Vital Communities’ Civic Engagement & Leadership projects promote civic and municipal engagement and leadership as well as collaborative action. Our programs and resources seek to foster inclusive and welcoming communities where all people have access to the knowledge, skills, and support they need to get involved, lead, connect, collaborate, and act.
Leadership Upper Valley (LUV), a 10-month program that equips and motivates people to give back to their communities, is recruiting its 2027 Class. Applications will be accepted until May 15. Making a podcast at LUV Arts Day at Junction Arts and Media Started 20 years ago, LUV is designed to help people have a positive impact on their town or region by…
What do the concepts of justice and human/constitutional rights mean in the current political climate and in reality, on the ground in communities across the country? On January 29, 34 Leadership Upper Valley (LUV) alumni and members of the current cohort participated in a workshop designed to explore this question. Chris Roberge (standing) addresses the workshop. Workshop presenters Angela Zhang and Chris…
The January session of Leadership Upper Valley (LUV) is the halfway point for this year-long program immersing people in the top issues for our region and some of the people and organizations that are making a difference. This year, the January session focused on what drives our local economy, with a morning panel of economic…
What’s a crime? What’s proof of someone having committed one? How should society and government treat those who are convicted of a crime? These weighty questions were the substance of Justice Day, the fourth monthly session for the 2026 Class of Leadership Upper Valley (LUV), which took place in the Enfield Community Building. As it…
Valley Quest depends on a corps of over 40 volunteers who “monitor” the treasure boxes that are placed at the end of each Quest. Emma Cottage has served as a box monitor for the Gile Mountain Quest for several years, placing the box at the start of the season in mid-May and bringing it back in for the winter at…
Each year, the Leadership Upper Valley program takes a new cohort through 10 monthly sessions exploring aspects of our region and the challenges and opportunities for people who want to make a difference. Program Co-Manager Ellen Hender sent this report on the November session, “Environment Day,” at the Vermont Institute for Natural Sciences in Quechee,…
Katie Price leads an exercise. On October 8, this year’s Leadership Upper Valley spent a day considering K-12 education in our region: what challenges and opportunities face our region’s students and educational staff; what the people who teach and run schools feel are priorities; and the many ways learning happens both in and outside of…
At Ohana Camp above Lake Fairlee, Opening Day for Leadership Upper Valley 2026 began in fog that descended through the morning, revealing a sparkling vista. Leadership Upper Valley Class of 2026 at Ohana Camp, Thetford, September 10, 2025. Copyright 2025 Rob Strong It’s an apt metaphor for what participants can hope to gain from the…
Three ways you can help Valley Quest remain a vibrant program connecting people to this place we cherish and share! Need just a little push to get outside on a beautiful day? Something altruistic, that benefits the community? Check out these volunteer opportunities offered by Valley Quest, a long-standing Vital Communities program that maintains a…
On May 14, the JAM podcast studio was the arena for freewheeling reflection by the current class of Leadership Upper Valley. Arts Day for the 2024-25 Class of Leadership Upper Valley (LUV) was a typically lively mix of tours and talks with some of our region’s most active professional arts venues. In addition, like most…
Leadership Upper Valley is recruiting its 2026 Class! Learn more and apply at Leadership Upper Valley! By Ellen Hender, Vital Communities Project Manager, Housing and Transportation Each April, I get to help lead the Livable Communities Day of the Leadership Upper Valley program. Livability encompasses many things, including very concrete aspects like housing and transportation,…
Applications are being accepted now! Applications are open for Leadership Upper Valley (LUV), a Vital Communities program which since 2007 has helped hundreds of Upper Valley residents acquire greater impact and confidence as community changemakers. To learn more and apply, go to https://vitalcommunities.org/leadership-upper-valley/. LUV brings Upper Valley residents together once a month over…
By Ellen Hender, Vital Communities Program Manager, Housing and Transportation This past Sunday afternoon at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in White River Junction, VT, the room was packed with around 100 community members who came out to see Bess O’Brien’s film, Just Getting By. The film is aptly described as an intimate and thought-provoking documentary that…
Congratulations to Martha Doelle, Lindsay Ladd, Lois and Ted Frazer, and Linda James and Henry Ogden for completing this year’s Super Quest 2024: Libraries, which explored libraries, places, communities, and the landscape across the Upper Valley! Team Enfield won this year’s prize drawing of a backpack from Farm-Way in Bradford, VT, for questing and carrying…
The “Secrets of Tucker Mountain” were revealed to a multi-generational group of 11 that took part in a guided exploration of the newest addition to Vital Communities’ library of Valley Quests. The Guided Quest was led by Damon Bennett, one of the Newbury Historical Society volunteers who wrote the Quest. “We had quite a successful…
What goes on in Leadership Upper Valley sessions? LUV Manager John Drew sent us this report! October’s Leadership Upper Valley session was Education Day. In previous year, the focus was on K-12 classroom learning; this year, the scope was broadened to include other realms of learning, such as the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich,…
Since 2007, Vital Communities’ Leadership Upper Valley (LUV) program has offered people of all ages and backgrounds a chance to learn and connect so that they can make a difference in their Upper Valley communities. Alumni can also continue to stay engaged by organizing regular events and keeping connected through a Vital Communities email group. …
Vital Communities and its partners in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Initiative will hold a breakfast gathering on Monday, October 21, 7:30 to 9 am, to summarize new innovative programs and what’s needed next to improve the availability of affordable, high-quality care and education for young children. The ECE Initiative Breakfast aims to bring together…
Andy Stevenson is a resident of Fairlee Vermont, where he also teaches 1st grade. He has two children – the oldest is three years old and the second is one year old. They were born during the pandemic – a challenging time for everyone, including new parents. While certain things have gotten easier since the…
Joy Conley wanted to get into early childcare due to a deep passion for educating young children. While nannying in 2020, it became more apparent to Joy how too many children went without one on one time and quality care and education. This imbalance of care prompted Joy to pursue a career in larger educational…
Piecing together a life as a single mom in a rural community is hard enough on its own, but our conversation with one parent in the Upper Valley with one teenager, and two children under 5 illuminated the complexity of support systems, rural environments, and the realities of childcare programs for families in Vermont. As…
The Alums Network of Leadership Upper Valley is bringing together graduates from classes who want to connect (and reconnect), form relationships, learn and volunteer together, and continue to build on the knowledge and skills from their LUV experience. This summer, graduates from classes stretching back to the program’s first years have started to participate in…
“He’s having to grow up a lot faster than he wants to, and quite frankly, than I want him to.” This is Krystal, a single mom of two young children speaking to us about how her older son has had to step up to help her look after her other, younger child, when childcare proves…
Our interviewee, who grew up in Hartford, reminisced about her time in an early childhood education program in the 90s when she spoke with us. Though it wasn’t formal with the legislation that today’s ECE programs have, she recalls being in a mixed age program that focused on a combination of structured and unstructured play…
Since Leadership Upper Valley began in 2006, a total of 400+ people have gone through the program. Over the course of 10 monthly sessions, they have immersed themselves in such aspects of Upper Valley life as Health & Human Services, Education, Arts, Economy, Justice, Government and Politics, Transportation and Livable Communities, and the Environment, hearing…
Photos by Rob Strong Congratulations to the 27 new graduates of Leadership Upper Valley! On June 12, participants in the 2024 Leadership Upper Valley gathered for a final session to wrap up a rich year of learning about their region and ways they can make a difference. Over 10 monthly sessions, Leadership Upper Valley brings…
The setting for the first Guided Quest of the year, on May 18, was Cedar Circle Farm and Education Center in East Thetford, VT. Sixteen people from communities nearby in Vermont and New Hampshire joined guide Eric Tadlock, Executive Director of the farm, on a free, one-hour guided tour of the farm’s Quest, one of…
Saturday, May 18, 10 – 11 am Cedar Circle Farm and Education Center, 225 Pavillion Rd, East Thetford, VT 05043 Free. See and learn about the methods this farm is using to grow food in a climate-friendly way! REGISTER BY May 15 at vitalcommunities.org/events/cedar-circle-farm-guided-quest/ A member of the farm staff will lead this guided Quest…
Since November 2023, some Vital Communities staff and community members have been at work on the Valley Quest Equitable Redesign Project, an effort to rethink and retool the Valley Quest program. One of the key members of the team has been Jules Reed, a recent Dartmouth College graduate whose work has been funded by a…
Having greater impact in your community can start by learning what makes it tick. LUV Class at JAM in 2022. Alisha Robinson moved to the Upper Valley three years ago to join the Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital staff where she is now Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program Coordinator and HR Business Partner. Her first…
“Whereas, early childhood educators have been frontline heroes, especially during the pandemic, underscoring the importance of their work in providing high-quality, inclusive care that honors our community’s diversity, there is a growing demand to enhance compensation and respect for these educators, alongside efforts to ensure equitable access to quality early childhood education.” Lebanon Mayor, Timothy…
The Moving Houses Quest in Thetford, VT has a new name, Shifting Structures, and a new book that tells its story. Here’s how it happened: A couple of years ago, Beth Taylor, a resident of the Upper Valley, decided to volunteer as a box monitor for the Valley Quest program. Box monitors are essential to…
Leadership Upper Valley 2024’s Opening Day Twenty-seven new participants in Leadership Upper Valley gathered at the beautiful Ohana Family Camp in Fairlee on September 13 for the Opening Day of this year’s program. This new group comes from Proctorsville to Plainfield and Alstead to Canaan. Leadership Upper Valley is one of the few opportunities for…
Collaborative Progress on Early Childhood Education in 2023 For 21 years, Tammie Hazlett has been centering family, community, and play in the early childhood program she runs out of her home in Thetford, Vermont. In addition to many other advocacy roles she plays, she is also a member of the Vital Communities Early Childhood Initiative’s…
Twelve Upper Valley schools and early childcare centers were awarded mini-grants to support Farm to School projects this year! These grants are designed to help schools, early childhood centers, afterschool programs, or school-related wellness programs with projects related to farms, our agricultural heritage, farm products, food production, or local food consumption at the school. Thank…
On June 14 at VINS, Leadership Upper Valley ended the 22-23 program with a day of discussion, laughter, plans for the future, and closure. 27 people celebrated the ways in which they’ve learned together, grown to trust one another, and now look ahead to what good they might do in their communities having participated in…
Leadership Upper Valley, which since 2007 has helped hundreds of Upper Valley residents acquire greater impact and confidence as community changemakers, is getting ready to graduate its current class while recruiting next year’s class. A Vital Communities program, LUV brings Upper Valley residents together once a month over a 10-month period to offer insights, relationships,…
Engaging businesses can help a region meet its needs in early childhood education (ECE), according to a May 10 presentation made to Vital Communities’ Corporate Council, a group of top representatives of locally based employers. JD Chesloff, President and CEO of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, which includes the Massachusetts Business Coalition for Early Childhood Education,…
April 1 to 7, let early childhood educators know how much you appreciate what they do for our children and communities! From birth to age 5, children develop more rapidly than at any other time in their lives. In their first year, children’s brains double in size. By the time they are 5 years old,…
Even if you and your family don’t rely on early childhood education and childcare, you’re probably aware of the current shortage and the stresses this places on families and employers. Here’s a look at what’s happened in the year since Vital Communities and its partners began digging into this issue. Following a well-attended Corporate…
What do participants explore and experience in the 10 monthly sessions of Leadership Upper Valley? This second installment of a yearlong series by John Drew, the program’s manager, describes Arts Day, which Lebanon Opera House Executive Direction and LUV alum Joe Clifford helped plan. Future sessions will look at the Upper Valley’s health and human services,…
What do participants explore and experience in the 10 monthly sessions of Leadership Upper Valley? This first installment of a yearlong series by John Drew, the program’s new manager, describes Education Day, which Lebanon Superintendent Joanne Roberts helped plan. Future sessions will look at the Upper Valley’s arts sector, health and human services, justice, governance,…
Photos (L-R): Participants on the guided quest observe the tree canopy while guide Nathaniel Sharp calls migratory birds in with a recorded distress call; the effects of the maple leaf cutter (Paraclemensia acerifoliella) on a sugar maple leaf; the brightly colored brown-hooded owlet moth caterpillar stands out amidst the decay of fall; a fungus in the Amanita…
The news is full of reports of how hard the pandemic has been on schools, teachers, and students. One antidote is place-based education: rigorous, standards-based learning in which students go beyond the school walls and interact with the natural world and human community around them. Students benefit from the hands-on learning, teamwork, and real-world connection…
Join us on Saturday, September 24, 2022 from 10:00 to noon for the Late Season Pollinators and Migratory Birds Guided Quest. Nathaniel Sharp from the Vermont Center for Ecostudies will lead this guided Quest that will take you on a 1.25-mile hike through mixed forests and wetlands of the Union Village Dam, Thetford, VT. While questing for…
Valley Quests are a unique Upper Valley tradition. These treasure hunts take you on a journey through farms, fields, towns, and forests as you learn about the cultural and natural heritage of a place. Valley Quests were created in 1994 by Delia Clark and Stephen Glazer. Together, Stephen and Delia wrote a book on Questing…
Leadership Upper Valley graduation in Quechee, VT, on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. Copyright 2022 Rob Strong (L-R) Leon Dunkley and class member Britton Mann at Leadership Upper Valley graduation in Quechee, VT, on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. Copyright 2022 Rob Strong (L-R) Amber Johnston and Rob Schultz award diplomas at the Leadership Upper Valley graduation…
The weather is warming, the buds are bursting, and the calendar is turning to May — it’s time to go Questing! Valley Quests are self-guided treasure hunts that prompt you to learn about and explore some of the wonderful places in the Upper Valley. Each Quest was created by people — young and old, classrooms,…
In honor of the Week of the Young Child, April 2-8, communities all over the country are celebrating the Early Care and Education (ECE) workforce. To our ECE professionals in the Upper Valley: We value the service and care you provide in the community! The nurturing and education you provide to young children continues throughout…
Wanted: People of all ages with a love of the outdoors. Share that love by volunteering as a Valley Quest Box Monitor! Valley Quests are outdoor “treasure hunts” throughout the Upper Valley that allow people to explore and learn about our region’s distinct natural and cultural heritage — each community’s special places and stories. Each…
The 2021 SuperQuest winner is Team Small of White River Junction! Bettianne, Carter, and Luther (L-R, above) were one of eight teams that completed the 2021 “Climate Connections” Super Quest, which involved completing at least five quests around the Upper Valley that tells about Upper Valley impact from and adaptation to climate change. The Smalls…
So many traditions at this cold, dark time of year involve gifts – expressing love, generosity, abundance, creativity, and human connection. The dark side is that gifts can also mean buying more stuff – and, according to the U.N. panel that studies global natural resources, consumption is the biggest driver of global environmental degradation of all types: deforestation,…
The quest was an interesting journey A means of finding things out Classmates, this town and myself All of these things I discovered The history of this town anew The beautiful sky, oh so blue The sound of my classmates chatter And the foliage of a tree that matters, Just a bit more to…
In the 17 years Kim Gibbs has lived in North Hartland, Vermont, she has become increasingly concerned about Route 5 traffic. “Our village has some wonderful assets—two covered bridges, a green, playing fields, a playground, beach, post office, an old schoolhouse—but it’s hard to get to them on foot. As soon as you turn onto…
Free and virtual – Register below to receive Zoom link Upper Valley employers and families both name access to high-quality, affordable childcare as one of the key barriers to prosperity in our region, especially for low- and moderate-income families. How can we increase childcare access and affordability in the Upper Valley so our families and…
Vital Communities’s Valley Quests allow you to undertake self-guided explorations of more than 160 special places throughout the Upper Valley. But it can also be great to have an expert guide from time to time! That’s why we regularly arrange Guided Quests – always free of charge – led by people with special knowledge of…
As the poet and farmer Wendell Berry once wrote, “There are no sacred and unsacred places; there are only sacred and desecrated places.” If we want people to care for places and their inhabitants, we need to build “sense of place”—the combination of knowledge, wonder, and connection that makes you cherish a particular locale. Vital…
From small businesses and large, health care, municipal government, a church, and many other corners of the Upper Valley, 24 people came together on Wednesday, June 9, to complete a 10-month program to help them build the skills, knowledge, and personal networks to be effective leaders in the Upper Valley. The day-long event took place…
The following speech was delivered by Monique Priestley, Chair, Vital Communities Board of Directors, at the Leadership Upper Valley Graduation on June 9, 2021, at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science in Quechee, VT. Hi, everyone! It is such an incredible honor to be here with you today. Leadership Upper Valley was an amazing experience.…
Mark your calendar for Saturday, May 1: It’s a big one for Valley Quests! Not only is May 1 Opening Day for Quests—”treasure hunts” that share the natural and cultural history of 160+ special areas in the Upper Valley—but it’s also the date of our first “Guided Quest” of the season. In Guided Quests, an…
Valley Quests are treasure hunts set in special locations around the Upper Valley. Each Quest follows a unique set of clues that teach you about a place’s ecology, wildlife, and history while leading to a “treasure box” with a special stamp and log book for you to sign. But they’re not restricted to dry land!…
Have you seen the star alight upon Mt. Tom in Woodstock? Wouldn’t it be fun to see it up close? You can if you follow the clues of the Mt. Tom Quest. The star traditionally was only lit over the holidays, but to be a symbol of hope during the pandemic it will light up…
Congratulations to all our participants in our Quest to Refresh Challenge! 28 teams took us up on the Challenge to get out and explore our Quests to beat the pandemic blues. Malcolm and Joseph Marchesi pictured here made up one of the 28 teams that participated in the Quest to Refresh Challenge. 16 of these…
Don’t be deterred by wet, cold, or snow. Good times can be had when a-questing you go! Be sure to search our website Valley Quest page selecting for Season and Year Round to see what Quests are possible even through winter. One special one is the Maple Quest at Sugarbush Farm in Woodstock, VT. Sugarbush…
Vital Communities will honor a dozen Upper Valley mentors at its 2016 celebration on May 19. The annual event, now in its fifth year, recognizes community leaders who have made significant positive impacts in the region and serves as a benefit for the Leadership Upper Valley program of Vital Communities. “The Upper Valley is a…
Vital Communities will honor 10 “Upper Valley Visionaries” at its 2015 Heroes & Leaders celebration. The annual celebration recognizes significant community leaders and serves as a benefit for the Leadership Upper Valley business leader training program from Vital Communities. “Each year Vital Communities honors a select group of Upper Valley residents who have made significant contributions…
Vital Communities will honor 14 women leaders whose work has significantly contributed to the Upper Valley at its 2014 Heroes and Leaders celebration. The annual event recognizes community leaders and serves as a benefit for Vital Communities’ Leadership Upper Valley program. Read more below about the women we’re honoring and how they’ve helped shape the…
Free Town Hall Discussion about the challenges veterans face coming home and the opportunities available to them in the Upper Valley. ~Tuesday, May 7, 2013 ~ 4:00 pm – 5:15 pm Quechee Club, Quechee, VT Moderated by Dr. Joseph O’Donnell, Director of Medicine and Psychiatry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Panelists include: Captain Stoney Portis…
