Montpelier's Pavilion Building was packed on Saturday, January 7th and an overflow crowd watched via streaming video from the Unitarian Church during live presentations by the five finalists in the Sustainable Montpelier Design Competition hosted by Net Zero Vermont. VPR and Fox 44 TV covered the action, and the Times Argus wrote up a summary of the presentations and highlighted the online voting opportunity. WCAX and the AP news wire helped to spread the word about

The Blue Ribbon Commission on Financing High-Quality, Affordable Child Care issued its final report this month, and the Permanent Fund for Vermont's Children, Building Bright Futures, and their partners working together to advance theVermont Early Childhood Framework and the accompanying Vermont Early Childhood Action Plan are spreading the news throughout Vermont.

As a temporary exhibit was hung in City Hall, Net Zero Vermont Inc. announced public presentations by the top five finalist teams for the Sustainable Montpelier 2030 Design Competition will be held on Saturday, January 7, 2017 from 3:00 to 5:30 p.m. in the Pavilion Building Auditorium. Seating is limited and advance registration is encouraged for this free event.

Net Zero Vermont opened a pop-up gallery and voting for the Sustainable Montpelier Design Competition on October 2, 2016 in the capitol city. Design concepts were submitted from around the world for Montpelier residents, workers and visitors to review and select their top five. The Times Argus and NECN [Video] were first to cover the action.

The July/August issue of Conscious Company Magazine focused on women in leadership in business, so we were delighted Pat's article appeared in this beautifully produced magazine. In case you haven't subscribed yet, the article is available for reading in their Leadership blog, 6 Policies We Need For Gender Equality in Business.

Board members of Women Business Owners Network wanted a new look and feel for a mobile-friendly website — a look that reflected the revitalized and dynamic nature of this nonprofit organization serving Vermont's female entrepreneurs. Yet the board wanted to keep the functional power (and low operating costs) of Wild Apricot, the membership association management platform where the site has been hosted for many years.

"The new website should reflect the vibrancy of our new building." It was a tall order, and although we may be a tad biased, we think the latest, greatest version rocks! King Street Center online is a virtual, colorful mirror of the community center building designed to support Burlington's children and families.

We loved the lede to this roundup article by Joi Sears in TriplePundit.

Most brands claim to have some form of social mission, but few act on it. Today’s winning brands are not only starting contentious, uncomfortable and socially-relevant conversations about the issues that matter, but they’re also getting off their buns and actually doing something about them.

Pat is quoted on the importance of diversity — of perspectives, experiences, identities, ideas, and opinions, in addition to the traditional demographic characteristics — and the business case for inclusive communication, particularly for the younger adults often labeled as Millennials.

Women business owners from throughout Vermont gathered for the Spring Women Business Owner's Network (WBON) conference April 29th to learn, share and connect with each other. The day kicked off early with WCAX Morning News coverage as WCAX's Tyler Dumont interviewed WBON members Amelia Gulkis, Laura Lind-Blum, Jill Davies, and Mary-Catherine Jones about the conference line up and their reasons for being involved in WBON.

Melinda Moulton of Main Street Landing was the keynote speaker to launch this year's theme "Women, Money and Business: Navigating the Financial Issues Women Business Owners Face."

The Vermont Action Coalition announced a new website resource for Vermont nurses who want to advance their education or are curious about their options. The Vermont Nursing.org website is a key component of the Coalition's Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action Initiative grant.