Program

Sascha Mayer is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and co-founder of Mamava, the creator of freestanding lactation spaces for breastfeeding on the go. Sascha is a recognized expert on lactation space design, family-friendly workplace policies, and social entrepreneurial leadership. Her career in design started at JDK (now Solidarity of Unbridled Labour) where she helped develop the Living Brand®, Solidarity’s philosophy on brands and brand creation. As Strategy Director, Sascha designed and facilitated multidisciplinary creative-collaborative sessions with brands including HP, Levi’s, Lululemon, Merrell Apparel, Nike Women, and Seventh Generation. Prior to joining Solidarity, Sascha served as assistant press secretary for former Congressman (now Senator) Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). She has a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Vermont and has been a Board Member of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility since 2019.

Louisa Schibli is an experienced entrepreneur, forward thinker and creative problem solver. She’s used technology as a way to introduce new online communities and markets. Her role as co-founder and CEO of Milk Money Vermont, an online equity crowd-funding platform connecting all Vermonters with opportunities to invest in Vermont businesses, included not only creating the platform but also the development and education of a new market.

She is currently leading the This Way Up campaign. This Way UP is a campaign to identify women-owned businesses and women leaders all across Vermont.

Sarah and Bri are the co-owners of W. Collective, a retail store and café located in downtown Bennington, VT. They met during the summer of 2019, prior to the store's opening and became friends. Throughout the pandemic they began collaborating on different projects and realized their dream of opening a store together in July of 2021.

Bri, is the owner and designer of Magnifico, a womenswear and lifestyle brand that exists to evoke the spirt of romanticism, whimsy, and playfulness in everyday life. She is originally from Bennington, VT but has spent the last 12 years living in Brooklyn and working for various designers in the fashion industry.

Sarah, is the owner of My Generation Vintage, a vintage clothing and accessory brand focused on encouraging people to incorporate unique one-of-a-kind pieces that evoke their style and personality. She is originally from Staten Island, NY and relocated to Bennington, VT in 2019.

Jane is the co-founder and co-owner of Family Tree Hemp Company. Jane's responsible for running the business as Ben runs the farm and production. Her career is rooted in holistic living.

Before launching Family Tree, Jane co-founded Burlington Yoga Conference, Liberate Festival & School of Yoga, along with a still-thriving popular Burlington-area yoga studio.

Jane's wellness, event and marketing clients ranged from music festivals to meditation centers and boutique hotels. Jane runs meditation and cannabis retreat experiences focused on down to earth, informed wellness.

Jane's certified through UVM's Larner School of Medicine in Cannabis Science in Medicine. She has a degree in English from the University of Vermont.

Jane's grateful to work from home running the farm business, brand, and raising their two children."

Founder and CEO of Green Vision Cleansing. Originally from Cameroon, she moved to the US in 2018, after obtaining her MBA in international management, and her certificate in project management CAPM by the PMI.

Marie is also the 2020 Emerging Leader Award winner, an award that she won because of her business performance and also her philanthropy work in the community.

Marie was recognized Vermont Rising Star class of 2021 by the Vermont Business Magazine.

Marie’s dream is create an orphanage and in her home country to help kids develop their talent and turn them into businesses.

Cara Tyrrell empowers parents to be their child’s first teacher and has a passion for lasting relationships among the family support network. Cara has Bachelor degrees in ASL and Linguistics and a Master’s degree in Education. She’s a trained Early Childhood Teacher, Early Years Caregiver, continuing education consultant, and parent coach. In her preschool and Kindergarten classrooms, she identified a pattern of underdeveloped skill sets in her students leading to a professional pivot as an online Early Childhood Parent Educator.

Cara founded Core4Parenting, an online community, course, and coaching platform for parents and caregivers that follows the developmental path of the young child while educating, empowering, and engaging parents and caregivers to be their child’s brain architect between birth and 5 years old, setting them up for success in school and life.

Sarah Lyman is founder of PurplCouch, where she synthesizes expertise from divorce professionals into a holistic online resource for those on the divorce journey. She is also Communications Manager with Farm to Institution New England, and holds a M.S. in Food Systems from UVM. Prior to that, she was an underwater archaeologist, educator, and web/graphic/exhibit designer at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. She loves to hike, kayak, SCUBA dive, and sing. Since her own divorce - the impetus for PurplCouch - Sarah has started dabbling in watercolor painting, learning to dance tango, and lounging on her new purple couch.

Growing up in India, Akshata was a science geek and believed that she would be a lab rat investigating genetic mysteries for the rest of her life. So she moved to the US and earned two Master of Science degrees – one in Biochemistry and another in Applied Clinical Nutrition while doing research in the fields of Genetics, Biochemistry, Toxicology, Immunology and Neuroscience.

But life had other plans, and her learnings converged into two businesses in 2010, both with the idea that our health is dependent on what we put in and on our body: The Orange Owl, a small-batch vegan skincare line that was managed and run solely by her, and Alternative Roots Wellness Center (www.alternativerootswellness.com), a holistic health center that she still runs with her husband, Dr. Greg Giasson, which offers chiropractic and nutrition counseling services.

Recently, after a decade she decided to close down The Orange Owl due personal health issues and the COVID-19 crisis, but has pivoted to a new business opportunity in Little Patakha (www.littlepatakha.com) which has a mission to help kids see differences with others as something to learn from rather than be wary of.

Over the years, it has become obvious to her that even though women and BIPOC business owners have plenty of ideas, they hold back in recognizing their efforts, expressing opinions and asking for the support they need. Representation is vital within the business community and she is looking forward to playing an active role in the ecosystem that empowers these entrepreneurs, especially in her home state of Vermont, to believe in themselves and give their ideas a chance.

Sas Stewart is a serial entrepreneur passionate about creating spaces that foster joy, acceptance and celebration—a pursuit she has manifested over her 20 years in hospitality.

In 2019 Sas was named one of the top 50 entrepreneurs to watch in the US; Sas and her projects have been featured in Martha Stewart Living, Food and Wine, Outside Magazine, Sift, Bloomberg, Imbibe, Better Homes and Gardens and other publications.

Prior to launching Adventure Dinner, Sas was the co-founder of the award-winning distillery Stonecutter Spirits and Highball Social (cocktail bar).

She is a graduate of the SBA Emerging Leaders program, and holds a B.A in English from the University of Michigan and a M.S. in Sustainable Planning and Development from Pratt Institute.

Katherine Leung (pronounced "Learn"; she/her pronouns) is a Cantonese-American curator and editor of Canto Cutie magazine, a publication about the international Cantonese diaspora. Canto Cutie consists of four volumes and represents over one hundred artists in ten different countries. Katherine Leung is also an art educator and board member at the Milton Artists' Guild.

When she isn’t laying around in compost or digging through dumpsters, you can find her out in nature, eating maple creemees, camping with her girlfriends, and exploring Vermont in her van (aka Vanny.)