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John is Chair of the Board and a founder of Smart Growth Vermont.   He served as Chair of the Vermont Environmental Board from 1995 until 1998, responsible for the administration of Act 250.  He was appointed by Governor Howard Dean as a member of the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board.  Prior to his appointment to the Environmental Board, he served as President of Bank of Vermont, having joined the bank in 1972 as General Counsel.  A graduate of Amherst College and Yale Law School, he was in general practice of law from 1957 until joining the bank.  In his law practice, John specialized in municipal law and zoning and planning, representing a number of Vermont towns, regional planning commissions and governmental agencies.  John and his wife Jane live in Burlington.

Chad’s career and professional practice has focused on the assessment and cleanup of hazardous waste sites. He has worked extensively in the State of Vermont, and his experience includes numerous projects at locations throughout the United States and abroad. Chad’s work has concentrated on brownfields redevelopment, where he has worked to return vacant, abandoned or otherwise underutilized properties to productive reuse.  He has also been involved in numerous state-level initiatives to help promote the redevelopment of brownfields in Vermont. More recently, Chad has begun his own business, Encore Redevelopment, which specializes in investment, project management and consulting services related to real estate acquisition and development, with a focus on environmentally challenged sites and infill development strategies. In addition to over 15 years of experience in the contaminated site management field, Chad holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Bucknell University and Master of Science Degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Vermont.

Currently founder, principal and designer for BILD NorAm, Inc. specializing in concepts, programming, planning and design, Larry has previously been a partner at Camward Associates, Inc., Architecture and Planning, Project Designer, John D. Haines, Architects and Planners, and Environmental Design Coordinator, Stratton Mountain, Vermont.  Since 1991, Larry has served as a grass roots committee member and later as Secretary, Vice President and President of the Friends of the West River Trail, a citizens interest group and non-profit organization working to develop and utilize the past rail corridor of the defunct West River Railroad along the scenic West River.  He has also served on the Londonderry Planning and Development Commission and the Windham Regional Commission Planning Coordination Committee.  Larry has also served as community member on the steering committee for the development of a Long-range Management Plan and operating philosophy for Lowell Lake Sate Park in Londonderry, and as a member of the Londonderry Revitalization Committee.   A 31 year resident of Vermont, Larry attended New England College, majoring in Environmental Sciences and Engineering and the School of Art, Architecture and Planning, Cornell University, majoring in Architecture.

Sarah currently serves as the chair of National Audubon Society’s Centers Review Task Force and Co-Chair of the Development Committee. She is a board member and past chair of ECHO at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain and is a board member of the Burlington Schools Foundation. Ms. Muyskens is a former director of development and director of finance for the Wilderness Society and former deputy director for Environmental Defense.

John Roberts is a dairy farmer from Cornwall Vermont, who immigrated from the United Kingdom.  He has lived with his wife and family in Vermont for the last 30 years. Over the years, John has been involved with various Boards and Committees, namely the Vermont Water Resources Board and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board. He is presently a member of the Cornwall Planning Commission.

David is former Legal Counsel to Governor Howard Dean, where, in addition to providing general counsel advice, he was responsible for designing – and executing – approaches to achieve the Governor’s goals on the most critical policy initiatives. In addition, David chaired the Governor’s Development Cabinet and Criminal Justice Cabinet and was a senior policy advisor on complex issues, including the environment, energy policy and criminal justice matters. Previously he was an attorney at Hale and Dorr in Boston and a special litigator for Vermont’s Attorney General, where his specialty was the management and favorable resolution of complex litigation. David received his JD at Boston College Law School and his BA in Political Science from the University of Vermont.

After graduating from Williams College in 1977, Bill traveled around the world for two years, eventually settling in Vermont and graduating from Vermont Law School in 1983. For the next 14 years, he practiced law in a private firm in Middlebury, Vermont and became a prominent land use attorney focusing on creative and thoughtful local community planning, as well as on sound economic and environmental development in the private market. In 1997-1998, Bill lived with his wife and two daughters on the west coast of Ireland where he spearheaded changes to Ireland’s land use practices and regulations, helped form Ireland’s first land trust and worked on several local projects. He has written articles for the Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review and the Vermont Law Review and has authored a chapter on the Foundation’s groundbreaking planning software for the edited volume, Conservation in the Internet Age (Island Press, 2002). Bill, Present and CEO of the Orton Family Foundation,  lives with his family in Weybridge, Vermont and serves on the Weybridge Planning Commission.

Don was born in Westfield, Vermont and educated in Burlington public schools, Oberlin College, NYU, and UMass. He taught at Hamilton College, chaired the Union high school board in Brattleboro, and served on the State Board of Education, and was in superintendent in Bennington and the Rutland area.  In government and politics, he served as Commerce Secretary under Gov. Tom Salmon and in the Vermont House where he co-sponsored the major expansion of the Vermont’s Downtown Program in 2002.  Currently he is President of Building a Better Brattleboro, Brattleboro’s designated downtown organization and is the owner of the Riverview Café. 

Robin recently completed an assignment as Interim Executive Director of the Middlebury Area Land Trust. She has a variety of conservation experience, having spent seven years on the Vermont Land Trust board (four years as Board Chair), several years on Middlebury’s first Conservation Committee, and been Interim District Manager of the Addison County Solid Waste Management District. In addition, Robin has 16 years of banking experience with a major international bank, worked as a Senior Education Specialist at the Professional Development Program at SUNY-Albany, and has been an officer or chair of several local boards, including the Mary Hogan School, and the Middlebury Natural Foods Coop. She brings over 25 years experience in both the corporate and nonprofit worlds to her private consulting practice. Working in Vermont as well as nationally, she specializes in helping to strengthen nonprofit organizations, primarily in the areas of governance, board leadership and development, financial management, planning, communications, and team building. In May 2008, Robin received her MS in Management from Antioch University New England and her BA is from Smith College.

Ellen has led and been a team member for a wide range of planning projects including Village Improvement Plans, all of which focused on the repairing and developing the local vernacular, streetscape, pedestrian and community feel.   
Using a sustainable approach to materials and site, and a style that often incorporates the local vernacular, she has specialized in creating energy efficient architectural solutions throughout the Northeast. She is active in the local community in planning, recreation, trail and preservation issues and serves as a member of the Mad River Valley Rural Resource Commission / CLG. 
Her company, Sanford/Strauss Architects, maintains offices in Waitsfield and Middlebury, VT and has been in operation since November of 1987. Previous experience includes working for Philip Johnson Architect in NYC. Ellen is licensed in the states of New York and Massachusetts, is registered with the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, and is a member of the American Institute of Architects.   She received her Bachelor's degree and Maters in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania.  She currently lives in Warren with her family.