Gravel & Shea, a full-service law firm in Burlington, VT, has hired Jason Port to lead its tax, trust, estate and probate practice areas. Port previously worked as an attorney with a Boston-area firm, as a senior vice president and senior trust officer with US Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management and, most recently, as regional fiduciary officer at Fidelity Personal Trust Company, FSB, a part of Fidelity Investments.

He is a graduate of Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and Suffolk University Law School in Boston.

Southwestern Vermont Council on Aging has named Laurie Knauer its Community Partner of the Year for 2021. Knauer, program director with Castleton Community Seniors and the Castleton Community Center, and vice president of Tai Chi Vermont, has partnered with SVCOA for many years on numerous wellness-related events and programs, including the nationally recognized Matter of Balance and Tai Chi for Fall Prevention classes.

Conor Casey, former executive director for the Vermont Democratic Party, has joined the gun-violence prevention organization GunSense Vermont as its executive director. Casey began his career in the office of U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and brings with him over 15 years of public policy experience in Vermont.