The Howard Center Board of Trustees has announced its officers for 2025 and welcomed new and returning members to three-year terms.
The new slate of officers includes Kelly Deforge (pictured), senior mortgage loan originator at Union Bank, as president; Michael Couture, founder and owner of Michael Couture Media, as vice president; John McSoley, retired tax partner from McSoley McCoy & Co., as treasurer; and Heather Blackman, network manager of managed care contracting at the University of Vermont Health Network, as secretary. Deforge and McSoley will continue in their previous roles, while Couture and Blackman are newly elected.
Returning board members reelected to three-year terms are Kathy Connolly, former Burlington city councilor and school board member; Couture; and Mat Robitaille, senior vice president and Vermont regional vice president at TD Bank.
They will be joined on the board by five new trustees: Joshua Barlow, a self-employed artist and former mental health professional; state Sen. Thomas Chittenden; Al Gobeille, CEO at Gobeille Hospitality and former secretary at the Vermont Agency of Human Services; Stephanie Judkins, market commercial credit manager and senior vice president for Central New England at TD Bank; and Karen Tyler, associate general counsel at the University of Vermont Health Network.