Staff

Ellen Kahler

Executive Director
(802) 828-5320

Ellen Kahler became the Executive Director of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF) in late 2005. She is a graduate of Bucknell University in Pennsylvania with a BA in Political Science and from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University with a Masters in Public Administration.

Prior to joining the VSJF, Ms. Kahler was the Executive Director of the Peace & Justice Center in Burlington (1990 to 2002). Her most well known work through the Peace & Justice Center— the Vermont Job Gap Study and the Vermont Livable Wage Campaign — won statewide attention around the issue of basic family needs, livable wages, and under-employment.

After graduating from the Kennedy School for Government in 2003, Ms. Kahler created and directed the Peer to Peer Collaborative, an initiative that assists founder CEOs of small, Vermont-based manufacturing and natural resource based companies. For its first two years, the Collaborative was sponsored by the Vermont Business Roundtable. In January, 2006 the Collaborative became a core technical assistance program of the VSJF.

Ms. Kahler was a recipient of a three year leadership development fellowship through the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (1994-1997) and was a member of the Snelling Center for Government’s Vermont Leadership Institute class of 1997. Ms. Kahler currently serves on the Board of the Sustainable Forest Futures, the Vermont 25x’25 Initiative Steering Committee and the Vermont Sustainable Agriculture Council. She served on the Board of Directors for the Clean Energy Development Fund (2009-2011), Vermont Works for Women(2007-2011), the Vermont Community Foundation (2001-2009), the Advisory Board of the VT-Small Business Development Center (2008-2009), on the Vermont Council on Rural Development’s Rural Vermont Energy Council (2006-2007) and as a Commissioner on the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (1998-2002).

Janice St. Onge

Deputy Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund
President, VSJF Flexible Capital Fund, L3C
(802) 828-0398

Janice St. Onge is Deputy Director of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund and President of the VSJF Flexible Capital Fund, L3C. Janice brings economic and business development as well as financial expertise to the organization, having served in the technology and financial services industries, as well as higher education and state government sectors during her 25-year career. Ms. St. Onge has 10 years of experience at Peoples United Bank in Connecticut serving in retail management, commercial real estate lending (managing a $21 million portfolio) and organizational development roles during her tenure there.

During her career, Janice has served as the Director of the Vermont Business Center (VBC) at the University of Vermont and Technology Business Development Director for the Vermont Department of Economic Development. She received the 2001 National Tibbetts Award in recognition for her outreach work with the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program in Vermont. Additionally, Janice was the Director of Human Resources and Senior Manager of Customer Service for Kea Technologies, an e-commerce fulfillment business in Williston, where she directed human resource strategic planning and policies, employee relations, performance management, employment law issues and company-wide recruiting efforts.

Janice is a graduate of the University of Utah with a B.A. in Marketing and is an alumni of the Snelling Center for Government’s 2004 Vermont Leadership Institute program. She serves on the board of the Vermont Investors Forum, the advisory boards of the Vermont Small Business Development Center, and True Body Products. A Stowe, Vermont resident, Janice is the co-founder of the Stowe Energy and Climate Action Network and a former International Ski Federation (FIS) World Cup Freestyle Skiing Judge.

Scott Sawyer, PhD

Research, Evaluation & Communications Coordinator
(802) 828-0404

Scott Sawyer joined the VSJF in 2003 and is responsible for researching and evaluating VSJF projects and programs, and website management. He is currently project manager of the Renewable Energy Atlas of Vermont, a GIS-based website that will pinpoint existing renewable energy sites and identify renewable energy potential at the town level.

Scott has bachelor's degrees in Environmental Studies and Sociology from Pitzer College, a master's degree and Ph.D. in Sociology from Washington State University. His Ph.D. dissertation was titled, "The Politics of Reliability: A Sociological Examination of the State of Vermont's Response to Peak Oil and Climate Change."

Netaka White

Bioenergy Program Director
(802) 828-0040, Wednesday and Thursday
(802) 388-1328, Monday, Tuesday, Friday

Netaka White has been the Bioenergy Program Director at the VSJF since May, 2008. Prior to joining VSJF, he was the co-founder of Vermont Biofuels Association and served as its Executive Director from 2004-2008, providing leadership and organization to Vermont's emerging biofuel sector.

As the Bioenergy Program Director, Netaka has been actively involved in sustainable biofuels policy and in planning and implementing the Vermont Biofuels Initiative (VBI). The VBI began in 2004 and continues today to provide technical assistance and grant making in three main areas; biofuels research and demonstration, biofuel infrastructure development, and biofuels education and outreach. Netaka is a member of the Board of Renewable Energy Vermont and serves on several other agricultural and energy advisory boards. Between 2002 and 2004 Netaka worked as Director of Marketing for Vermont Family Forests, developing value-adding opportunities for local forest products. After attending Southern Oregon University, Netaka began his entrepreneurial career starting and managing several small businesses, both wholesale and retail. He lives with his family in Salisbury.

Heather Pipino

Grants Administrator / Office Manager
(802) 828-1121

Heather Pipino joined VSJF in January, 2009 and works with the Executive Director and staff in the financial management of the organization, fiscal planning, project finances, and budget and federal grant reporting. Prior to VSJF, Heather served as the fundraising coordinator at the Vermont Workers’ Center–Jobs With Justice, and as grants manager at the Battered Women’s Services and Shelter. She also assisted the Peace and Justice Center in Burlington, Vermont, with foundation proposals, bringing a strong social justice and fundraising background to her current work. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Goddard College.

Erica Campbell

Farm to Plate Program Director
(802) 828-3745

Erica Campbell joined VSJF in July 2011 as the Farm to Plate Program Director. Over the past fifteen years, Erica's work has spanned many integrated areas, including food systems, sustainable community development, education, transportation, and climate change. Prior to joining VSJF, Erica was a regional food systems planner at Center for an Agricultural Economy in Hardwick, where she led the development of the Regional Food System Plan for Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. She was also an associate with Resource Systems Group, where she consulted with planning agencies throughout the country developing long range plans, conducting research on climate change, and assisting with strategic planning activities. Erica is a co-founder and active member of the Waterbury-Duxbury Food Council and serves on her local Planning Commission. She holds a Master of Science in Community Development and Applied Economics from the University of Vermont and a Bachelor’s Degree in Holistic Studies from Vermont College. Erica lives with her husband and three children in North Duxbury.

John Ryan

VADP Program Director
(802) 828-3753

John Ryan joined VSJF in July 2011 as the Director for the Vermont Agricultural Development Program. As the Principal of a private consulting firm called Development Cycles since 1985, John has managed projects for public and private clients involving both large scale and small scale residential, commercial, tourism, agricultural, as well as community and neighborhood economic development efforts. John has performed community development and housing needs assessments for the numerous communities in Vermont and Massachusetts; feasibility and planning tasks for educational and resort clients including Shelburne Farms, the Stratton Mountain Corporation and the Mt. Mansfield Company; consulted on more than 100 residential and assisted-living care projects throughout New England; provided market feasibility and business planning services for over 30 individual farms as part of the MA Department of Food & Agriculture’s Farm Viability Program. John has performed commercial feasibility assessments for Grafton Village Cheese, Shelburne Farms and the Cellars at Jasper Hill. He has also provided training to non-profit housing agencies in Vermont at the request of the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board. Experienced in hands-on development, John has managed the creation of three co-housing communities in Amherst and Northampton, MA and has assisted in the development of a residential community for disabled persons, family and staff at Crotched Mountain in Greenfield, NH.

Chris Callahan, Callahan Engineering

Vermont Biofuels Initiative (Contract Staff)
(518) 677-5275
chris@callahan.eng.pro

Chris Callahan started his engineering firm in 2005 with an aim to provide sustainable power and waste engineering services to clients. A guiding principle for the firm is to bring multi-disciplinary engineering services to agriculture at a reasonable cost. Chris holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA, both from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). He has worked in industry, and has volunteered for a variety of non-profits and municipal government.

Chris currently focuses his work on sustainable agriculture and, in particular, on-farm energy issues. The scope of this work has included detailed design of biodiesel processors, safety reviews, feasibility studies, oil and fuel quality, project management, economic assessment tools, and outreach & education. Chris has been an invaluable resource for the Vermont Biofuels Initiative, providing technical assistance to VSJF grantees in support of sustainable biofuels and developing tools for farmers such as the Vermont Oilseed Crop Production Cost and Profit Calculator. Chris has lived and conducted business in the United States, Asia, and Europe, and presently resides in Cambridge, NY with his wife and son.