Rick Davis was born in Vermont and forged his successful career in commercial real estate development beginning in 1976. When renovating the second property he'd purchased, his crew’s tools were stolen by a group of elementary and middle school children who tried to hawk the tools in Burlington's downtown marketplace. Rather than press charges, Rick opted to talk to the children and their families—and even ended up offering a few of the kids jobs at the site.

As Rick learned more about the children's lives and the power of mentorship, he was inspired to join and then direct the board at King Street Center, a nonprofit that provides children and families the life-building skills necessary for a healthy and productive future.

"It became increasingly clear to me while on the board at the King Street Center that the best opportunity to prepare children for success in life is during the first years," Rick said.

As Rick explored Vermont's early childhood system, he saw that it was an underfunded—and disconnected—patchwork of organizations that struggled to meet real needs for children and families. He realized that change was needed at a systems level. So, in 2000, Rick and long-time friend Carl Ferenbach co-founded the Permanent Fund for Vermont's Children (now Let's Grow Kids).

Rick is president of Let’s Grow Kids and president and founder of the Davis Company. He is currently a board member of Champlain College and is a past board member of the King Street Center, Mobius (now Mentor Vermont), and the High Meadows Fund. He was named Vermont Philanthropist of the Year in 2006; won the Excellence in Philanthropy award from the Vermont Community Foundation in 2015; and won the Vermont Lifetime Leadership Award from the Vermont Council on Rural Development in 2016.

Rick is a former U.S. naval officer and an avid sculptor. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Colorado, Denver. He currently resides in Stowe, where he loves spending time with his grandson.

Michele Asch is the Chief People Officer of her family business, Twincraft Skincare, a custom contract manufacturer of specialty bar soap and skincare products for over 150 brands throughout North America.

Michele has a diverse background, which includes 14 years at the University of Vermont. The first 10 years she was responsible for leadership development and service learning programs for students. She then moved on to the UVM School of Business and, as the director of the UVM Family Business Program, she assisted Vermont family businesses with their succession planning. Thriving on the creativity found in entrepreneurship, she founded and sold two small businesses, a sea kayak adventure travel business and a men’s salon. Michele is a certified business/coach.

Michele is committed to serving our community. She served as chair of Vermont Children’s Trust Foundation where she was a board member for 7 years. She recently ended a 3-year appointment as chairperson of the Burlington Police Commission. Michele graduated from the UVM School of Business in 1988.

As chief executive officer and president of the Vermont Community Foundation, Dan Smith brings experience in public service, organizational planning and development, as well as a strong legal background.

Dan began his career as a law clerk in the Vermont Supreme Court and then practiced law at Downs Rachlin Martin before taking a position with the Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation, where he led economic development efforts while crafting state and regional strategies to make key industry sectors more successful.

Dan also worked for a business management consulting company in Stowe before moving on to serve as director of community relations and public policy at Vermont State Colleges, where he developed and executed the institution’s state and federal public policy agenda.

Most recently, Dan served as president of Vermont Technical College, where he has strengthened the college’s financial picture and led a reorganization of college curriculum while deepening partnerships with employers in key state industries.

Dan, an eighth-generation Vermonter who grew up in central Vermont, holds a bachelor's in history from the University of Virginia and a juris doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Tom MacLeay, a former president, CEO, and chair of the board of National Life, is currently lead director of the board of National Life Group. He joined National Life in 1976 as a security analyst, rapidly advancing through the management ranks and serving in pivotal positions at critical times in the company’s growth and expansion. He became president and COO in 1996, and in 2002, he was named CEO and chair of the board. He retired as president and CEO in 2008. He stepped down as chair in 2017 and assumed the position of lead director. Tom is a past chair of the board of Sentinel Group Funds, Inc., he currently chairs the National Life Charitable Foundation, and serves on the board of directors of Union Mutual Fire Insurance Company, eSec Lending, Inc.

Prior to joining National Life, Tom served as a pilot as well as a management analyst and officer in the U.S. Air Force. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa, with highest honors, from Denison University in 1971 and earned a master's degree in business administration the following year from the University of Denver.

Dr. Lynette M. Fraga, Founder and CEO of Fiercely Forward, LLC is a mission-driven executive coach, strategic consultant, and speaker with over 30 years’ experience in diverse sectors.  An expert at helping leaders from every seat navigate the complexities of social, organizational, personal, and professional change through big and small transitions and crises, Dr. Fraga works at the intersection of non-profit leadership and change management; racial, social, and economic justice; and identity and self. 

Prior to launching Fiercely Forward, LLC Dr. Fraga served as CEO of Child Care Aware of America, an influential national non-profit advocacy organization for ten years. She has worked in a range of community-based and national non-profit organizations, to include eleven years at ZERO TO THREE, whose mission is to ensure all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life and served in multiple roles including Chief Program Officer. Dr. Fraga has also worked in higher education, military child care, and social entrepreneurship. 

In addition to her experience in the C-Suite, Dr. Fraga has served over the years on many committees and advisory boards focused on the earliest years of life, health and wellness, climate and other critical issues impacting communities and families to include several Boards of Directors. She currently serves on the boards of Generations United, Let’s Grow Kids, and the McCormick Leadership Institute.  

Dr. Fraga graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in Special Education and Rehabilitation, and a Master of Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma.  She completed her doctorate from Kansas State University in Family Life Education and Consultation.

Jennifer Williams is a joint venture partner with Norwich Partners, a hotel development company that builds properties in New England and Florida. She is also executive director of the Children’s Fund of the Upper Valley, which benefits children’s’ charities in the local area. Jennifer worked in higher education fundraising for 13 years, 11 of which at Dartmouth College. She managed the College’s New York office for Special Gifts from 1990–96 and the Dartmouth College Fund from 1996–99; and she served as associate director of development from 1999–2003.

Jennifer has served as the overseer of the Hopkins Center for Performing Arts at Dartmouth College; chair of the board of trustees for the Montessori School of Hanover, New Hampshire; chair of the working group for the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth; chair of the advisory board of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Upper Valley Region; trustee of the Children's Literacy Foundation; trustee of WISE; trustee of the Montshire Museum of Science; and member of the Upper Valley Land Trust Advisory Committee. Jennifer graduated from Dartmouth College with honors in French in 1985 and holds a master's degree in public administration from New York University's Wagner School of Public Service.

Christine Dodson is the COO and co-founder of Mamava, the leading expert in lactation spaces, integrating the biological, physical, and emotional needs of nursing mamas into smart solutions. Christine launched Mamava in 2006 with her friend, colleague, and fellow mama, Sascha Mayer. In 2018, Christine and Sascha were named Vermont Small Business Persons of the Year.

Christine joined Solidarity of Unbridled Labour (Mamava’s birthplace) in 1997 as an account director and left as managing director in 2018 to join Mamava full-time as COO. Christine has over 25 years in design and advertising, working on brands like Pantene, Wolverine World Wide, Patagonia, Black Diamond, and her experience includes management positions at Grey Advertising in New York City, and State Street Corporation in Boston. She holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of New Hampshire.

Meg Seely has served on many boards, primarily in the Woodstock, Vermont area, and at Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital. She has served on the Vermont Community Foundation Board for the last seven years, including two as board chair, and is also on the Special Needs Support Center and Pivotal Steps Boards.

Meg holds advanced degrees in special education related fields. From 1975 to 2001, she worked and eventually directed the Woodstock Learning Clinic/Trust. Meg co-founded the Mt Tom School in 1988, which provided families with quality child care and nurturing, including infant care. Subsequently, she served in many capacities at the Woodstock and Reading Elementary Schools, including interim principal at both.

For the last 15 years, after launching her children into independence, Meg volunteered as a patient family advisor at Dartmouth-Hitchcock. She helped to develop Patient Family Voices and the Family Advisory Board at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth. Meg has spoken locally and at national and international conferences about the importance of patient family centered care.

Alyssa Blask Campbell, CEO of Seed & Sew, has a master’s degree in early childhood education, is a leading expert in emotional development, and travels the globe speaking on the topic. Her podcast, “Voices of Your Village,” is a gathering place for parents, caregivers, teachers, and experts, creating a modern parenting village and reaches listeners in more than 100 countries. She co-created the Collaborative Emotion Processing (CEP) method with Lauren Stauble, an Assistant Professor of Early Education and mindfulness consultant, an approach that changes the way adults experience children’s emotions so we can respond with intention and raise emotionally intelligent humans. Their research of the CEP method and experiences as educators and parents will be shared in Tiny Humans, Big Emotions, published October 10, 2023 from HarperCollins.

Alyssa’s company, Seed & Sew, serves people around the globe through speaking, consulting, online courses, and early childhood professional development programs, sharing tools and expertise to build emotional intelligence. She has been featured as an emotional development expert in publications such as The Washington Post, Kids VT, Burlington Free Press, and Family Education. Alyssa’s show-up-as-you-are approach welcomes people into her village to get support at all ages and stages, shame free. “It’s never too early or too late to start,” she explains.

For more information, visit seedandsew.org and follow @seed.and.sew.

Co-Founder, The Permanent Fund for Vermont’s Children

Chairman and Co-founder of High Meadows Foundation and High Meadows Fund

Trustee, Princeton University; Chairman, Environmental Defense Fund10

Former Director, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Former Director, Department of Pediatrics’ Vermont Regional Genetics Center and Pregnancy Risk Information Service

Co-Founder, Vermont Newborn Screening Program and Medical Director

Founding Director, Vermont Human Genetics Initiative

Former Secretary, Vermont Agency of Human Services

Chair of Trustees, Vermont College of Fine Arts; author

Consultant to states and nations regarding the well-being of children

President, The Johnson Family Foundation, Pittsburgh

Board Member, Bethany College, Green Mountain College, Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, International Film Seminars and Vermont Public Radio

Founding President, Vermont Community Foundation

Aly draws on her extensive experience in state and national politics and her leadership in education policy to spearhead Let's Grow Kids' mission. Prior to joining the organization in 2015, Aly served as the deputy chief of staff for Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin where she led several efforts to support early childhood education, including winning competitive federal grants totaling $70 million and supporting the passage of universal prekindergarten. Aly was selected as a 2013 Toll Fellow by the Council of State Governments and as the 2014 Vermont Champion for Education by the New England Secondary School Consortium. She also served on the 2008 Obama campaign and graduated with honors from Brown University. Aly currently serves as a Trustee of University of Vermont Medical Center and the Vermont Council on Rural Development and was recently named a Changemaker for Children by Save the Children.

Aly grew up in Newbury, VT and now lives in Montpelier with her husband James Pepper, their identical twin boys Beau and Wesley, and two dogs Bella and Ellie.

Sherry is an integral voice and advocate for young children. With an “advocacy by doing” philosophy, she has been an effective driver of universal prekindergarten, school/community partnerships, and early childhood education workforce initiatives. She has leveraged her consulting roles with Let’s Grow Kids, the Early Learning Partnership of Chittenden County, and the Northern Lights Career Development Center for Early Childhood Professionals to facilitate change. She joined the LGK team full-time in the fall of 2017 to lead the Quality Program Expansion and Workforce Development Initiatives. Before beginning her consulting career in 2008, she spent 23 years as the director of the Greater Burlington (VT) YMCA Early Childhood and Family Programs.

Sarah grew up in a log home in the woods of Essex, VT. She went to St. Michael's College and then earned an MA from the University of Hawai’i. She returned to Vermont to work for then-Congressman Bernie Sanders before joining the movement to end domestic and sexual violence, working first at a sexual violence crisis center in Burlington and then doing statewide public policy regarding gender-based violence. She is a graduate of the Vermont Leadership Institute at the Snelling Center for Government. Sarah has served on a number of nonprofit boards and is active in local political campaigns, and served for ten years on the Burlington Police Commission. She lives in the Old North End of Burlington with her partner David, their teenaged son, and two cats who love to make surprise appearances in Zoom meetings.

Emilie leads the campaign efforts for Let’s Grow Kids and the Let’s Grow Kids Action Network to secure access to high-quality, affordable child care for all Vermont families by 2025. Emilie grew up in Hartford, Vermont and recently returned home with her husband and two small children.

Emilie’s expertise focuses on creating and managing effective, results-driven fundraising operations and campaigns for state-wide initiatives and non-profit organizations with a strong emphasis on building coalitions with the public, non-profit and private sector. Emilie spent the past 14 years in New Orleans where she served as a senior consultant to Governor John Bel Edwards and to Rebuild Louisiana, a 501 (c)(4) focused on supporting the governor’s legislative agenda. Previously, she served as a director of investor relations for the New Orleans Business Alliance and director of development for the SBP, a non-profit disaster organization. Emilie worked with organizations as they recovered from Hurricane Katrina and learned firsthand the importance of taking bold action and making transformational investments in systems to build communities back better.

Outside of her work at LGK, Emilie hopes to get back to her love of cross-country skiing, hiking, and re-discovering the Green Mountain State through the eyes of her kids.

Hannah brings years of fundraising and communications experience to Let’s Grow Kids and is thrilled to be channeling her passion for social justice and community building to benefit Vermont families. Hannah studied global health and medical anthropology at Middlebury College and spent a few years working in health systems strengthening across Africa before receiving her MBA with a focus in marketing and social entrepreneurship from Northeastern University. She moved back home to Vermont in 2015. Hannah serves as Vice President of the Middlebury College Alumni Association Board. When she’s not working, Hannah enjoys adventuring around Vermont with her husband and rescue pup Harvey, reading, skiing, traveling and trying out new recipes. In 2022 her relationship to this movement expanded when she became a parent advocate as well!

Rhea grew up in Montpelier and graduated from Davidson College in North Carolina with a BA in Latin American studies. She served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic for two years as a Spanish literacy tutor, then as an AmeriCorps VISTA member with USDA Rural Development in Montpelier. She has worked and volunteered in the education field for many years, and is grateful to be a part of LGK’s crucially important mission. She currently lives in Montpelier with her husband and loves exploring her beautiful home state.

Noah is originally from Worcester, Massachusetts and recently relocated to Winooski, Vermont after starting with Let’s Grow Kids in 2021. He has experience working in both the private and public sectors in the field of communications, public relations, and government. He has led two winning political campaigns in Massachusetts for State Representative Harold Naughton (2014) and State Auditor Suzanne Bump (2018) and then helped lead each of their office’s communications efforts. In the private sector, he was an account executive at Ball Consulting Group (located in Newton, MA) where he developed communications strategies for clients in the health care, pharmaceutical, and nonprofit space. In 2020, he earned a master’s degree in government with a concentration in communications from Johns Hopkins University. When he’s not advocating for high-quality, affordable child care, Noah is an avid skier, hiker, and general outdoors-enthusiast.

Didi is a strong advocate for enhancing professional opportunities for child care providers and increasing high-quality care for Vermont’s young children. As a strategic initiatives manager, her support and leadership will focus on the northern Vermont region. She has 30 years of experience in the early childhood field having held teaching and administrative positions in a variety of settings including 20 years at the Greater Burlington (VT) YMCA.

Chris has been involved with the early childhood profession for over 28 years as the owner and educator of a 5-star home-based program. She has provided support to peers and the profession as an instructor, a professional development specialist for the Council of Professional Recognition, a qualified observer for the Northern Lights career ladder and a Provider in Residence for Homegrown Childcare where she mentors and supports ECE leaders across the nation in advocacy and sustainability efforts. In 2016, Chris was recognized as an Early Childhood Superhero as well as a VTAEYC Magnificent Mentor. Her current role as an Early Childhood Program Specialist allows her to continue her passion of working with the VT ECE profession to increase program stability and ensure children and families have the opportunity for high-quality, affordable early childhood care and education through successful implementation of Act 76.

Maria is excited to join the Let's Grow Kids team as the Data Specialist. As part of the Operations and Evaluation team, Maria works to support the organization's technology needs. Maria's education and career have revolved around addressing structural inequality. She received her undergraduate degree in women's studies from The Ohio State University and a graduate degree in humanistic/multicultural education from the State University of New York at New Paltz. In Maria's career she has worked in the fields of advocacy, human services, and secondary and higher education. Most recently, she managed an educational software at the collegiate level, connecting students with individualized resources. Maria's experiences helped fuel a passion for exploration of proactive interventions to disrupt the cycle of institutionalized and historic marginalization. Maria believes Let’s Grow Kids embodies the kind of comprehensive intervention that is necessary for positive social change.

Maria recently moved to Vermont with her husband and three daughters. She married into an enormous Vermont family spread throughout the state and is overjoyed to be closer to them all.