2024 Vermont Statewide Housing Conference Speakers

Abbie Jefferies works at EastRise Credit Union as a Mortgage Loan Origination Supervisor. 

Abbie has worked at EastRise (formerly NEFCU) for over 15 years, with 12 of those years in various mortgage department roles. She enjoys working with team members, EastRise members, and other partners to help solve the housing needs of our communities. 

Chad Simmons is the Housing Policy & Engagement Specialist at Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA). Since joining the agency in 2021, Chad supports VHFA's policy priorities and leads the agency's justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts and builds relationships with other housing and community partners. Prior to joining VHFA, Chad spent 15 years as a community…

Charlie Baker has over 30 years of experience in transportation and land use planning and has served as Executive Director of the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) since 2008. Under his leadership, CCRPC has expanded from 8 to 21 staff with a $9 million budget, focusing on housing, equity, transportation, economic development, energy, and…

Chris Cochran leads a talented, multi-disciplinary team in the Community Planning + Revitalization Division at the Vermont Department of Housing & Community Development. Together, they oversee a $40M budget and take a place-based approach to land-use planning and community development to empower state and local leaders to plan for and build vibrant,…

Dr. Christopher Herbert is Managing Director of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies and a Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. In his decades of experience studying the U.S. housing market, Dr. Herbert has focused on the financial, social, and demographic aspects of homeownership, the dynamics of the rental market, housing affordability, and…

Cindy is a Mortgage Loan Originator.  She is a native Vermonter and UVM graduate.  Cindy prides herself on providing quality customer service and serving as an advocate for her clients; she keeps clients’ best interests at heart.  As one co-worker stated: “Her passion to help Vermont families become homeowners is second to none.”

Currie Murphy (she/her) is the Peer Support Team Lead at Healthworks ACT, an assertive community treatment team in Brattleboro. With over 15 years of experience in various peer support roles, including serving as an Intentional Peer Support organizational trainer, she is dedicated to empowering individuals in their journeys. When she's not busy supporting…

Dan Baker, Professor Emeritus at the University of Vermont. Dan's research has focused on the well-being of migrant dairy farmworkers for the past 20 years, with a scope that includes research interviewing dairy farmworkers and dairy farmers, following up that work with projects to address needs identified in that research.  For the…

Devon Chodzin, Zoning Code Analyst at National Zoning Atlas. Devon previously worked with the Hawaii Zoning Atlas as a member of the state's zoning analyst team. Prior to that, he worked for three years in community development in Cleveland, planning large community events, weekly outreach programming, and leading community engagement efforts in partnership with public planners.…

Eric Hoffman is the Manager of Business Development for Homeownership at VHFA. Before joining VHFA, Eric was a Housing Counselor with Champlain Housing Trust where he helped Vermonters gain access to safe and affordable housing. Eric holds a law degree and briefly practiced real estate law in Vermont before entering the affordable housing non-profit sector. Eric also has experience…

Heather is an author, national political contributor, educator, and public policy leader. For nearly two decades, Heather helped build the "think and do" tank Dēmos, a non-profit public policy organization working to build a just, inclusive, multiracial democracy and economy. She served as the organization’s president for four years.  

Heather is the author…

Jacob Hemmerick, AICP, is a community planning & policy manager at the Vermont Department of Housing & Community Development in the Division of Community Planning + Revitalization –- a team that uses a place-based approach to land-use planning and community development to empower state and local leaders to plan for and build vibrant, inclusive, and…

Jess Graff, Program Director of Franklin Grand Isle Community Action. Champlain Vally Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO). As Program Director, Jess oversees several programs and services within Franklin Grand Isle including NorthWest Family Foods as well as a Crisis Fuel program, and programs and services that provide funding and support to…

Jessica Guardado, LICSW, LADC. Healthworks ACT Steer Committee Member; Director of Supportive Services at Groundworks Collaborative. Jessica became passionate about serving individuals struggling with homelessness when volunteering at a large shelter in college. Despite earning her undergraduate degree in Economics from Boston College…

John Adams is the Director of the Vermont Center for Geographic Information, focused on democratizing data and cultivating a culture of openness within government. He has over a decade of experience in land use planning, both in Vermont and internationally. Previously, John served as Planning and Policy Manager at the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development and is the…

Julie Curtin is the Director of Homeownership at Champlain Housing Trust. Julie joined Champlain Housing Trust (CHT) as the Director of Homeownership in October 2021. She was most recently the Chief Operating Officer and interim Chief Executive Officer of Downstreet Housing and Community Development in Barre and before that was Director of Legal Services at the Vermont Land Trust.…

Kahlia Livingston, Fair Housing Project Education & Outreach Coordinator at Champlain Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO). She is a Burlington native and has worked and volunteered in the social justice and social services field throughout her lifetime in Vermont. She graduated from UVM with a degree in Political Science and Sociology where she expanded her interest in law…

Kate Paarlberg-Kvam (she/they) is the Executive Director at Milk with Dignity Standards Council (MDSC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the monitoring and enforcement of labor rights on farms in the Milk with Dignity Program. MDSC also works to connect participating farms to funding and support from housing partners, making it possible to build new…

Kathy Beyer is Senior Vice President Real Estate Development. Over the past 30 years, Ms. Beyer has been directly involved in affordable housing and community development. She directs the real estate development activities at Evernorth, a nonprofit development corporation working to serve communities in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.  Kathy holds a Master’s degree in Public…

Kendall Fortney is the Program Director of the Vermont Research Open Source Program Office (VERSO) at the University of Vermont, where he works with faculty, staff, students, and the local community to advance the open-source ecosystem. Through the Open Research Community Accelerator (ORCA) program, Kendall leads efforts to foster innovation, research, and community engagement via…

Kevin Shortell, Attorney and Managing Partner at Peet Law Group. 

Kevin is one of two managing partners of Peet Law Group, a law firm with offices in Williston and White River Junction, which focuses on residential and commercial real estate transactions throughout the entire State of Vermont. A graduate of the University of Vermont and Boston University…

Kurt L. White, LICSW, LADC, CGP, MAC, AGPA-F (he/him) is the Vice President of Community Partnerships at Brattleboro Retreat, and is a clinician and social worker by training, who continues to practice with individuals, families, and groups in addition to other work. He is a longtime adjunct professor of…

Liz Gleason is the Director of the Farm & Forest Viability Program at the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB). She focuses on programming that enhances the long-term viability of Vermont’s working lands businesses, connects these businesses with grants to grow and improve, and works with a statewide network of partners focused on sustainability in the ag sector. She…

Madeleine McCullough serves as Program Coordinator and Analyst for the National Housing Trust's Sustainability Policy team. In this role, she works to advance clean energy policy, namely focused on ensuring the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) benefits multifamily affordable housing providers and residents, increasing their access to clean energy solutions. She is also project lead for…

Marita Canedo is originally from Bolivia and has been part of Migrant Justice for over ten years. Her role is to Coordinate the Milk with Dignity Program and its expansion. She also coordinates the emergency line for workers outside the MD Program, connecting them with field organizers, service providers, and other support groups.

Nate Lantieri is the Housing Research Coordinator at Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) and a community organizer in Burlington, Vermont. Since moving to Vermont in 2015, he has embraced the state’s culture of community-mindedness and done what he can to create "freedom & unity" for all Vermonters. After graduating from UVM from the department of Community Development &…

Pete Gill, Esq. serves as Executive Director of Vermont’s Natural Resources Board (NRB), the state agency responsible for administering Act 250, Vermont's comprehensive land use law. Under recent statutory changes from Act 181, the NRB will transition to the Land Use Review Board, implementing a new location-based jurisdiction model. Gill, alongside a skilled…

Raechel McLeod is the Regulatory Program Coordinator at EastRise Credit Union. Raechel has worked in the mortgage department for over 20 years. She’s worked in various roles such as Mortgage Processor, Underwriter, and Operations Supervisor. 

Rebecca Burns, RN. Healthworks ACT Steering Committee Chair/Acting Program Manager; Director of Community Initiatives at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. Rebecca is the Director of Community Initiatives at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital.  In that role she serves as the Blueprint Program Manager implementing programs such as the…

Stockton Williams is Executive Director of the National Council of State Housing Agencies. NCSHA’s state housing finance agency members have delivered more than $740 billion in financing to make possible the purchase, development, and rehabilitation of more than 8.2 million affordable homes for low- and moderate-income households. Stockton leads NCSHA’s wide-ranging efforts to…

TJ Poor is the Director Regulated Planning for the Vermont Department of Public Service. TJ Poor is the Director Regulated Utility Planning at the Vermont Department of Public Service, which plays a dual role as Vermont’s State Energy Office and Vermont’s ratepayer advocate in matters before its Public Utilities Commission.  In his role at the Department, TJ oversees…

Yoshi Bird, UVM Complex Systems. Trained in law at the University of Michigan, Yoshi returned to academia in 2021 to pursue a PhD in Complex Systems and Data Science at the University of Vermont after a career in homelessness services spanning two states, three Continua of Care, and nearly twenty years of professional experience. As Project Director of the Vermont Zoning Atlas,…