Meet Robin

I moved to Middlebury from Boston in 1992 with my husband, our two children, aged 3 and 6, and two dogs. Everyone had a new job or a new school to attend so it was a big change for all of us. I had worked for many years at Bank of Boston and went to work for its subsidiary, Bank of Vermont. My husband Ted was an elementary school teacher in Shelburne. Our kids went to Mary Hogan and Quarry Hill.

In the 28 years we've lived in Middlebury, I have been very active in public and nonprofit service. Locally, I have chaired the Mary Hogan school board, chaired the United Way board, was on the first Middlebury Conservation Committee, and was Treasurer of the Middlebury Natural Foods Coop board. I was also Interim Executive Director of the Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT) and the Addison County Solid Waste Management District.

For 9 years, through December 2017, I was the Executive Director of the Addison County Economic Development Corporation. It was a joy to help small businesses grow, succeed, and thrive. Our local businesses are working hard to be successful and do well by their employees. 

At the state level, I was Chair of both the Vermont Land Trust and Smart Growth Vermont boards. I was appointed for 5 years to the Working Lands Enterprise Board (WLEB) and was a board member of the Vermont Employee Ownership Center. I remain on the board of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund and serve as its Secretary/Treasurer.

In the legislature, I serve on the House Ways and Means Committee and am also the Clerk of the committee. As one of the two major money committees, Ways & Means considers matters relating to the revenue of the state. The committee page further states that Ways & Means “shall inquire into the state of the treasury; ascertain the amount of debt due the state, and the claims against it; report the amount of taxes necessary to be raised for the support of the government and inquire what measures, if any, ought to be adopted, the better to equalize the public burdens, secure the accountability of public agents, and otherwise improve the financial concerns of the state, including all matters relating to taxation, local or otherwise and all matters relating to the grand list.”

I am also a member of the Vermont Climate Solutions Caucus and the Women’s Caucus. Two years ago I was nominated by the Speaker and subsequently accepted to the Emerging Leaders Program of the State Legislative Leaders Foundation. In 2019, I was selected as a Toll Fellow, one of the nation’s premier leadership development programs for state government officials and run by the Council of State Governments (CSG).

In our spare time, Ted and I like to canoe, bike, and hike. We also like to travel and to visit our children. Both of our children are married and we have three adorable grandsons who are 4, 1, and 2 months old.