Burlington, Vt. – (May 29, 2024) The Lake Champlain Chamber is delighted to announce the first graduating class of Advance Champlain, a new skills-focused leadership development offering. Please join us in congratulating these talented individuals:

• Jackie Esperti, City of Burlington, Department of Public Works
• Amber Hecht, Dealer.com/Cox Automotive
• Marie Romanelli, Delaney Event Management
• Kelsey VonDerLinn, ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain
• Carolyn Crowley, ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain
• Andrew Way, Leonardo’s Pizza
• Lisa Campion, LMC Law, PLLC
• Michael Kegler, M&T Bank
• Tim Vartanian, Northeast Delta Dental
• Erin Metivier, Opportunities Credit Union
• Anne Minor, PC Construction
• Dominic Kennett, Redstone
• Cody Vernet, Ridgeline Real Estate Company
• Matt Greer, Sheehey Furlong & Behm P.C.
• Kate Webster, University of Vermont Cancer Center
• Sharon MacFarlane, VBT & Country Walkers
• Michael Gaughan, Vermont Bond Bank

“We look forward to seeing how these advanced leaders utilize this in-depth training to better their organizations and communities,” said Alex Bunten, director of workforce and education. “We took a leap designing and launching a new program but the response has been excellent and we look forward to running it again next year.”

The Chamber is grateful to the excellent faculty, distinguished guests and organizations that helped make this pilot program such a success (in order of appearance):

• Peter Anderson, PhD, Inner Citadel Consulting
• Kathy Johnson, CQ Strategies
• Dr. Sherwood Smith, CQ Strategies
• Topnotch Resort
• Annemarie Curley, Newgrange IT Consulting
• Mike Pieciak, State Treasurer, State of Vermont
• Courtyard Burlington Harbor
• Alison Kosakowski Conant, A.K. Conant Communications
• Col. Daniel P. Finnegan, Vermont Air National Guard
• Lt. Col. Meghan Brady Smith, Vermont Air National Guard
• Col. Laura Caputo, US Air Force and BETA Technologies
• Bill Atkinson, Elemental Edge Training
• Amy Halpin Riley, Full Circle Theater Collaborative

Applications for next year’s cohort will open in Summer 2024. For more info or to express interest in applying, please visit advancechamplain.org.