Community Heart & Soul Trustees

Janice had a twenty-five-year career at The Vermont Country Store in Manchester, Vermont, where she was Head of Retail and Head of Merchandising for catalog and web sales. She represented the company in numerous community activities and events including the Weston Playhouse Theatre Company in Weston, Vermont, and youth organizing through the West River Sports Association in Londonderry, Vermont. Janice’s recent philanthropic activities include the Manchester Community Library building campaign and the campaign for the Burr & Burton Academy Mountain Campus in Peru, Vermont. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Saint Michael’s College.

Lyman is Proprietor, with his sons, Cabot, Gardner and Eliot, of The Vermont Country Store. The retailer employs more than 600 and sells through two stores, catalogues, and the web. He is a graduate of Middlebury College and was a Planning Commissioner in his hometown, Weston, Vermont, and experienced divisiveness of residents over a proposed animal amusement park on the side of a mountain north of town. The scars on the mountain healed far faster than the divisions in town, which prompted Lyman to conceive Community Heart & Soul. This practice focuses on what residents have in common, engages all voices in town, identifies those things that matter most, and articulates its heart & soul as a guide to decisions about its future. The numerous cities and towns that practice Community Heart & Soul have experienced renewed energy, optimism, a can-do attitude, increased volunteerism and resident engagement, self-driven economic development, and more people moving in. They are now better places to live and raise families.

Sterling Speirn is a philanthropic and civic leader with more than 40 years of experience advancing community well-being, civic engagement, and democratic participation. His career spans roles as a classroom teacher, legal aid attorney, and community health center manager, followed by leadership positions in corporate, community, and private philanthropy, including Apple Computer, Peninsula Community Foundation (now Silicon Valley Community Foundation), and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Through his work he has been a champion for early childhood literacy, and civic and public health.

Nancy has been president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque since its founding in 2003. She has established the Community Foundation as a trailblazer in community leadership and engagement initiatives, drawing the attention of funders across the nation. She brings together the energies and resources of nonprofit organizations, businesses, and community volunteers to help increase awareness of the importance of giving back to the community and building connections that are critical to solving societal problems. Nancy has a background in public policy, community engagement and systems change, as well as numerous experiences serving on national, state and local boards and commissions.

Tony is Executive Director of the Ittleson Foundation. He was Chief Program Officer at the J. M. Kaplan Fund, and worked at the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. He was adjunct faculty of the Preservation Program in the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. He served in lead roles of numerous preservation organizations including Preservation League of New York State, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Partners for Sacred Places, Historic Districts Council of New York City, the New York Preservation Archive Project. He holds a master's in Urban Planning from the University of Illinois and a bachelor's from Kenyon College.