Staff
Noelle MacKay, Executive Director
Noelle has served as Executive Director of Smart Growth Vermont since 2005. She was previously Deputy Director of the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association in New Jersey. She directed The New Jersey Project for Municipal Excellence, which built partnerships between municipal officials and environmental advocates to improve the protection of water and related ecological resources. As a result of her work, the Association earned the New Jersey Achievement in Planning Award from the New Jersey Planning Officials. A native of Nova Scotia, Noelle received her undergraduate degree from Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, and graduate degree in environmental studies from Dalhousie University in Halifax. As part of her graduate program, she worked on watershed management issues in West Sumatra, Indonesia.
Suzanne Blanchard, Program Director
suzanne@smartgrowthvermont.org
Prior to joining Smart Growth Vermont, after practicing environmental law for a decade in Washington, D.C. and Princeton, N.J., Suzanne was vice president for content development at a legal web site and a consultant to local governments, non-profit organizations and businesses. Suzanne was Editor at the regional web site phillyBurbs.com, where she also contributed a weekly column, Useful Things. She has volunteered on community and professional organizations throughout her career, including service as a municipal and regional planning commissioner, environmental advisory council chair, and longtime chair of the legal committee for a local Habitat for Humanity affiliate.Suzanne also serves on the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission and is a board member of the Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Organization. She has worked on housing, land use and environmental issues for two decades.Suzanne graduated from Colgate University and Vermont Law School with a J.D. and Master's in Environmental Law, cum laude. She worked for the Agency of Natural Resources while attending VLS and clerked at the U.S Department of Justice Environmental Enforcement Section.
Mary Harwood, Development Director
Mary comes to Smart Growth with a long history of working with non-profit organizations in Vermont and Pennsylvania as a staff member and as a fundraising and grant writing consultant. She has served as the Director of Development of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and the Girl Scout Council of Vermont. As a consultant, she has worked with a wide range of Vermont organizations including the Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph, Burlington Children’s Space, and the T.W. Wood Gallery and Art Center and Gallery in Montpelier. She is a founding board member of Bella Voce Women’s Chorus of Vermont, where she serves as head of the Development Committee. Mary also sings with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra Chorus.
Originally from New Jersey, Mary earned her undergraduate degree from Douglass College, the women’s college of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. She recently completed her MFA in writing at in the Stonecoast Low-Residency program of the University of Southern Maine and is an adjunct member of the Community Faculty of Burlington College. She is a published journalist, fiction writer and poet. She lives in South Hero with her husband George and dog Stella, who truly enjoys the water.
Serena Parnau, Office Manager & Development Assistant
Serena has joined Smart Growth Vermont with a background in Nonprofit Management and years of experience working with various nonprofit organizations. A former resident of Colorado, Serena was instrumental in forming a farmers market in the community where she lived as well as developing a Community Volunteer Guide. While obtaining an undergraduate degree at Western State College, Serena also created a county-wide Renters Rights Guide. Additionally, she received a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the University of Oregon. Serena, her husband Chris, and their daughter Lily, enjoy spending time outdoors.
Board of Directors
Smart Growth Vermont has an active and dedicated board who represent all areas of the state. The diverse backgrounds of our board members ensure that growth, development, conservation, and smart solutions are available in all of Vermont’s dynamic economic sectors. Members include:
John Ewing, Burlington, Board Chair
Chad Farrell, Burlington
Lawrence E. Gubb, II, Londonderry
Peter Helmetag, Dorset
John Roberts, Cornwall
David M. Rocchio, Stowe
Bill Roper, Weybridge
Robin Poole-Scheu, Middlebury
Ellen Strauss, Warren
Don Webster, Brattleboro
For complete bios of our Board members, visit our Board of Directors page.