Howard Center Board Elects New Officers

BURLINGTON, VT — Howard Center’s Board of Trustees has elected Kelly Deforge as its new president and Yves Bradley as vice president.

Kelly Deforge is both a parent and a passionate and dedicated advocate for accessible mental health services. A long-time member of the board, she is also chair of Howard Center’s Family Advisory Council, a member of the agency’s Executive Committee, and co-chair of the Development and Communications Committee. Kelly is a mortgage loan officer with Union Bank.

Yves Bradley is a Partner at V/T Commercial and has been a commercial real estate broker since 2004. Yves graduated from the University of Vermont in 1985 and is a member of the Burlington Planning Commission, a board member of the Chittenden Commercial Real Estate Association, and is the past government relations chair for the State of Vermont of the International Council of Shopping Centers. Yves is a graduate of the Leadership Champlain Class of 2008, and of the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce and Champlain College Excellence in Executive Leadership program in 2010.

George Philibert continues in the position of Treasurer, and Cyndee Sturtevant will remain as Secretary. Trustees Heather Blackman, Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux, Thato Ratsebe, and Gail Stevenson will remain on the board for an additional three-year term. Kerrick Johnson rotated off the board at the end of his term.

Howard Center’s Board of Trustees is reflective of the community it serves. State regulations governing designated agencies require the board to have a majority of members who are or were eligible to receive services from the agency or have family members who are or were eligible.

For additional information, please contact pdetzer@howardcenter.org.