Board of Directors

The Inclusive Arts Vermont Board of Directors is comprised of community members and meets monthly to oversee and guide the direction of the organization.

Interested in applying to be on the Board of Directors?
Fill out this form or send this filled out Word Doc to board@inclusiveartsvermont.org.
For questions or for any support in filling out your applications, contact board@inclusiveartsvermont.org or call 802-556-3668.

We are actively seeking board members with the following skills/characteristics/expertise (though anyone is welcome to apply):

  • Disability awareness
  • Legal expertise
  • Development/fundraising experience/expertise
  • Financial management experience/expertise
A photograph of Inclusive Arts Vermont staff and board members at the POP fundraiser outside. Everyone is smiling and there are bubbles in the air.
A photograph of Inclusive Arts Vermont staff and board members at the POP fundraiser outside. Everyone is smiling and there are bubbles in the air.

Board Members

Riaz Clark

Riaz Clark, an African-American man, smiles and stands in front of a shady stone archway. Riaz has a nose ring and wears an orange sweater over a striped button-down shirt
Riaz Clark, an African-American man, smiles and stands in front of a shady stone archway. Riaz has a nose ring and wears an orange sweater over a striped button-down shirt.

Co-Chair (June 2024 – Present)
Member (September 2023 – Present)
Riaz writes, “My passion for working with people started in High School. I was fortunate enough to be a student leader and helped bring a culture of inclusion to my high school community as president of my school’s DEI club. I was also a committed art student. Spending hours of my day in the art rooms prepping and making pottery, jewelry, and clothing. My teacher had told me “You can be anything and still be an artist.” And I couldn’t have agreed more. I went on to get my BSW from Champlain College in Burlington Vermont. While there I was able to work in the greater Burlington community, interning at Inclusive Arts in 2021 and working at the local YMCA. After undergrad, I moved back to my hometown in Michigan and started working on my MSW at the University of Michigan. There I worked within the school system as a School Social Worker and got to use art you help elementary student process their feelings and cope with trauma. I now work full-time as a School Social Worker in my community, serving high school students. Together my students and I work on art as a way of coping with the challenges of school.”

Masha Harris

Masha has short brown hair, bright blue eyes, and pale skin. She wears a blue sleeveless blouse and stands in the midst of tall grasses.

Co-Chair (June 2024 – Present)
Secretary (July 2022 – June 2024)
Member (February 2022 – Present)
Masha (she/her) is an artist and published writer who knows firsthand the challenges of living with a disability, as well as the importance of the arts in sustaining oneself throughout the experience.

Masha holds a BA in Translation Studies and Creative Writing from Marlboro College and a Master’s in Library and Information Science (MLIS) from Kent State University. After almost a decade working as a library director, a major health concern necessitated a change. She found herself gravitating towards work in human services, and she is currently employed at a women’s substance abuse treatment facility. She is working on getting up the gumption to go back to school.

In her free time, Masha co-chairs the Middlebury Chapter of the Burlington Writer’s Workshop, works in collage and mixed media, plods slowly away at a novel, and does her best to spend lots of time outdoors. She lives in Vergennes, Vermont with her long-haired dachshund, Lemon.

Patty Arehart

Patty has curly shoulder-length brown hair, pale skin, and is smiling. Patty is wearing a gray sweater and is sitting outside at sunset with mountains in the background and a sketchbook in her hand.
Patty has curly shoulder-length brown hair, pale skin, and is smiling. Patty is wearing a gray sweater and is sitting outside at sunset with mountains in the background and a sketchbook in her hand. 

Secretary (June 2024 – Present)
Member (March 2024 – Present)
Patty (she/her) grew up in the Midwest and earned her B.A. in political science from Kenyon College. After working in Ohio and Washington, D.C., she settled in New England and has loved living in the area for almost a decade. Patty earned her MBA from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business with a focus on public and nonprofit management. Her background includes corporate and nonprofit work in strategic fundraising, communications, and data analytics. Patty is honored to serve on the board of Inclusive Arts Vermont to expand access to the arts and drive systemic social change in Vermont. 

Away from the spreadsheets and project plans, Patty is also an illustrator who loves filling sketchbooks and creating art for children. She’s inspired by small moments in nature and the thrill of drawing outside on a breezy day. Patty lives in Southern Vermont and enjoys reading, cooking, and hiking with her partner and two dogs in tow. 

Kaitlyn Barr

A close-up portrait of Kaitlin. Kaitlin has long brown hair, pale skin, and is smiling with their head tilted to one side.  She is wearing a white shirt and behind her is lots of green foliage. 

Member (May 2022 – Present) 
Kaitlyn received her B.A. from the University of Vermont in Studio Art in 2010. After graduating and getting her Art Education Certification in grades K-12, she quickly fell into leading art classes for Vermonters of all ages. After several years of teaching, Kaitlyn caught the travel bug, and has yet to shake it loose. She has continued to dabble in teaching but has found her passion as a Graphic Designer.   As a board member of Inclusive Arts Vermont, she can stay connected to the artistic community of Vermont in a rewarding and meaningful way. She wants to promote the value in uplifting art-makers of all abilities. Kaitlyn currently lives in Burlington with her partner Mike, and their blue heeler puppy, Fable. 

Kate Bentley

Kate is in a close up selfie. The background is black. She has blonde wavy hair with bangs and is pale skinned with freckles. She’s wearing wide tortoise shell glasses, dangling brass earrings and a solid black shirt.
Kate is in a close up selfie. The background is black. She has blonde wavy hair with bangs and is pale skinned with freckles. She’s wearing wide tortoiseshell glasses, dangling brass earrings, and a solid black shirt.

Member (October 2024-present)
Kate (she/her) is the Events and Site Manager at Common Ground Center, a non-profit camp & retreat center in Starksboro, Vermont. 

She’s also an artist with a love for ceramics and fiber arts (weaving specifically). As a single parent living with a disability, inclusivity is a core value in both her personal and professional life. 

When not working, Kate enjoys reading, making art, being in nature, and spending time with her teenager and Siberian husky.

Jennifer Blair

Jennifer is standing in her studio with artwork on the wall behind her. She has pale skin, brown eyes, and long, straight brown and gray hair, parted on the side and draped over her shoulder. She is wearing black framed glasses and a black tank.
Jennifer is standing in her studio with artwork on the wall behind her. She has pale skin, brown eyes, and long, straight brown and gray hair, parted on the side and draped over her shoulder. She is wearing black framed glasses and a black tank.

Member (May 2024 – Present)
Jennifer Blair (she/her) values fostering creativity and artistic expression. She is a visual artist and nonprofit leader. Her current focus is in finance for the arts and culture sector. She is currently the Director of Finance at the Vermont Historical Society. She received a BA in Fine Art from Burlington College and an M.Ed in Art Education from St. Michaels College. She has taught at many schools, museums, and art organizations in northwestern Vermont.

Jennifer is a resident and board member of the Rose Street Artists Cooperative. She is a co-director of the Ramble, an annual celebration of community and creativity in the Old North End of Burlington. She also serves on the Coop Advisory Committee of the Champlain Housing Trust. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the woods and identifying mushrooms, traveling, and very slowly completing knitting projects.

Kristen Connors

Kristen’s face and upper body appear in front of a lavender background. Kristen has shoulder-length, brown hair, pale skin, and purple glasses. She is looking directly into the camera and smiling. She is wearing a black blazer and a white collared shirt.

Member (Dec 2023 – Present)
Kristen (she/her) grew up in Chittenden County, Vermont, and is excited to return to the state after a brief sojourn in Ohio for college and law school. She works as an attorney, litigating cases for clients throughout the state. Currently, her main areas of focus are family law, civil litigation, and immigration law. Growing up, each and every one of Kristen’s extra-curricular activities involved the arts, mostly performing arts. As an adult, she has begun to incorporate more fine arts into her repertoire. She currently enjoys knitting, sewing, and other fiber arts, as well as singing and dancing. Kristen is extremely honored to join the IAV board, and is excited to help IAV bring the arts to even more people!

Ali Kane

A photograph of Ali Kane smiling at the camera with hands clasp at her waist against a gray background. Ali has pale skin, cropped, curly auburn hair, and blue plastic frame glasses. She is wearing a blue short-sleeved sweater and has a large watercolor thistle tattoo on her upper arm.
A photograph of Ali Kane smiling at the camera with hands clasp at her waist against a gray background. Ali has pale skin, cropped, curly auburn hair, and blue plastic frame glasses. She is wearing a blue short-sleeved sweater and has a large watercolor thistle tattoo on her upper arm.

Member (March 2024 – Present)
Ali Kane (she/they) is a Queer nonprofit leader and lifelong learner committed to inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility. Through ALK Consulting, they further this work by offering LGBTQ+ inclusion workshops to organizations across industries to create more affirming spaces for staff, clients, and the community at large. She also further health equity as Grants Management Specialist at Family Health Center of Worcester.

Currently, Ali is also Treasurer of Love Your Labels, a nonprofit that supports LGBTQIA+ youth explore gender through art, design, and fashion. She graduated from Bentley University in 2013 with a Degree in Media & Culture, and completed a Diversity & Inclusion Champion Certificate from the Bentley University Center for Women & Business in 2020.

Aside from educating and community-building, Ali enjoys playing board games and sampling local beers with her partner and cats in Worcester, MA.

Rachel Lindsay

Rachel is standing in a restaurant where several people stand behind her. She is smiling and has pale skin, dark hair that is cut short, and is wearing small, silver hoop earrings. She is wearing a black collared shirt, and a necklace on a long chain.
Rachel is standing in a restaurant where several people stand behind her. She is smiling and has pale skin, dark hair that is cut short, and is wearing small, silver hoop earrings. She is wearing a black collared shirt, and a necklace on a long chain.

Member (July 2024 – Present)
Rachel Lindsay is a Burlington, Vermont-based cartoonist who has been making and teaching comics in Vermont since 2013. She is a mental health advocate with a Bipolar Type I diagnosis and is passionate about peer support models and the use of comics and art to express, process, and celebrate neurodivergence. Her book, RX: A Graphic Memoir (2018), was the featured book for US National Network of Libraries of Medicine’s mental health month 2019, and was included on the American Association of Medical Colleges’ top ten summer reads list 2019. She is also the creator of Rachel Lives Here Now (2013-present), a comic strip about Vermont-centric themes, which runs every other week in Vermont’s alt-weekly newspaper Seven Days. She has spoken about her work at the Columbia University Narrative Medicine Rounds, Harvard Medical School, Mount Sinai Hospital, and other institutions and organizations interested in mental illness and comics, treatment and storytelling. Rachel is happy to have the opportunity to bring her skills and life experience to the Inclusive Arts Vermont board, and work to grow, improve, and protect access to the arts for all Vermonters.

Abbey Pratt

Abbey stands in front of a wall with blue and white wallpaper with tree branches and leaves in the pattern. Abbey has curly, shoulder length, brown hair, pale skin, and a bright smile. She's wearing a neutral polka dot top with a dangling metallic necklace with a large pendant.
Abbey stands in front of a wall with blue and white wallpaper with tree branches and leaves in the pattern. Abbey has curly, shoulder-length, brown hair, pale skin, and a bright smile. She’s wearing a neutral polka dot top with a dangling metallic necklace with a large pendant.

Member (June 2021 – Present)
President (November 2021 – June 2024)
Abbey writes “The work of Inclusive Arts Vermont is so important because everyone deserves to feel connection, and our communities are stronger when we celebrate everyone’s voice.  Dance has been the greatest gift in my life, and the arts have provided me with community and an outlet for personal expression that has formed my entire identity.  Having local, affordable dance opportunities in Vermont early on in my life was a huge privilege, and after spending eight years in California, I’m excited to be back in my home state to invest in the community that shaped me.”

Abbey studied Dance at UVM and has performed at the Flynn Theater, UVM’s Dancing Uphill, Tiffany Rhynard’s Everyone Can Dance, and competed with multiple dance companies in San Francisco.  She is a Burlington resident and works as a Sales Operations & Business Consultant with early-stage technology startups.

Sam Zimmer

A portrait of Sam standing in her yard in front of a birdhouse. She has short brown hair, tan skin, big earrings, and a big smile. She is wearing a sleeveless dress with a black and white pattern. She has a tattoo of mountains and rivers on one arm.

Member (January 2023 – Present)
Sam Zimmer (she/her) is an educator, nature nerd, and lover of creative expression. Sam has a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Fordham University and a dual MA in Childhood Special and General Education from Bank Street College of Education. Sam loved being a classroom teacher for 4th and 5th graders for many years (general and special education). She has also enjoyed working with kids of all ages in non-traditional settings, especially outside as an environmental educator! Her passions include increasing access to the arts and the natural world and disability / racial / environmental justice. Everything is connected! She is the founder and host of the podcast Earth, Wind, and Water: We Will be Ancestors and currently works for an arts nonprofit as an Education Program Coordinator.

As a member of an art collective that explored the intersection of creative play and liberation throughout her twenties–Sam is so excited to work with the Inclusive Arts Vermont team and community as a board member. To cultivate communities of care and sense of belonging, Sam loves building and showing up for and with community, near and far. A native New Yorker, Sam is a both a city and country creature whose heart stretches from the pulse of Providence block parties to the white noise of water streaming down backcountry mountains. Her ADHD has her constantly seeking thrills and calm through hiking & camping, gardening, moving her body, making art with recycled materials, and playing music with others on her fiddle and cello. In her spare time, she is slowly learning to become a luthier.