Celebrating Rutland’s rising stars

If you’ve spent any time in downtown Rutland over the last few years, you’ve undoubtedly noticed many beautiful additions to the Downtown Rutland Sculpture Trail. From Martin Freeman, the first black president of an American college, to Olympic skier Andrea Mead Lawrence, to turn-of-the-century poet Julia Dorr — whose likeness was recently unveiled near the Rutland Free Library — the sculptures highlight notable Rutland residents who can serve as role models for residents and visitors alike. Our state has seen its citizens rise to the ranks of gold medalists, rockstars, and even presidents, but many of our brightest stars are right here beside us making our region a better place to live, work and play.

Rutland Young Professionals is proud to congratulate our directors and members who were recently selected to the Vermont Rising Stars class of 2021, chosen by Vermont Business Magazine. The Vermont Rising Stars award honors 40 Vermonters annually under the age of 40 who display a “commitment to business growth, professional excellence, and involvement in their communities.” The class of 2021 will be recognized at a special event on Nov. 4.

The newest rising stars currently serving on RYP’s board are Vanessa Robertson, a lawyer at Facey, Goss & McPhee; and Fran Sun, who supervised the Covid-19 vaccine clinic for Rutland Regional Medical Center. In addition, we are pleased to congratulate RYP members Thomas Franco of the Center on Rural Innovation and Devon Neary of Rutland Regional Planning Commission, who also both currently serve on the Rutland City Board of Aldermen.

In the 12 years that Vermont Business Magazine has recognized these notable Vermonters, Rutland Young Professionals have seen many of our leaders and members recognized for their achievements. Our past Vermont Rising Stars include current RYP President Elicia Pinsonault (class of 2019); President-Elect Amy Laramie (class of 2020); RYP past-Presidents Sara Gilbert (class of 2014), Will Gormly (class of 2015), Steve Peters (class of 2020), Laura Galster (class of 2017) and Kimberley Rupe (class of 2019); past officers Leslie Doenges (class of 2017), Gwen Flewelling (class of 2015), Shannon Poole (class of 2017), Charles Romeo (class of 2016) and Reed Wilcox (class of 2016); and past at-large directors Erin Anderson (class of 2018), Colie Roy (class of 2015) and Lyz Tomsuden (class of 2015).

Other past and present RYP members who have been named as Rising Stars include Karen Bartlett, Daniel Doenges, Darian Fagan, Sarah Furman, Melinda Humphrey, Erin Lorentz, Nicole Moran, Andy Paluch, Lisa Ryan, Matthew Whitcomb, Joshua Terenzini, — and we offer our sincere apologies to anyone we may have unintentionally missed.

Since Rutland Young Professionals was founded, our mission has been to engage with our community, create social and professional networking opportunities and work to build a Rutland area that attracts and retains young professionals. Throughout our organization’s history, as our members blossom in their careers and rising stars continue to grow brighter, we are consistently energized by the wide range of incredibly talented individuals who live and work here and help us to commit to creating a more vibrant Rutland region. Who knows — perhaps one day we’ll even see some of these familiar faces immortalized in Vermont marble downtown.