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.
Jason Van Driesche, Program Director
Prior to joining Smart Growth Vermont, Jason was Director of the Clean and Water Program at Upstate Forever, a non-profit conservation and smart growth advocacy organization in South Carolina. A native of Westhampton, Massachusetts, a rural town in the Berkshire Hills, Van Driesche understands the issues facing rural towns and small cities of northern New England. At Upstate Forever, Van Driesche developed and implemented a 25-year program vision and four year strategic plan for the organization’s Urban Rivers Project, Mountain Streams Project, Rural Waters Project and State Waters Resources Project. Through these and other initiatives, he worked with public and private sector partners on low-impact development, ecologically based stormwater management, traditional neighborhood design, greenway and park planning, and pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure development.
Before working at Upstate Forever, Van Driesche earned an MS in Urban and Regional Planning and an MS in Land Resources, both from the University of Wisconsin. He has also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama, worked on the Sloop Clearwater (a floating environmental classroom on the Hudson River), written a book on invasive species, and worked as a land steward for The Nature Conservancy.
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.
MIKE MILLER, SENIOR LAND USE PLANNER
Prior to joining Smart Growth Vermont, Mike served as a Senior Land Use Planner for the Lamoille County Planning Commission. He has used his extensive land use planning experience at all levels in Vermont, including serving on local commissions, preparing bylaws and zoning, developing regional plans and working on state. Mike worked with communities to address growth center planning, affordable housing challenges, Act 115 zoning changes, transportation issues and new wastewater and stormwater rules.
In addition to his work at the Lamoille County Planning Commission, Mike has served as a staff planner at the Northwest Regional Planning Commission, Chair of the Hardwick Planning Commission, and a member of the planning commissions in the communities of Belvidere and Johnson. He earned a BA in Biology at Hartwick and an MS in Natural Resource Planning at the University of Vermont. Mike lives with his wife on a small sheep and horse farm in East Hardwick.
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
Darby Bradley, Calais
Chad Farrell, Burlington
Lawrence E. Gubb, II, Londonderry
Madeleine May Kunin, Burlington
Sarah Muyskens, Burlington
John Roberts, Cornwall
David M. Rocchio, Stowe
Bill Roper, Weybridge
Don Webster, Brattleboro
For complete bios of our Board members, visit our Board of Directors page.