PRESIDENT

Anna Matheson was raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia and graduated from high school in 1996. As a young person, Anna was active in athletics, visual and vocal arts, Girl Scouts, and church youth group and choir. Anna attended Hobart and William Smith Colleges and graduated in 2000 with a B.A. majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Studio Art and History.

Anna has lived in several cities around the country and abroad and has enjoyed a diverse career in both the corporate and non-profit sectors, specializing in end-to-end project management, fundraising and special event coordination. Anna has held positions at the Harvard College Fund, the San Diego and Imperial Counties Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Aramark Corporation, and the Curtis Institute of Music.

In 2008, Anna returned to her roots in Philadelphia and soon after met her future husband, Philip. Anna and Philip settled in the Philadelphia area from 2009 to 2021 and welcomed two children during that time. In May of 2021, Anna and her family moved to Vermont and in November of 2021 settled in Calais. Anna currently works from home for the Neff & Downing Association Management company. In her free time, Anna enjoys traveling, walking, alpine skiing, spending time with family and friends and volunteering in the community.

TREASURER

Renée Grzankowski was raised just outside of Boston but spent her summers in Calais, where her extended family has resided for eight generations. After earning a B.S. in Mathematics and Physics from Bates College, she held national and international corporate and investment banking positions before convincing her husband, Scott, to leave Wall Street for the dirt road they've now called their primary home since 2008. She is currently the COO of the Vermont Economic Development Authority and a Montpelier Rotarian, but takes most pride in being mom to their three children - Charles, William & Ella. She is also an active member of the community, serving on local, non-profit boards and coaching youth sports.

SECRETARY

Barbara Butler has been called a ‘community organizer extraordinaire’. She has used her love of community to prove herself successful at both senior level management as well as post-retirement public service. Living in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, Barbara managed an international music career, traveling internationally for two decades. Upon moving to Central Vermont, she built a powerful fundraising program for Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice, renovated her 220-year-old Calais farmhouse, was a co-founding member of Indivisible Calais, and has served as Calais’s Assistant Town Clerk for many years.

Barbara is a Justice of the Peace and serves on both the Calais Board of Civil Authority and Board of Abatement. Other current volunteer activities include having established and coordinating a “Welcome to Calais” program, and serving as the longtime Docent Coordinator for the Kent Museum’s annual “Art at the Kent” exhibition.

Nature and beauty have been lifelong sources of joy for Barbara. In Vermont, her love for the natural world shows up in her bountiful vegetable gardens and beautifully landscaped lawn on the shores of Number 10 Pond. Barbara loves hosting events – both public and private, large and small. Her energy and enthusiasm have led friends to call her ‘the heartbeat of Calais’. Barbara has two adult daughters, 11 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren.

VICE PRESIDENT

A native Vermonter, Rachael grew up in Maple Corner, where the community instilled in her a deep appreciation for this place and its people. She went on to study at the University of Vermont, earning a degree in Studio Art with a focus in Digital Art & Design. Today, she draws on those skills at Cabot Creamery, blending creativity and a passion for good cheese to tell the stories of the farmer-owned cooperative and inspire a love of food that connects us all. Rachael now lives in Calais with her husband, Jordan, where they’re raising their daughter and doing their best to keep their two French Bulldogs, Stella and Evie, out of mischief.

BOARD MEMBER

Brooke Remmers is originally from out west, gradually moving east where she graduated high school in Pittsburgh, PA. In 2003, Brooke decided to pack up and move to Vermont to be closer to friends and family. She received her B.A. in Anthropology and Psychology from the University of Vermont, but with a few farming experiences eventually decided that livestock farming had crept its way into her heart. Over the course of many years, Brooke worked a variety of farm jobs including milking a flock of 120 sheep for award-winning cheese production, milking a small herd for raw milk dairy, helping manage a diverse livestock operation for a full diet CSA, and honed her rotational grazing and on-farm butchery skills. At the end of 2018 Brooke, her husband Sam, and daughters Franny and Fern, purchased their own farm in East Calais, VT, and started Schoolhouse Farm. They specialize in certified organic eggs, chicken, pastured pork, and grass-fed beef.

Brooke also enjoys sewing, pickling things, listening to endless podcasts, showing up for her community, and slowly pecking away at her M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling starting fall 2024.

BOARD MEMBER

Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Adrian will always consider herself a true southerner, but after investing in studded tires and brightly colored coats, she decided it would be more special to raise her two children in the magical town of Calais, Vermont with her husband, their naughty dog, Millie, and playful cat, Mr. Chips.

Adrian enjoys what Calais and Maple Corner have to offer her family, such as beautiful, locally-run stores, cool dips in Curtis Pond, cross-country trails, and relaxing walks around Kent Corner and Robinson cemetery.

When she’s not in Calais, Adrian spends her time teaching art and pottery to U-32 middle and high school students. Her students think she is fun, smart, and completely hilarious.

BOARD MEMBER

Allison has spent her career teaching children in various capacities. She started two independent schools in Vermont, the latest was The River Rock School in Montpelier which sadly closed during Covid. She helped direct an Art Center in Cambridge, NY and created and ran a children’s theater group there. She has lived in Central Vermont for 27 years, and 23 years in the Bennington area. She and her husband Les live on Curtis Pond. Their daughter Adi lives in Pittsburgh.

BOARD MEMBER

Roni Coleman grew up in South Florida and moved to Vermont in 1996 with her husband Warren and their sweet pups. After earning her M.A. in Special Education from Boston University she worked in Vermont public schools for a decade+ and then went on to earn a M.S. in Mediation and Applied Conflict Studies from Woodbury College in Montpelier.

Roni has also worked to strengthen restorative justice, affordable housing, and food security in Vermont. She currently owns her own consulting business and volunteers for multiple non-profit organizations. Roni is interested in supporting resilient local connections where all community members feel welcome.