Katie Horner, Winooski

Katie lives in Winooski and works for the Institute for Agroecology at the University of Vermont. Some of her work in recent years has focused on equity-based models of farmland access, the social foundations of soil health, and exploring conditions that enable just transitions in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. As a researcher, Katie focuses on participatory processes that center the expertise and needs of farmers and frontline communities. Her guiding aim is to do work that is in solidarity with the farmers,  movements, and grassroots organizations fighting for just, equitable, and resilient agricultural systems. Beyond research, Katie is also an educator and a facilitator. 

Sara Kittell & Vanessa Kittell, Fairfield

Sara represented Franklin County in the Vermont State Senate for 17 years, with 16 years chairing the Senate Agriculture Committee. Sara served as a school nurse and entrepreneur, founding and operating Chester’s, a restaurant and catering business. Sara lives in Fairfield with her husband, William. They are proud of their 40 years of gardening, putting food by and supporting Black Creek Preserves, their family business led by their daughters, Jessica and Nora at the Burlington Farmers’ Market. Sara shares this Board seat with her daughter, Vanessa.

Vanessa holds a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a Master’s Degree in Bioethics focused on agriculture. She served as a speechwriter in the Clinton Administration and returned to Vermont to practice law. In 2014, she launched VBK Law, a civil trial practice comprised of three attorneys and several canines. Vanessa lives in Fairfield where she and her husband make maple syrup.

Fran Miller, South Royalton

Fran Miller is a senior staff attorney and adjunct faculty member at the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS) at Vermont Law School (VLS), where she supervises students in the Food and Agriculture Clinic and leads a variety of projects. Fran focuses predominantly on farmland access, overseeing the expansion of CAFS’s Farmland Access Legal Toolkit to better serve historically marginalized communities. She also serves private clients through CAFS and the clinic, particularly regarding collaborative and community land ownership and business formation. Fran spent many years as a trademark and copyright lawyer, obtained her LLM in Food and Agriculture Law and Policy at VLS in 2017, and moved to Vermont from New York City in September 2019 to work at CAFS.