​Meet VLSI’s Executive Director

Brad Smith -- For a long time I encouraged others to write effectively, first as part of Manhattan's publishing world then as an adjunct professor of Writing & Literature at Johnson State College in northern Vermont. In 2005, however, I set out unexpectedly on a 12-year odyssey with my child, who had substantial differences in how he experienced the world--that child, a 2017 college graduate, now works with sixth-graders in a Boston public school. Being in a family coping with learning issues provided a lot of insight, and I started VLSI in 2016 hoping to make the journey easier for other challenged teens and their families. I appreciate the whole of the college experience, having been not only a teacher but also men’s tennis coach and a student advisor. That appreciation is part of VLSI’s distinctive support framework for diverse learners who aspire to college. With a bachelor's degree from Bucknell University, a master's degree from New York University, a certificate in nonprofit management from Marlboro College, and all my years of teaching and working in college environments, it's fair to say I'm steeped in higher education.

I live on the edge of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, where the stars are brightest in winter's deepest cold.

---

​Meet VLSI’s Board of Directors

Dorothy Schnure, Chairperson -- Dotty has worked for Green Mountain Power since 1982, managing all aspects of corporate communications and media relations, and is now a senior energy advisor. She graduated from Bucknell University with a degree in English Literature in 1975, and is also a skilled photographer. Dotty lives in Hinesburg with her husband, Willem Leenstra; they have two daughters and three grandchildren.

---

Chad Butt, Treasurer -- A 2004 graduate of Dartmouth College, Chad majored in Earth Science and received his secondary teacher certification credential. While in college he helped start a school-based mentoring program at a local middle school that paired youth and college students with learning differences; he was also student leader and mentor in a community-based mentoring program. Following college he worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA member for the Burlington-based DREAM Program, which partners youth from local affordable housing communities with mentors from neighboring colleges. Chad accepted a full-time staff position with DREAM, serving as Programs Director from 2005 to 2009. In August 2009 he moved to Boston, Massachusetts to spearhead DREAM's first office and programs outside of Vermont. He returned to the state in May 2013 to become Executive Director of Mobius, Vermont's Mentoring Partnership.

---

Mary Cotton, M.A. CCC-SLP -- Mary is a speech and language pathologist at Champlain Valley Union High School. She majored in Communication Sciences at The College of Wooster (Ohio) and earned a Masters in Speech Pathology from Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) in 2008. She worked at the Stern Center in Burlington for 5 years prior to moving into the public school setting. Mary has extensive training in the areas of social cognition, executive functioning and higher-order language intervention. She particularly enjoys working with students to help them identify their strengths and weaknesses and to figure out what works for them to be the best learner each of them can be.

---