November 14, 2024 - 12:00 am

NEK Together 2024: We Have So Much To Do Together!

223 Sherburne Lodge Road
East burke, VT
An NEK Collaborative Event

NEK Together 2024: We Have So Much To Do Together!

NEK Together
Thursday, November 14
Burke Mountain

At last year’s NEK Together, YOU told us that the biggest concern facing our region was housing. We have been working on that through the year and we’re going to open this year’s summit with a panel on housing, including:

Jim Kisch, President and CEO, Passumpsic Bank

Linda Ramsdell, Headwaters Community Trust

Dr. Umair Malik, Newport Housing Committee

Mike Morin, Northern Forest Center

Mike Reddy, Northeast Kingdom Organizing (NEKO), HCT, and Wheelock Mountain Farm

We’ll also talk about next steps in the Region-Wide Housing Convening the Collaborative is sponsoring to bring community members and leaders together across sectors to address our regional housing challenges. Please come with your ideas and your questions!

Our day is packed with two sets of breakout sessions covering topics important to everyone in the NEK:

Morning Breakout Sessions:

A: The Village Trust Initiative in the NEK
Nicole Gratton, Preservation Trust of Vermont
Kaziah Haviland, Vermont Council on Rural Development
Gary Briggs and Tina Breault, Lunenburg
Annie McLean, Greensboro Bend
Nancy Hill and Jane John, The Bend Revitalization Initiative (BRI)

B. Flood Recovery and Resilience for the Future
Heather Lindstrom, KURRVE Co-Chair
Misty Grassley, KURRVE Coordinator
Paige Hartsell, KURRVE Executive Committee
Terri Lavely, Northeast Kingdom Human Services

C. Racial Literacy, a Healing Practice
Sha’an Mouliert, The Root Social Justice Center

D. Vermont Forest Future Strategic Roadmap
Abby Long, Executive Director, Kingdom Trail Association and NEK Collaborative Board Chair
Christine McGowan, Forest Products Program Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund

E. Vermont Healthcare Transformation, Act 167
Tom Frank, CEO, North Country Hospital

Afternoon Breakout Sessions:

A: Vermont State University- Updates and Looking to the Future
Dr. Nolan Atkins, Provost and Chief Academic Office, Vermont State University

B. Community Hubs
Juliet Emas, Executive Director, St. Johnsbury Community HUB, plus more speakers to be announced!

C. Seeking Common Ground
Sha’an Mouliert, The Root Social Justice Center

D. Mobilizing for Change: Encouraging Vibrant Community Action
Rick Ufford-Chase, Director, Newport Downtown Development

E. The Vision of NEK Broadband.
Christa Shute, Executive Director
Tonya Ozone, Director of Sales and Marketing

We’ll end the day with A Call to Action, as we did last year, and this year’s topic will be to ask YOU What Makes a Strong and Vibrant NEK? How can we collectively make our region the best that it can be?

We’ll tackle areas like housing, transportation, food, community connection, recreation, and anything else YOU want to discuss! We’ll also ask for your input on the legislative advocacy points we’ll share with the NEK Delegation in Montpelier this year.

Ten of the 19 NEK-based legislators will be new in January, so let’s give them lots of help and information to advocate for us.

Please join us- learn, network, and make your voice heard!

Digital Media Vermont