On February 7, 2025, the Vermont Legislature's Public Health Caucus hosted its first meeting of the new biennium. Their speaker was Pam Berenbaum, Professor of the Practice and Associated Director of Program Engagement at Middlebury College. Pam's presentation was...

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.