Pictured left to right are Danny Lang, Jillian Turcola, Claire Bradley, Bevin Barber-Campbell, Ashley Farrington, Sultana Khan, Liz Steel, Caroline Klosowski and Laura Cavin Bailey (VCRD Climate Economy Program Manager).
Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) has welcomed nine participants to the 2025 Climate Catalysts Leadership Program. Participants from across the state will focus their time on the implementation of a local climate or energy project such as emergency planning and preparedness, promoting transportation equity, mapping climate/sustainability tools used by the ski industry, celebrating climate activists through storytelling and art, and more.
The Climate Catalysts Leadership Program supports participants as they take their transformative, community-scale climate economy related projects to the next level by developing their concepts into reality while building peer connections, strengthening leadership skills, and receiving project development support.
The Climate Catalysts Leadership Program includes the following individuals:
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Bevin Barber-Campbell, Peacham
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Claire Bradley, Burlington
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Ashley Farrington, North Pownal
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Sultana Khan, Randolph
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Caroline Klosowski, Stowe
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Danny Lang, Poultney
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Naomi Parekh, Bennington
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Liz Steel, Greensboro
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Jillian Turcola, Montpelier
“The Climate Catalyst program continues to adapt to fit the needs that are present in local climate efforts. This year’s cohort will focus on finding common threads needed to develop equitable climate actions and building out their state wide networks,” says Laura Cavin Bailey, the Climate Economy Program Director. “The range of projects speaks to the multi-faceted ways we can solve our climate crisis and become more resilient.”
The Climate Catalysts Leadership Program is a 6-month experience that provides new and emerging leaders with opportunities to build peer connections, strengthen leadership skills and receive project development support. Since the program’s inception in 2020, nearly 75 Vermonters have participated in this program sparking innovative projects in their hometowns and beyond.
To learn more visit https://www.vtrural.org/climate-economy/climate-catalysts-leadership-program/. The Climate Catalysts Leadership Program is made possible with support from VLITE and other philanthropic foundations and generous donors of VCRD.
Vermont Council on Rural Development
The Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of the locally-defined progress of Vermont’s rural communities. VCRD is a dynamic partnership of federal, state, local, nonprofit, and private partners. Actively non-partisan with an established reputation for community-based facilitation, VCRD is uniquely positioned to sponsor and coordinate collaborative efforts across governmental and organizational categories concerned with policy questions of rural importance. The organization has successfully completed over 90 community visits, resulting in locally defined projects like new childcare centers, wastewater infrastructure, and downtown redevelopments.
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