Staff from Vermont’s college access programs attended the annual conference for the New England Educational Opportunity Association (NEOA), held in Warwick, Rhode Island, in early April. Close to 300 people attended the conference from across New England and northern New York. Attendees were able to learn from each other through workshops and networking. Representatives from the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE), the national Trio advocacy organization, shared federal updates and ideas for advocating for federal funding. Former program participants and staff received awards for their achievements.

Three VEOP members were elected to the NEOA board. Rick Williams (Northern Vermont University at Lyndon Upward Bound) was elected to be the next NEOA president, after serving as President-Elect this year. Brian Post (SUNY Plattsburgh Upward Bound) was elected to be President-Elect. Karen Madden (Northern Vermont University at Johnson Student Support Services) was elected to be Vermont’s state liaison to the board.

VEOP also held its annual meeting to review the year, vote on next year’s budget and to elect officers for next year. Board members for next year will be:

President-Elect: Lindsay Carpenter
President: Adam Hurwitz
Past President: Sue Polen
Secretary: Doe Dahm
Treasurer: Matt Beagle Bourgault
Director Liaison: Julie Finnegan

Monda Kelley and Angie Ryan-Williams were thanked for their service to the board this year.

Also discussed at the meeting was the planned 5K run/walk to happen in October at the University of Vermont. This is a new initiative to raise funds for VEOP’s scholarship program.

Finally, Tabitha Pohl-Moore, who was awarded the VEOP Achiever award at our last state conference, was awarded the NEOA Achiever award, selected from a competitive group of nominees.