Erin Fernandez, executive director of Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports, recently celebrated her 20th work anniversary at the nationally recognized organization for disabled athletes in Vermont.
Fernandez joined Vermont Adaptive in 2002 and dove right in, sending the first Vermont Adaptive alpine ski team to participate in the Northeast Diana Golden Race Series. She developed, trained and sponsored athletes to participate in the series, which provided an opportunity for athletes to become familiar with the sport of alpine ski racing in a fun and supportive environment.
Her accomplishments continued from there, growing the organization into a national leader in adaptive sports. Early on in her tenure, in 2004, she aligned the organization with the US Paralympics, the sanctioning body for the US Olympics and host of the Paralympics Games, as an official partner and Paralympic Sport Club.
In 2007, Fernandez developed a partnership with the US Association for Blind Athletes to offer the first National Winter Festival for visually impaired and blind athletes. Vermont Adaptive has hosted this national event ever since.
The organization expanded, serving more people in more locations year-round. Bolton Valley Ski Area became a third winter program location (in addition to Pico Mountain and Sugarbush Resort), providing residents in Burlington and Chittenden counties a convenient location for winter adaptive sports and recreation. She introduced new programs, including the EcoAble environmental initiative, CORE Connections wellness retreats, year-round Veteran Ventures programs, adaptive mountain biking, special fundraising events and more.
The infrastructure of the organization grew, too. Fernandez was the second paid executive director at Vermont Adaptive, with only two other seasonal employees on staff, when she was hired in 2002. Over the years she transitioned the organization from a volunteer base to a high-functioning, professional staff and board governance structure that now adheres to national standards; leadership, oversight and operations from lead gift cultivation and board recruitment.
Today, the organization employees 12 full-time, year-round staff members and has an annual budget of approximately $1.5 million. Fernandez has doubled wages for employees and added comprehensive employee benefits and training, making Vermont Adaptive a desirable place to work.
Continuing to fulfill the organization’s mission to empower individuals with disabilities and promote independence and further equality through access and instruction to sports and recreational activities, in 2013 Fernandez embarked and completed the first of three phases of a permanent homes campaign in the state. The adaptive sports facility, the $1.3 million Andrea Mead Lawrence Lodge at Pico Mountain, opened in 2013 and was the first adaptive sports center in Vermont. The fully accessible space was designed for the unique needs of clients and families for programs, administration and storage.
In December 2021, the second adaptive sports facility, the $2.5 million Murphy’s Annex at Vermont Adaptive – Sugarbush’s Mt Ellen, opened despite the pandemic. Prior to the opening, Vermont Adaptive functioned out of 400 square feet of borrowed space in the resort’s existing base lodge. Now, athletes, families, race team members and volunteers can spread out, enjoying three floors and 4,000 square feet of year-round recreational, retreat and activity space, plus administrative offices and an elevator.
Never one to rest, Fernandez will now embark on the development of the third permanent home of the campaign, with a new location on the Burlington waterfront and bike path in the next few years (the organization is currently using space at the Community Sailing Center). In addition, she plans to create a retreat center in central Vermont for the Veteran Ventures program, establish intern housing for the organization’s annual 15 to 20 interns, and continue to work closely with state entities to push Vermont Adaptive and the breadth of its programs and services into the future.