden County and serves as board chair for the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. A graduate of the University of Southern California, Ron resides in Essex Junction with his wife Karen and daughter Liana.

Richard W. Darby, Vice-Chair

 

Rich McGarry, Treasurer

 

Matt Fargo

Matt Fargo and his family moved to Vermont from Massachusetts in the spring of 1992. Soon thereafter, Matt was introduced to Thomas Hark and the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, and the mission of the VYCC and Tom's enthusiasm and plans for the future engaged Matt's support from the start. Subsequently, after serving many years as a board member Matt became the co-chair of the Monitor Barn Capital Campaign.

Professionally, Matt is a telecommunications specialist. His company, The Final Connection, serves the Vermont business community by providing analysis, recommendations and implementations to improve a business' voice and data tools and services. 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.

Caroline Wadhams Bennett

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, who has served on the Board in a number of leadership roles since 1989, is currently serving on the Campaign Committee, Chairs the Nominations Committee, and is the Board Vice-Chair. 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!

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 San Francisco, Jessica currently lives in Seattle.

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. They have also collaborated with others in writing a screenplay based on a 1920's VT landmark court case involving the rights of a young woman. Currently Judi is on the Capital Campaign Committee of VYCC, is Immediate Past Chair of the Board, and is a past Treasurer of the Board.

Eric Hanson

Eric Hanson is the owner and operator of Hanson Investment Management an Investment Counseling Firm headquartered in Burlington. The firm manages portfolios of stocks and bonds for individuals, retirement plans, and endowments. The firm also provides financial planning services to individuals.

Eric grew up abroad. His parents were involved in economic development in Asia, Africa, and South America and he lived with them in Burma, Pakistan, Iran, Nigeria, and Mexico. Eric went to St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York and settled in Burlington with college friends in 1971. He started work at the Howard Bank in the investment area and eventually managed the trust department investments and the bank's bond portfolio.

Eric left in 1980 to join Fraser Management an investment counsel firm in Burlington. Eric was there fifteen years before starting his own operation in 1995. Hanson Investment Management has four employees and is located in the Maltex Building on Pine Street in Burlington.

Eric is involved in many community activities and in education. He was a regular columnist on investing and personal finance in the Burlington Free Press for ten years and has continuously taught courses at the University of Vermont School of Business and St. Michael's College since the late 1970's. Eric has been involved with a number of non profits and is a past Board Member and Board Chair of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, The Champlain Valley Agency on Aging, Baird Center for Children and Families and the Vermont Nature Conservancy. In addition to activities with the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, he is also on the Board of Prevent Child Abuse Vermont and is the Board Chair of The Vermont Chinese School in South Burlington.

Eric lives in Burlington. He currently serves as VYCC Board Chair is an active member of the Campaign and Agreement Committees. His steady and thoughtful leadership has made a critical difference in leading the organization though an intense period of planning and implementation for the new home and training center of the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps.

Eric is involved in many community activities and in education. He was a regular columnist on investing and personal finance in the Burlington Free Press for ten years and has continuously taught courses at the University of Vermont School of Business and St. Michael's College since the late 1970's. Eric has been involved with a number of non profits and is a past Board Member and Board Chair of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, The Champlain Valley Agency on Aging, Baird Center for Children and Families and the Vermont Nature Conservancy. In addition to activities with the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, he is also on the Board of Prevent Child Abuse Vermont and is the Board Chair of The Vermont Chinese School in South Burlington.

Eric lives in Burlington. He currently serves as VYCC Board Chair is an active member of the Campaign and Agreement Committees. His steady and thoughtful leadership has made a critical difference in leading the organization though an intense period of planning and implementation for the new home and training center of the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps.

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 nonprofit organization boards in Vermont and New Hampshire.

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

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. Recently, she traveled to Guatemala to volunteer in an orphanage, and hopes to return again this winter. Kids and animals are her passions.

Frank Motch

Franklin joined the VYCC Board in 2004. He splits his time between several entrepreneurial pursuits. He is the owner of two laundromats located in Essex and Waterbury. Franklin also publishes an annual book, now in its sixth edition, marketing the wedding industry.

Prior to venturing out on his own, Franklin worked in operations and marketing for the transportation industry both in Vermont and Pennsylvania. He worked for eight years at the Lake Champlain Transportation Company where he was the Assistant Operations Manager and Cruise Manager. He also captained the ferries and still holds a Merchant Marines Captain's license through the U.S. Coast Guard. He graduated from Saint Lawrence University in Canton, New York with a major in History and a minor in Computer Science. He spent a semester abroad in London and worked in England's Lakes District with their National Park System learning about park management.

Franklin's volunteer service includes serving on the Board of Directors for the Vermont Make-a-Wish Foundation, where he finished his term as the Board Chair.

Franklin was happy to join the Board because of his commitment to the great outdoors. He summited Mount McKinley in 1991 with the National Outdoor Leadership School. Franklin was raised in Cleveland, Ohio but his love of nature along with his family roots drew him to live in Vermont. Franklin lives in Waterbury Center with his wife and two small children. He is passionate about skiing and hiking and is enjoying sharing these passions with his family.

Rain Banbury

Rain Banbury is a native of Philadelphia, who came to Vermont via Florida - in February, no less! With a background in human resources and conflict resolution, as well as a passion for the outdoors, Rain was asked to serve as a roving crew leader for the 2000 season. She was thrilled to get a chance to develop the biceps she'd always wanted, with a Crew Leader position in the VYCC, although it only dawned on her after hearing the resumes of all the other incoming leaders how very lucky she was to be selected coming from the office background that she did. This feeling of awe and appreciation grows each year meeting the latest crop of experiential leaders and she especially loves the fact that the end of crew leader training and simultaneous board meeting always seems to coincide with her birthday.

Rain graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh Honors College with a dual degree in Political Science and Philosophy and has traveled extensively abroad with the fabulous Semester at Sea program as both a student and staff. Some of her other fun Pittsburgh volunteer activities were as an ESL tutor and training as a community mediator. After earning her degree, Rain moved to Florida to pursue a glamorous career in the citrus industry bagging produce and waiting for her big break. . . .

. . .Which came in the form of an invitation to move to Vermont and help design a program for conflict resolution at the community level in Kosovo, combining her loves of international politics and conflict resolution. Although the project did not get off the ground, and cold ground it was in April of 2000, she loved Vermont enough to stick it out and get a temp at job where she read the ad that led her to make the call to get the interview to join the Corps to build the biceps. . . you get the picture.

Rain is delighted to have served on the board since 2001 and is especially excited about the Monitor Barns / Training Center project! (With 9 addresses under her belt in 5 years, she can well relate to the appeal of a permanent home -- and in fact just purchased her own.)

A recent graduate of Woodbury College's year long Mediation and Conflict Management program, Rain is currently working on building her private mediation practice.

Tom Johnson

I finally succeeded in becoming a full time Vermonter in 2001 after more than forty years of commuting from New York City necessitated by a film and television career. I no longer make films, but I am involved in civic engagement, environmental, and community projects here in Vermont and in Pittsburgh Pa.

I studied English and American Studies at Williams College where I discovered the great New England outdoors. I received a Master of Arts in Broadcasting, Film and Communication Research from Stanford University where I pursued my discovery in the Sierras. After some years as a freelance journalist, filmmaker, media consultant, activist, and a teaching stint as Director of Media Studies and Assistant Professor at Antioch College Baltimore, I settled down in New York City and co-Produced and Directed the An American Portrait series of documentary films for theatrical and television release.

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, Vermont. I live in Poultney (and only occasionally) New York City with my partner Ina Smith and two cats. I have one son, Asa.