Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports recently recognized two Vermont residents with the 2025 Worksite Wellness Outstanding Contributor Award for their extraordinary efforts to support the health and wellbeing of their co-workers. The award recipients were nominated by their peers and selected by a review committee using an objective scoring rubric.
Meaghan Diffenderfer
Meaghan Diffenderfer, Human Resources Administrative Coordinator for the City of Burlington, is described by her nominator as “a cornerstone of our employee wellness efforts, consistently championing a culture of care, connection, and shared joy.” Standout examples of Diffenderfer’s impact includes her leadership in providing city employees with access to locally grown produce through Community Supported Agriculture farm shares, advocating for more play and downtime woven into the workday, promoting work-life balance, and encouraging cross-department engagement throughout the city of Burlington.
Maura O’Brien
Maura O’Brien has led the employee wellness department for the State of Vermont for the past 20 years. According to her nominators, O’Brien’s leadership transformed Vermont state employees’ wellness initiatives, incorporating holistic and inclusive opportunities, wellness screenings and vaccination clinics serving thousands of state workers, challenges to get people moving, mental health care reminders, and health & wellness coaching to help state employees set and achieve health goals.
The Council bestows the Worksite Wellness Outstanding Contributor Award annually to recognize individuals who substantially improve the wellness climate, promote opportunities to participate in wellbeing activities, and increase access to wellness resources within their organization. This person may, or may not, have "wellness" in their formal title or job description.
The Governor's Council is a physical activity promotion and advocacy group comprised of approximately 20 volunteers, appointed by the Governor and representing a broad spectrum of Vermonters. The council's purpose is to promote health and wellness through physical activity for all people living in Vermont at all fitness and ability levels. Recognizing the inequity faced by historically marginalized communities navigating racial, physical, social, economic, and systemic barriers to participation in physical fitness activities and recreational sports, the Vermont Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports seeks to remove barriers and expand access for all individuals and communities across the state of Vermont through a welcoming culture that fosters justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
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