2023 VPIRG Board Candidates
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Chris is the global social mission director at Ben & Jerry’s, a unique position within the corporate world. He is responsible for development and execution of the company’s issue advocacy campaigns that are rooted in its progressive values. Ben & Jerry’s has a long history of running campaigns on issues like mandatory GMO labeling, marriage equality, money in politics, and climate change. Before joining Ben & Jerry’s, Chris led the sustainability work at Seventh Generation, the leader in natural non-toxic household and personal care products. He also directed Greenpeace USA’s national climate change campaign and served on the staff of then Congressman Bernie Sanders. Chris also serves as the chair of the board of directors of Car Share Vermont.
Marianne has used her innate entrepreneurial skill over a 30-year career to successfully launch and lead both for-profit and not-for-profit enterprises. As a social entrepreneur, Marianne was a founding member and now serves as a trustee of the Circle School, a Sudbury-inspired democratic school in Harrisburg, PA. She founded her first company at 23, launching the first green real estate development firm in Pennsylvania. Marianne later brought her talents into the areas of electronics, communications technology, and the green energy sector. Marianne currently serves as co-founder of Catalyst Clean Energy Finance, LLC, and co-chair of Vermont’s Energy Action Network’s Capital Mobilization workgroup. Marianne matches her creativity and boundless enthusiasm for entrepreneurship with a deep commitment to identifying and pursuing opportunities to enact meaningful, lasting positive change for the greater good.
A VPIRG board member since 1995, Biff Mithoefer has taught yoga at Nosara Yoga Institute in Costa Rica, Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, and at workshops in Vermont, Hawaii, and California. He is a 500-hour Yoga Alliance registered teacher, and has studied shamanism. Previously, Biff was the President of East Mountain Environmental Services, engaged in the development of large-scale organic waste composting projects and is the former President and owner of East Mountain Transport, a solid waste handling, transportation, and recycling company.
Diana (pronounced De-ahna) has over two decades of experience developing social change leaders in education, activism, and electoral politics through her work as a trainer and facilitator. She lives in Winooski and represented Chittenden 6-7 in the Vermont House of Representatives from 2014-2020; sitting on the House General committee as the Ranking Member and the assistant leader of the Progressive House caucus. She proudly worked on climate solutions, racial justice bills, and many labor rights bills.
She grew up in Southern California and has called Vermont her home since 2002. Her full time work is now as the Director of Training at the National Center for Learning and Leadership at the Vermont Network. In addition to her masters degree in Conflict Transformation from the SIT graduate institute she may one day finish her dissertation in Education, Leadership and Policy from the University of Vermont.
Quinn is a lifelong Vermonter. He is currently a senior at the University of Vermont, majoring in Political Science with minors in Film and Television and Geospatial Technologies. For two years, he worked with UVM Campus Rec in their marketing department as a videographer, creating promotional videos and running social media campaigns. He joined the VPIRG summer canvass in 2022, working on the Keep Vermont Cool campaign – eventually gaining promotion to field manager. He returned to the canvass for the 2023 Make Big Oil Pay campaign, as an assistant director. He maintains a passion for the environment and the natural world and strives to live by the core tenets stewardship and sustainability.
Tiko is a freshman at the University of Vermont, studying political science. He hopes to one day pursue a career in law or activism (or both). His hobbies include writing music (mostly classical), reading, politics, and more. Tiko worked on VPIRG’s 2023 summer canvass, going door-to-door to build support for the Make Big Oil Pay campaign. He was the youngest person on the canvass staff. Tiko is also now part of the VPIRG Club at UVM.