VBSR Terry Ehrich Award for Lifetime Achievement
Named in honor of late VBSR Board member Terry Ehrich, this award is given to a person exemplifying Terry's outstanding leadership,
including sustained commitment to the environment, workplace, progressive public policy, and community.
Jed Davis (he/him)
Vice President, Strategic Engagement and Sustainability
Cabot Creamery Cooperative
Jed Davis is Vice President, Strategic Engagement and Sustainability for Cabot Creamery Cooperative, a long-time VBSR member.
Born and raised on a six-generation family dairy and fruit farm, Jed came to Vermont and joined Cabot Creamery in 1991 and has held a variety of marketing, sales and operations positions. In 2008, Jed was named Cabot’s first Director of Sustainability. In his current role, he remains the point person on sustainability, facilitating smart collaborations not just within the cooperative, but beyond, helping expand Cabot's Sustainability Credo of “Living within our means and ensuring the means to live” – from cow-to-creamery-to-customer.
Cabot Creamery is owned by the dairy farm families of the Agri-Mark cooperative, and is proud to be a certified B Corporation and a recipient of the U.S. Dairy Sustainability Award.
VBSR Innovation & Inspiration Award
This award recognizes VBSR member organizations who have accomplished a recent innovative and/or inspirational achievement
in the areas of Planet (Environmental Impact), People (Social Impact), and Prosperity (Economic Impact).
BETA Technologies (Large Organization)
Founded in Vermont in 2017, BETA is excited to be creating solutions to some of the biggest climate change issues of our time in the Green Mountain State.
A team of passionate builders and creators who take a hands-on, multidisciplinary approach to problem-solving and innovation, BETA brings a wide range of skills and deep experience from top global organizations – along with curiosity and passion for sustainability, technology, and aviation.
They continue to grow locally with the addition of an aircraft manufacturing facility in South Burlington and a battery validation facility in St. Albans. BETA continues to work towards a cleaner, safer, more efficient future for aerospace!
Bee the Change (Small Organization)
To achieve their mission of creating habitat that supports pollinators, Bee the Change is growing flowers and understanding. By seizing a very specific opportunity – the unused acreage within and around solar arrays – they increase biodiversity and pollinator populations.
Some habitats are as small as an acre; some as large as 50 acres. Taken together, Bee the Change has created habitat equivalent to every Vermont household having their own 10’ by 10’ pollinator garden.
Since planting their first array adjacent field in May of 2015, they have created pollinator habitat in 30 solar fields, dozens of towns, and hundreds of back yards – and it is making a difference. Within three years, they generally see a greater than 10 times increase of unique pollinator populations.
This increase positively impacts the fertilization of plants while also supporting downstream species who rely on that productivity birds, fish, other wildlife and, of course, human beings.
With the goal of restoring pollinator habitat in each of Vermont’s 252 cities and towns, Bee the Change is making Vermont more vibrant for its smallest and its largest citizens.
VBSR Young Changemaker Award
This award recognizes an individual under age 40 who has led the formation of a socially responsible enterprise.
The awardee is selected based on their ability to use the power of business to advance innovative solutions to society’s challenges.
Aly Richards (she/her)
CEO
Let's Grow Kids
Aly Richards is the CEO of Let's Grow Kids(LGK), a statewide organization leading the campaign to solve Vermont’s child care crisis by 2025.
This year, Aly and LGK, along with the 40,000 supporters who make up Vermont’s Child Care Campaign, made history by passing the 2023 Child Care Bill (now Act 76) into law. This comprehensive new law is not only a first-of-its-kind for Vermont and the nation, but it also changes the trajectory of our state through long-term, public investment in our state’s child care system.
Prior to LGK, Aly served as the deputy chief of staff for Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin where she led several efforts to support early childhood education, including supporting the passage of universal prekindergarten.
Aly lives in Montpelier with her husband James Pepper, their identical twin boys Beau and Wesley, and two dogs Bella and Elli.
VBSR Bridge Award
On occasion, VBSR is inspired to create a one-time award based on exceptional achievements or circumstances. This year the VBSR Bridge Award was created to acknowledge the exemplary efforts of the Rainbow Bridge Community Center in Barre, Vermont, which has facilitated healing, recovery and restoration in a community devastated by recent flooding.
Rainbow Bridge Community Center
Rainbow Bridge Community Center (RBCC) is a non-profit devoted to serving the needs of the Central Vermont LGBTQIA2S+ community. Located in Barre, VT, they are dedicated to creating a safe, accessible space to build community resiliency through advocacy, education, support, and play.
As a loving and joyful home away from home, Rainbow Bridge focuses on providing engagement, education, resources, and services that can uplift and strengthen their community.
When Barre was rocked by catastrophic flooding in July, RBCC promptly delivered food, water,clothing and more to respond to the immediate needs of their neighbors. Overnight they became “Rainbow Response Team” and a trusted community resource in ways they never imagined.
After the first day of flooding, they promised to be “back at it tomorrowand the day after that until we are confident we have reached every person in need in this town.”Since then, RBCC’s active love for Barre has continued.
They have delivered essentials to their most impacted and vulnerable neighbors, cleaned out buildings, collected and distributed funding, advocated for environmental safety, held an art auction to raise money, and more. Through it all, they have made sure their neighbors “remember joy.”