Advocacy

William (Bill) Wargo, MSW, JD (South Burlington, VT) – Board Member

Bill Wargo, M.S.W., J.D., has worked as a social worker, an attorney, and an educator in Public Health.

As a social worker, he worked with foster children and their families, counseled Bowery community members with alcohol-use disorder, did therapy with individuals with substance-use disorders, assisted persons contemplating suicide, and provided help to disabled veterans.

As an attorney, he represented low-income people in New York City, aided prisoners incarcerated in New York’s Clinton Correctional Facility, provided legal counsel to the City of Winooski, and served as Legal Counsel to the Vermont Health Department for nearly 20 years.

He has also developed and taught five courses in the University of Vermont Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine’s Public Health program.

Jeffrey Mbarushimana, DrPH, LSSMBB, ACHE (Essex Jct., VT) – Board Member

Jeffrey Mbarushimana is a dedicated public health practitioner and policy leader with over 15 years of experience advancing health equity across healthcare systems, nonprofit sectors, and public service settings. His career has spanned roles in clinical operations, program management, and health policy analysis, with a consistent focus on underserved and vulnerable populations.

Holding a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) in Health Policy & Management, Jeffrey’s expertise lies in legislative research, systems improvement, and strategic advocacy to address chronic diseases, aging, reproductive health, and social determinants of health. He has developed data-driven policy recommendations to expand Medicaid access, improve care coordination, and enhance rural health infrastructure. He is certified as a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and has led numerous quality improvement and risk management initiatives. Jeffrey has worked extensively on public health legislation, including bills supporting individuals living with Sickle Cell Disease. His work includes mentoring emerging public health professionals, conducting applied research in child welfare and population health, and designing equity-based interventions in both domestic and global contexts.

Jeffrey is an active member of the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the National Association for Doctors of Public Health (NADrPH), where he serves on policy committees and supports mentorship programming. Passionate about community engagement and systems-level change, Jeffrey brings a collaborative and justice-centered approach to all his work.

Penrose Jackson (So. Burlington, VT) – Board Member

A native of mid-state in New York, Penrose Jackson came to Vermont to attend the University of Vermont. She attended UVM and graduated in 1970, having majored in history. She attended John Marshall Law School in Chicago, before returning to Vermont to settle permanently.

After working at the University of Vermont for several years, Ms. Jackson accepted a job in the City of Burlington’s Planning Office, which evolved into her role as the first Executive Director of the Church Street Marketplace. In that role, she was responsible for overseeing the funding, construction, and operation of the pedestrian mall for 13 years. Following the Marketplace, she served as executive director of the National Gardening Association, Intervale Foundation, Vermont Public Health Association, and Vermont Health Foundation (VHF). The VHF job evolved to a position as director of The University of Vermont Medical Center’s department of Community Health Improvement, which she held for 15 years until the end of 2018. Ms. Jackson now serves Interim Executive Director of the Vermont Public Health Institute. She is also a Review Editor for Frontiers in Public Health, “Public Health Policy,” publications.

Ms. Jackson’s experience on non-profit boards in the community is extensive, including service as chair of the Greater Burlington YMCA, Women Helping Battered Women, the Ethan Allen Homestead, First Night Burlington, the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, among others. Ms. Jackson currently serves on the boards of the Vermont Foodbank and the Vermont Historical Society. She has received national (the Association for Community Health’s “Spirit of the Community” leadership award) and local (the Lake Champlain Regional Commerce’s “Community Excellence” award) recognition for her commitment to community. In 2023 she received the University of Vermont’s highest volunteer recognition, the Distinguished Service Award.

In 2011 she received a Certificate in Community Benefit from Saint Louis University. Ms. Jackson lives and gardens in Hinesburg, Vermont, with her husband, Schuyler, and dog, Zim.

Rudy Fedrizzi (White River Junction, VT) – Board Member

​Rudolph (Rudy) Fedrizzi, MD is the Public Health Services District Director for the White River Junction Office of Local Health in the VT Department of Health.

From July 2018 until he accepted the OLH District Director position in April 2019, he was a practice facilitator for the UNH Institute for Policy and Practice’s NH Citizens Health Initiative and its Northern New England Practice Transformation Network. He also served as a private healthcare consultant on projects involving food insecurity in children and improving the control and prevention of hypertension and diabetes.

Dr. Fedrizzi previously practiced Obstetrics and Gynecology for 16 years, most recently as a partner in Every Woman’s Care, PLLC in Ithaca, NY (2005-2009). His past administrative and clinical experience includes Chief of OB-GYN Services and training as a flight surgeon at Luke Air Force Base Hospital in Glendale, AZ (1993-1997 – Rank of Major) and Medical Director of the Northern New Mexico Women’s Health and Birth Center in Taos, New Mexico (1997-2003). He holds a medical license in VT.

Dr. Fedrizzi relocated to New Hampshire in the fall of 2009 and in early 2010 assumed the non-clinical role of Director of Clinical Integration in the Center for Population Health at Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock, a community hospital and multi-specialty physician practice located in Keene, NH. He held this position until June of 2018. In that role he took the lead in organizing integration efforts that purposefully and proactively link clinical services with community health partners and resources. He served as a core member of the Healthy Monadnock Initiative project team that ensured continuing progress on the goal of the Initiative to make the Monadnock Region of southwestern NH the healthiest community in the nation. He also served as a member of Cheshire Medical Center’s Accountable Care Organization Leadership Team and chaired the organization’s Research Committee helping to facilitate collaborative research efforts involving the medical campus and academic partners. He actively refined and promoted a Clinical Integration model and regularly shared case examples of Integration projects with local, regional, and national audiences through articles, conferences, and webinars.

Currently, he is a member of the Leadership Council of the Dartmouth Center for Advancing Rural Health Equity, Chair of the Upper Valley Medical Reserve Corps Advisory Board, and Past-President of the Public Health Council of the Upper Valley Board. He is also a member of the Brattleboro, VT Rotary Club.

He is a summa cum laude graduate of St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY. He received his Medical Degree from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO and completed his Residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN.

He is married and has three children. He is an avid reader, whimsical birdhouse builder, and reasonably consistent runner.

Burton Wilcke PhD (So. Burlington, VT) –Affiliate Rep. to APHA Governing Council

Burton is an Emeritus Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical and Health Sciences in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at the University of Vermont. Currently he is engaged in Global Health consulting work focusing on leadership training for laboratory directors in developing countries. He has over twenty-five years of public health practice experience at the state and local level in California, Michigan and Vermont. In 2002 he became the Chair of the Department of Medical Laboratory and Radiation Sciences (now Biomedical and Health Sciences) at the University of Vermont (UVM). Prior to joining the faculty at UVM he was the Director of Health Surveillance for the Vermont Department of Health. His experience covers a range of areas spanning infectious diseases, microbiology, public health practice, the health workforce and global health. He has previously served on committees and boards of national health and public health organizations such as the American Public Health Association, the American Society for Microbiology, the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) serving as its President, and the Institute of Medicine. He has also served on the Editorial Board of the Emerging Infectious Diseases and Public Health Reports. He is a Past President of the Vermont Public Health Association.

Sally Kerschner RN, MSN (Ferrisburgh, VT) – Board Secretary

Sally has been involved with the Vermont Public Health Association for over twenty years. She retired from the Vermont Department of Health in 2021 where she worked since 1983 in a variety of supervisory and management positions in programs addressing community health and Maternal and Child Health. Her professional interests include population health planning, systems development, public health policy, and maternal and child health issues such as environmental, periconceptual health, injury prevention, and rural health. Sally is a Past President of the VtPHA (2017-2020.)

Denise Smith, MPH (St. Albans, VT) – Board Treasurer

Denise is a value-driven, systems level collective impact leader with 20+ years of experience at the intersection of planetary and human health and wellbeing. She has spent a large degree of her service in executive roles with environmental, healthcare, and community and economic development organizations. Denise recognizes the importance authentic leadership plays in the meaningful transformation of systems and believes that communities possess the self-organizing abilities to redefine their futures. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Vermont Council on Rural Development, an organization committed to lifting up community voice in decision making. She attended the University of Vermont (UVM) as an undergraduate and served in the Peace Corps in Mali, West Africa. In 2018 she received her Master of Science in Leadership for Sustainability from Rubenstein School at UVM. She is currently the Chair of the St. Albans City Planning Commission, Chair of the Citizens Advisory Committee for Lake Champlain, and Treasurer of the Vermont Public Health Association. She is an avid yoga practitioner, and enjoys all of Vermont’s outdoor activities. She lives in an old house that she and her husband are remodeling room by room in St. Albans with their three children and two dogs.

Molly Lawrence, MPH (Burlington, VT) – Board President

Molly (she/her) is an engaged public health professional currently leading collaborative, equity-centered Community Benefit and Community Health Improvement initiatives across the University of Vermont Health Network. Molly’s professional experience spans the non-profit and healthcare sector, including: academic and civic research, policy development, and designing and implementing programs that address the social and environmental drivers of health. Formative public service experiences include serving as Initiative on Cities Fellow with the Boston Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, and as an AmeriCorps VISTA at Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. Professional interests include: facilitating authentic community dialogue, environmental justice and climate resiliency, integrative health, and food sovereignty.

Molly earned her Master’s in Public Health from Boston University School of Public Health with a concentration in Social and Behavioral Health Sciences and area of emphasis in Health Disparities. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Health and Social Behavior and a Minor in Psychology from Lesley University. She is a graduate of the Institute for Integrated Leadership Semester Intensive program at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health.

Dan Olson (South Burlington, VT) – Executive Director

Dan joined the Vermont Public Health Association as Executive Director in March of 2023. Over Dan’s 20-plus year career, he has held various roles in for-profit and nonprofit organizations, all with a focus on improving the health of human and natural communities. Dan served as the Executive Director of the Colorado and New Mexico-based environmental advocacy organization San Juan Citizens Alliance. He also held multiple product management roles at Ecova (now ENGIE Impact), including Director of Product Management, leading the organization’s carbon accounting, waste, water, and strategy and engagement services. In addition to these roles, Dan was the founder of a consulting business that served the sustainable operation needs of small and medium-sized businesses in the Intermountain West, pioneered the use of environmentally-beneficial loan funds at Harvard University, and has served as a volunteer and board member of numerous nonprofits. In his free time, Dan and his family enjoy exploring the many and varied wonders of the Northeast and beyond.

EMAIL DAN: [email protected]