10:45-12:00 Breakouts
W1. Storytelling: Bridge Divides and Build Trust
This interactive workshop explores how storytelling can transform difficult conversations or processes into pathways for trust and collaboration. Gain insight and skills to listen differently, design programs more justly, and build trust in your community. The solutions to our biggest challenges are already here in the stories of your community. Our work is to hear them, honor them, and act accordingly.
Presenter: Madison Murphy Barney, The Center for Story & Strategy
W2. Best Practices for Meeting and Event Facilitation
This session will cover the basics of framing a process of engagement, meeting planning, agenda design, facilitation 101, setting priorities, and effective follow up.
Presenter: Jessica Savage, Vermont Council on Rural Development
P1. Community Housing: Borrowing Brilliance
Creating more attainable housing is a priority in many communities: come hear from people just like you on how to get started, what is possible and what resources exist to create housing that fits your community’s needs. Panelists will tell their stories and take time to answer your questions so that you can take home new ideas and peer connections to help your community take it’s next steps.
Moderator: Jessica Hyman, CVOEO
Panelists:
Joe Camaratta, Waterbury Housing Taskforce
Marcella Eversole, Putney Housing Solutions Taskforce
Jeff Pratt, New Haven Housing Taskforce
Sue Coakley, Putney Planning Commission
P2. School Building Transformations
The closure of a local school is a situation that many communities are facing or experiencing. Come learn from towns that have navigated this transition, and have completed or are in the process of repurposing former school buildings to serve new community purposes.
Moderator: Alyssa Johnson, Vermont Council on Rural Development
Panelists:
Kathryn Schenkman, Valley Hub Inc – RHS Repurposing Project
Brian Bontrager, Bridgewater Community Childcare & Community (invited)
Meg Streeter, Old School Enrichment Council
Shannon Barsotti, Town of Bennington
P3. Safe Streets, Accessible Recreation, and Inclusive Mobility
Hear from experts and community members who are working to increase the accessibility of recreation in Vermont communities.
Moderator: Sharon Plumb, Vermont Trails and Greenways Council
Panelists:
Nate Besio, Vermont Center for Independent Living
Caitlin Cusack, Vermont Land Trust
P4. Boosting Local Democracy Without Picking Sides
How can organizations and community leaders support democracy without becoming branded as politically divisive? In this facilitated discussion, participants will hear from a panel of organizations working on apolitical projects that support democratic systems. Participants will then break out in small groups to reflect on a dilemma in their community and practice skills for inquiry and advocacy. At the end, we will regroup for some debriefing and panelist reflections.
Moderator: Sarah Henshaw, Nonprofit Helpdesk
Panelists:
Robyn Palmer, Secretary of State’s Office
Dottye Ricks, League of Women Voters of Vermont
Shanna Ratner, Braver Angels
W3. Wild Belonging
Working on community resilience, strategic planning, economic development — or just want to sharpen your networking skills? Social connection can seem like a nice-to-have, but a closer look proves it’s essential to a thriving community. Investing in growing meaningful social connection doesn’t only reduce isolation and loneliness and improve health; it’s the foundation a resilient and regenerative community stands on. Dive deeper with Jeanette Langston of Social Roots Studio, a leader in the emerging field of social connection. She serves as U.S. Regional Ambassador to the global Social Connection Collective and brings eight years of work, grounded in research, practice, and lived experience. You’ll leave with a deeper understanding of connection, why it matters to your community’s goals, and how to cultivate it intentionally — with practical grounding and fresh inspiration to start or continue your own social connection work.
Presenter: Jeanette Langston, Social Roots Studio
P5. AI for Rural Leaders
AI is here and is having a real-world impact on Vermont’s rural communities and businesses. This panel, moderated by Neale Lunderville, Chair of Vermont’s AI Task Force will help participants understand what the State is doing to plan for this technology, and feature panelists with different expertise on the use and impacts of AI. This session is intentionally designed to bring multiple perspectives and to answer your questions about AI.
Moderator: Neale Lunderville, AI Taskforce
Panelists:
Tino Rutanhira, Vermont Professionals of Color
AnGayle Vasiliou, Middlebury College
Cass Madison, Center for Civic Future (invited)
Brian Lowe, Assembly Theory
W4. Mental Health Literacy for Communities
Learn how to support community members in times of uncertainty. Gain tools to start conversations, identify needs, resources, and support the individual to develop coping and resiliency for future mental wellness.
Presenter: Carrie Kelley, Hopeful Minds
1:15-2:30pm Breakouts
W5. Facilitating in Demanding Moments
Explores techniques for a more complex or difficult meeting or convening facilitation.
Presenter: TBA
W6. Funding Your Project – Institutional and Individual Giving
Every community project needs a plan for where the money comes from — and that plan usually involves more than one kind of funder. This session walks through the essentials of building a case for support and shows how that case shifts depending on your audience: what grantors and institutional funders need to see versus what motivates individual donors in your community to give. You’ll leave with a clearer sense of your funding landscape, the building blocks of a strong case for support, and a simple framework for setting realistic goals across different revenue streams.
Presenter: Jenn Hayslett, Jenn Hayslett Coaching & Consulting
W7. Planning Accessible Public Engagements
Learn fundamental skills to plan a public event, municipal process, or community project welcoming to all. Presenters will share how to integrate accessibility and inclusion into the core of your project, from pathways for participation to inviting and responding to ADA accommodation requests. Leave with skills that will break down barriers and get more of your community engaged!
Presenter: Peter Johnke, Vermont Center for Independent Living
P6. Small Town Economies: Models for Businesses and Beyond
Creative models for strengthening community and business development go hand in hand. This panel will explore examples where small towns have built out Community Trusts, cooperatives, town-led redevelopment, or partnering with major employers. We will hear how efforts got started, adapted to (or overcame) challenges, and how successes have led to vibrant small towns across the state.
Moderator: Sarah Furman, Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region
Panelists:
Thayer Tomlinson, Friends of Algiers
Ryan Nakhleh, Local Maverick
Sam Hooper, Vermont Glove (invited)
P7. Reinventing Social Connection
Creative and new ways to increase social connections demonstrate the opportunities to bring joy and connection to our lives. Local groups are re-inventing how to gather: from shutting down streets for neighborhood block parties, social groups around a common theme, and connecting people through skillshare, song, or meals.
Moderator: Henry Botzum, Shires Young Professionals
Panelists:
HB Lozito, Out in the Open
Gretchen Schimelpfenig, Huntington Block Party
Will and Jennifer Condry, Juniper Creative Arts
Sarah Blizzard, Shires Young Professionals
P8. How Farmers and Foresters are Building Community
While many Vermonters value our working landscape, farmers and foresters have faced many challenges in recent decades. This panel will explore how the people behind our working lands build networks among businesses and strengthen themselves and their communities. This panel will ask what can community leaders learn from their collaboration and how can communities and working lands businesses work together?
Moderator: Jon Ramsey, Center for an Agricultural Economy
Panelists:
Megan Browning, Addison County Relocalization Network (ACORN)
Kate Forrer, Vermont Woodlands Association
amber arnold, SUSU ComUNITY Farm
W8. Youth and Adults Leading Together
Explore models of youth-adult partnerships and what needs to happen to bring these practices to more Vermont communities. Participants will discuss ways community groups, school boards, or local governance can center youth voice, invite youth to participate in decision making, and inspire and enable youth and adult partnership.
Presenters: Lauren Brady, Vermont Council on Rural Development
Staff Member, UP for Learning
Member, Leading Together Steering Committee (invited)
W9. Leadership as a Creative Practice
Creativity is a Leadership Skill: Successful leadership requires creative thinking, creative skills, and a creative approach. This workshop will help you understand where the creative version of yourself lives, where and how to access it, and help you use your creativity as a necessary leadership skill.
Presenter: Barbara Vacarr, The Creative Campus
W10. Capital Projects 101: Vision to Planning to Implementation
Join this workshop for an introduction to project management for a community revitalization project that requires extensive capital. Learn how to organize around an initial vision, define goals and priorities, navigate funding considerations, and move your project from idea to implementation.
Presenter: Nicole Gratton, Preservation Trust of Vermont
W11. EVERYDAY — Big and Small: A Conversation with the Filmmaker
Join filmmaker Bess O’Brien for a viewing of a segment of her new documentary EVERYDAY – Big and Small, which highlights Vermonters creating connection, resilience, possibility, and joy in their communities. After the screening, O’Brien will lead a discussion on how Vermonters pull together and create miracles to create positive change. The full film will tour Vermont from September 15 to October 11.
Presenter: Bess O’Brien, American Film Producer and Director
2:45-4pm Breakouts
W12. Fundraising Conversations: Building Relationships That Lead to Giving
Raising money in your community starts with relationships. This session focuses on the person-to-person side of fundraising: how to identify the people in your community who care about your project, how to open a conversation with them, and how to move that relationship toward an invitation to give. Relationships also matter in seeking grant support. Using a simple model for donor conversations, you’ll explore how to frame your project’s story and leave with next steps for who to talk to next and how.
Presenter: Jenn Hayslett, Jenn Hayslett Coaching & Consulting
W13. From Crisis to Opportunity: Rethinking the Big Issues
Housing, population, healthcare, affordability… Many Vermonters agree that these are existential issues. But at the statewide down to the local level our communities struggle to find common ground on solutions and then take concrete action. How can we call on community-level experience, think creatively, and move forward together? Join this hands-on creative workshop to think with your peers and leave with tools to have these discussions in your community.
Presenter: Dru Roessle, Wellbeing Economy Alliance of Vermont
W14. Finding “Both/And” Solutions to Your Community’s Hard Questions
Description Attend this workshop if you have ever left a local meeting feeling discouraged about how the conversation went and wanting more inclusive, productive, and empowered community dialogue. Learn why things often go wrong and gain a tool to help groups work towards outcomes that honor diverging viewpoints.
Presenter: Susan Clark, Community Development Professional
P9. Building Community Climate Resilience
How do communities look at the long view of climate resilience? Years after the climate disturbance the extra volunteers have moved on, roads are rebuilt, and displaced individuals have housing, yet long view resilience implementation is still needed. Participants will hear about available tools for climate resilience in their communities. These tools can assess existing resilience, plan for what it will take to align local neighborhood groups with municipal efforts such as the Local Emergency Management Plans, and incorporate climate planning into municipal processes. Come away with available tools for your town.
Moderator: Maggie O’Brien, Rutland Regional Planning Commission
Panelists:
Lena Greenberg, Community Resilience Organization
Marian Wolz, Climate Action Office
Kate O’Neill, Center for an Agricultural Economy
P10. Community Gathering Spaces
Small towns have opportunities for developing community gathering spaces for community connection, trust building, belonging, and neighborliness. This panel will showcase local leaders creating flexible spaces that often must take on many different forms within the span of a week. From community meals to music and recreation, examples will highlight the partnerships for success and the power of social infrastructure in small towns that utilizes the buildings and spaces already there.
Moderator: Richard Amore, Local Motion
Panelists: Jasmine Yuris, Johnson EATS
Bebe Bullock, Arlington Common
Shannon Barsotti, Town of Bennington
P11. Outdoor Recreation Economies
Strong outdoor economies rely on intentional partnerships across agencies, nonprofits, towns, volunteers, and businesses. This workshop introduces the Vermont CORE Toolkit, shares lessons from pilot communities using data to strengthen projects and partnerships, and guides participants through identifying data, partners, and goals for their outdoor recreation economy work.
Moderator: Jackie Dagger, VOREC
Panelists:
Joshua Schwartz, Mad River Planning District (invited)
Nic Stark, Rutland Regional Planning Commission
Martha DeGraf, City of Vergennes (invited)
Gary Fox, Town of Rockingham (invited)
P12. Steady Leadership in a Changing World
“Change Leadership” matters now more than ever. Vermont communities are navigating a shifting landscape — from college closures to changes in federal funding to decisions about protecting the built environment from harm. This panel brings together skilled change leaders to help participants understand how to prepare and what it takes to support people through challenging times.
Moderator: Amy Cunningham, Vermont Arts Council
Panelists:
Barbara Vacarr, The Creative Campus at Goddard
Rick Ufford Case, City of Newport
Kristen Getler, Town of Roxbury
Jon Ramsey, Center for an Agricultural Economy
N1. Community Project Help Desk with Resource Providers
A networking opportunity to share your community project/initiative/idea with peers and resource providers and ask for advice, resources, and strategies to move forward. Talk directly to a resource or technical assistance provider about legal compliance, accessibility, outreach strategies, funding stacks, etc. for municipalities, nonprofits, and volunteer community groups.
Resource Providers:
Karen Scott, Vermont Community Foundation
Elizabeth Nance, Agency of Commerce & Community Development
Nicole Gratton, Preservation Trust of Vermont
Laura Sibilia, Brattleboro Development Credit Corp
Devon Neary, Rutland Regional Planning Commission
W15. Engagement By Design: Crafting Processes that Work
Great projects have great engagement — from ideas to implementation and beyond. That means bringing people in early, keeping them involved, and creating opportunities that work for everyone. But great engagement doesn’t happen by accident. In this hands-on workshop, we’ll explore practical ways to design processes that get diverse people involved at all stages of a project or planning process. We’ll look at community case studies and ideas worth borrowing. Then we’ll roll up our sleeves and work in small groups to design a community engagement process for a mock project. Come ready to share your experiences, experiment, and have some fun.
Presenter: Rebecca Sanborn-Stone, Community Workshop
