Board of Directors

Shelly Severinghaus is a Project Manager in Sustainable Design Engineering for TrueNorth Collective. A seasoned sustainability professional and life cycle assessment expert, Shelly has more than a decade of experience evaluating the environmental impacts of organizations’ products and processes, leveraging data driven analysis, and collaborating with executive level teams to manifest change. She excels at analyzing granular details, clearly communicating findings, and guiding informed decisions that decrease environmental impacts and build brand value.

Shelly holds a B.A. in environmental studies and government from St. Lawrence University and is a Certified LCA Professional through the American Center for Life Cycle Assessment. Shelly serves on the ACLCA Certification Committee and resides in Morristown, Vermont.

Robin Scheu has over 30 years of business experience in both large and small organizations, in the corporate, nonprofit, and municipal sectors. In January 2017, she began her first session in the Vermont legislature as a Representative for Addison-1, Middlebury.  ​For 9 years, until the end of 2017, she ​was the Executive Director of the Addison County Economic Development Corporation where she works with businesses of all stages to support their growth. She was a commercial lender and senior manager at Bank of Boston and Bank of Vermont for fifteen years, and ran her own consulting business for several years. Locally, she ran the Addison County Solid Waste Management District, the Middlebury Area Land Trust, was Chair of the United Way of Addison County, Treasurer of the Middlebury Natural Foods Coop and on the Porter Medical Center Board of Directors. She chaired the Mary Hogan Elementary​ School Board in Middlebury.​ She has also been on several statewide boards, including the Vermont Land Trust, Smart Growth Vermont, Vermont Employee Ownership Center, and the Working Lands Enterprise Board. 

Tayt Brooks is currently the deputy secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD). Before being appointed to this position in March of 2021 by Governor Phil Scott, he worked for the Governor as director of affordability and economic initiatives, starting in January 2017. He also spent time with the Agency from 2008 to 2011, under the administration of Governor Jim Douglas, serving as both deputy commissioner and commissioner of the Vermont Department of Economic, Housing and Community Development. Brooks has a bachelor’s degree in history from St. Lawrence University. He lives in St. Albans with his wife and two daughters. He has served his communities in the past as a select board chair and a school board member.

Andrea Cohen currently serves as Manager of Government Affairs and Member Relations for Vermont Electric Cooperative in Johnson Vermont. Previously she was Public Policy Manager (2006-2010), and then Executive Director (2010-2015), for Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility. Before joining VBSR, she worked for 16 years at the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources in a variety of positions involving pollution prevention, resource conservation, and solid waste management. Andrea holds her M.A. in Environmental Science from Antioch University and her B.A. in Psychology and Economics from Vassar College.

Dustin Degree is Special Assistant to the Governor and Director of Workforce Expansion as well as Executive Director of the Vermont Workforce Development Board. A member of Governor Phil Scott’s Sr. Staff, Degree leads and helps coordinate the state’s interagency efforts to add people and skills to the labor force. In the past, he served as Executive Assistant to Governor Jim Douglas, and later served in the Vermont House of Representatives from 2010-2012 and in the Vermont Senate from 2014-2017 representing Franklin County. Degree served as a Policy Advisor to Governor-elect Scott from November 2016 until the 2017-18 biennium opened in January 2017 when he was unanimously selected by the Republican caucus to serve as Senate Minority Leader. Later that year, he resigned from the Senate to accept his current appointment. A 2003 graduate of Bellows Free Academy, 2004 graduate of the Tilton School and attended both Norwich University and the University of Vermont, Degree is a lifelong resident of St. Albans, VT. He is a Justice of the Peace, member of the Board of Civil Authority, Vice President of the St. Albans Skating Association and a volunteer youth hockey coach, and serves on the Board of Incorporators for the Northwestern Medical Center.

Sara Gilbert is HR manager at Casella Construction Inc. Before joining Casella Construction, she was assistant director at Rutland Economic Development Corporation (REDC). Sara co-founded Rutland Young Professionals, which launched the annual Young Professionals Summit of Vermont in 2015. Sara also serves on the board of Heritage Family Credit Union. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and holds a Master’s degree in Political Geography from the University of Washington, where she was a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow. She is a proud Rutland City resident and a member of Project VISION. 

Allison Hooper is a pioneer of artisan cheesemaking, entrepreneur and co-founder of Vermont Creamery. For more than 34 years, Allison has been at the helm of the artisan cheese industry, introducing goat cheeses, cultured butter, and crème fraiche to the American palate. In 2012 she and her business partner Bob Reese started Ayers Brook Goat Dairy in Randolph Vermont to supply goats’ milk to the creamery and practice improved genetics, nutrition, and goat husbandry as a resource for aspiring goat farmers. A former president of the American Cheese Society (ACS) and the founding president of the Vermont Cheese Council, Allison has been a voice for U.S. cheesemakers and a mentor to fellow entrepreneurs in the specialty food industry. She was named one of the “most innovative women in food and drink” by Food & Wine and Forbes magazines in 2015. Vermont Creamery was acquired by Land O’Lakes, a farmer owned Cooperative. Allison’s family retained ownership of the Ayers Brook Goat Dairy.

Noelle currently works as the Chief Operating Officer for the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), a global NGO focusing on energy and climate policy, overseeing efforts to support and enhance the organization’s creative and collaborative culture. Before joining RAP, she worked at the City of Burlington as the Director of the Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) where she encouraged fair and equitable development, supported economic development as well as moved major projects forward. Before CEDO, she served over five years as the Commissioner of Housing and Community Development for the State of Vermont under Governor Peter Shumlin. During her time with the Department, she led community and economic development recovery efforts after Tropical Storm Irene hit Vermont; collaborated with policy and funding partners to increase program impact; and directed efforts to update state regulation in order to support development in our downtowns and villages, encourage affordable housing and protect working lands. Prior to her appointment, Noelle served as Executive Director of Smart Growth Vermont and as Deputy Director of the Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association in New Jersey. Noelle is passionate about land use and believes that how we protect, steward and develop our land impacts all facets of our lives. She lives in Shelburne.

Anson Tebbetts was appointed Vermont’s Secretary of the Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets by Governor Phil Scott in January 2017. Prior to his appointment, Tebbetts spent more than twenty years as part of the WCAX news team, serving as the station’s news director since 2009. From 2007-2009, Tebbetts was the Deputy Secretary of the Agency of Agriculture, under the Douglas Administration. An avid bird enthusiast, he co-hosts “For the Birds” on WDEV & WLVB radio. Tebbetts, a graduate of Emerson College, is a native Vermonter with deep agricultural roots. He was born and raised on his family’s farm in Cabot, where he continues to reside with his wife Vicky and their two children. In 2001, the Vermont Farm Bureau honored him with their Friend of the Farmer Award. In 2015, Tebbetts was awarded the SMART award: Social Media in Arts, Recreation and Tourism. The prize was given by the Vermont Tourism Industry Conference highlighting Vermont’s critical fall tourism season.