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Lauren Hierl joined Vermont Conservation Voters as Political Director in 2014, and was promoted to Executive Director in 2018. Prior to that, Lauren worked for two years as Environmental Health Advocate at the Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG). She previously worked as an environmental advocate in Washington, DC at National Audubon Society and Alaska Wilderness League. She also conducted climate change research in Kruger National Park in South Africa, and oversaw a land and endangered species conservation assessment in San Diego.

Lauren received her Master of Environmental Management and Master of Public Policy degrees at Duke University, and a Bachelors in Environmental Studies and Ecology at Dartmouth College. She is currently serving her third term as a Montpelier City Councilor.

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Justin Marsh joined VCV in 2022 as Political Outreach Director bringing a decade’s worth of communications, conservation, and campaign experience with them. In 2012, they ran for the state legislature and have worked on several historic campaigns since. They are a published editor (Tasteful Traditions, Red Barn Books, 2014), and have held or currently serve in several positions on local non-profit and municipal boards. In 2016, they helped write the grant known as The Silo Project, which transformed two abandoned concrete silos on preserved land into the largest outdoor public art installment in the state of Vermont. In 2020, as chair of Cambridge Conservation Commission, they were instrumental in the conservation of 51 acres of land now known as the Peter A. Krusch Nature Preserve. Prior to joining VCV, they were the lead organizer of the Pride Vermont Parade & Festival as well as Director of Communications & Development at Pride Center of Vermont.

They are an alum of Vermont State University and currently reside in Cambridge on their family’s farm and sugar bush.

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Kelly is the Program Director at Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) a nonprofit based in western MA, where she oversees the organization’s grants and manages programs in the areas of building markets, farm to consumer, infrastructure, and public issues and education.  She received a master’s degree from Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and spent several years promoting sustainable agriculture and supporting environmental causes in California before moving back to her native Northeast.  From 2012 to 2021, she served as Chair of the Board of Directors of Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC).  Kelly lives in Brattleboro with her husband and two children.

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Catherine is the chair of the Town of Stowe Energy Committee, which she co-founded in 2020. She is also a local advocate for Lamoille, Orange, and Washington counties as a part of the Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network. Since 2020, Catherine has been the communications director at the Vermont Arts Council. Previously, for more than a decade, she worked in science communications at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis. She has served as vice chair of the Stowe Democratic Party, delegate for Lamoille County Democratic Party, and delegate to the State Democratic Party. She has a PhD in Communications (Science concentration) and a M.Ed. in Secondary Education. She has taught journalism and English at the middle, high school, and college-level and began her career as print journalist in Southern California and Washington, DC, covering environmental and labor news during the Clinton Administration.

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From 1991 to 2019, David Deen represented Windham-4 as a member of the Vermont House of Representatives, where he spent fourteen years as Chair of the Committee on Natural Resources, Fish and Wildlife. Prior to that, he was the first Democrat to be elected to the Vermont Senate from Windham County. Formerly a River Steward for the Connecticut River Watershed Council (now the Connecticut River Conservancy), David has a long history of advocacy for clean water protection in the State of Vermont. An avid fisherman, he owned and operated Strictly Trout, a professional fly-fishing guide business, for nearly three decades. He also worked on issues of poverty, weatherization, and housing as Executive Director of Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA). David lives with his wife Allison in Putney.

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Elected to her fourth term in 2021, Helen is currently serves as Chair of the South Burlington City Council. She was formerly the Executive Director of the Champlain Valley Area Health Education Center (AHEC) from 2011 to 2015, and Executive Director of the Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care (VPQHC) from 2000 to 2010.  Representing Chittenden County as both a state representative (1983 to 1992) and state senator (1993 to 2000), Helen chaired health and welfare, administrative rules and health access committees in the Vermont legislature, and started her career as a middle school teacher. Helen has been active on numerous non-profit and higher education boards including the University of Vermont, Burlington College, and Vermont Public Television. She is a graduate of the University of Vermont (B.S.) and lives in South Burlington with her husband Ted.

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Peter has been the Executive Director of Renewable Energy Vermont since 2021. Prior to working at REV, Peter served as the Chief of Staff to Vermont Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe. From 2006 through 2016 Peter led several efforts to expand access to public health care programs and was one of the leading voices in Vermont for a publicly funded, universal health care system. Peter was the Campaign Manager for Congressman Bernie Sanders in 2002 and did graduate studies in forestry and forest policy at UVM’s School Of Natural Resources. He has served on the board of directors of the Vermont Chapter of the Sierra Club, Vermont Conservation Voters, and the Vermont Natural Resources Council.

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Mary Sullivan is a former Vermont state representative having served from 1991-2001 and 2015-2021, the majority of the time serving on the House Natural Resources Committee (chair, 1999-2001). She served on the Transportation Committee in the last biennium. She served as co-chair of the Climate Solutions Caucus for three years. She was the communications director at Burlington Electric Department from 2000-2015. She started her professional career working for Sen. Patrick Leahy in Washington. She also spent ten years in journalism. She’s a graduate of Trinity College of Vermont (B.A.) and Boston University (M.S.).