Board & Staff

Nick has been the Executive Director of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association since April, 2021. Prior to serving as VMBA’s ED, Nick was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company and Camber Collective, roles that provided extensive experience developing and successfully implementing systems with clients, including non-profit organizations. Nick and his family moved from the Pacific Northwest to Waterbury, Vermont for the opportunity to integrate recreation more consistently in their daily lives. He can often be found sessioning the mountain bike trails at Perry Hill, just a stone’s throw from the VMBA office.

Tommy O’Connor is the Executive Director of the Vermont ATV Sportsman’s Association (VASA). Formerly Tommy was the Executive Director at Vermont Farm Bureau, and has spent the last 16 seasons as a Boy’s Lacrosse Coach at Lamoille Union High School. He holds Bachelor’s of Arts in Outdoor Education/Adventure Education, a Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology and a Master’s of Science in Athletic Leadership. The work being done on trails stems from the love of the outdoors and finding harmony with each trail sport and the great Vermont wilderness. Trails are a place for solitude or camaraderie and are places where we find ourselves, and our neighbors. Tommy lives in Jeffersonville, with his wife Jacki, their foster son, their daughter, a black lab/german shepherd mix, six goats, and two cats. They love their home mountain Smugglers’ Notch and traveling to National Parks. Other fun fact, they are super Disney nerds.

Carolyn Lawrence is the Executive Director of Stowe Trails Partnership, among the oldest and most operationally successful local trail organizations in Vermont, with considerable experience managing complex stakeholder partnerships. She resides in Burlington, VT, and was previously the President of the Fellowship of the Wheel, another Chapter of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association. Motivated by the joy that outdoor recreation brings, Carolyn finds fulfillment in her work in creating additional opportunities for folks to experience the natural world. She also serves on the VMBA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, as well as the Vermont Huts Association and Velomont Trail Board of Directors. When not mountain biking, trail running, skiing, or canoe camping, Carolyn can be found tending her 86 houseplants or hanging at the dog park with her husband and dog.

Caitrin Maloney is co-owner of Sustainable Trailworks, along with her husband Hardy Avery. Sustainable Trailworks designs and builds trails throughout the northeast, and provides consulting services in nonprofit management and community development.  She sits on the board of the Slate Valley Trails and Velomont Trail Collective.  She is also the former Executive Director of the Stowe Land Trust.

Cindy has worked in the association and non-profit field for more than twenty-five years in Vermont; primarily those associations have been chambers of commerce. She is a graduate of Vermont College of Norwich University with a B.A. in Sociology and is also a graduate of Leadership Champlain.

Cindy specializes in association management, volunteer recruitment and management, and public and community relations. She is an outdoor enthusiast and enjoys winter and summer sports. She enjoys meeting VAST members and attending club and county events. Cindy has lived in Vermont since 1978.

Monica Raymond developed her love for the outdoors at an early age, hiking and skiing in the White Mountains with her family. She also was horse-crazy and begged, borrowed, or stole a ride whenever she could. Her interests eventually expanded to include cross-country skiing, kayaking, and mountain biking, which she engaged in while living in various parts of the U.S. Monica fulfilled a lifelong dream to live in Vermont by moving here in 2015, where she enjoys the many outdoor recreational opportunities our state has to offer. Her greatest joy is trail riding with her horse. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Vermont Horse Council since 2022 and chairs the Trail Committee. With a friend, she also has a website and blog about trail riding.

Abby considers herself fortunate that she has had the opportunity to live and work in a number of different environments, serving all over the world; teaching in rural China, Southeast Asia, the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, and Belize, as well as Gulf Coast restoration efforts through AmeriCorps post-Katrina. She holds a B.A. in Public & Community Service from Providence College in Rhode Island, as well as a Master’s Degree in Intercultural Service, Leadership & Management from the School for International Training Graduate Institute in Brattleboro, VT. After spending 8 years away in the country’s highest elevated city, Leadville, CO, involved in rural economic development efforts through outdoor recreation, she was thrilled to return to Vermont as the Executive Director for the Kingdom Trail Association. Abby is motivated by her passion for outdoor recreation and abiding interest in the health and well-being of her community. She is committed to providing a safe, inspiring trail network to elevate the economic, social, cultural, and environmental vitality of the beautiful Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

Jeff has been the GIS/mapping specialist at the Windham Regional Commission in Brattleboro since 1995.  He works with town officials, planning and conservation commissions, road crews, and non-profits on mapping, transportation inventories, and increasingly, trail projects.  Jeff’s life path was set early on—he began drawing maps at age three, and grew up in Western New York exploring both a large parcel of state land out his back door and a large stash of topographic maps in his basement.  He has a B.S. and M.S. in Forest Engineering from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse.  He’s made maps for many local trail systems, hiked the Long Trail, and is a founding member of the Catamount Trail Association’s Dutch Hill chapter.

Rachel is Dorset’s Outdoor Recreation Director. She has a degree in Outdoor Recreation & Resource Management from Indiana University and also works as a forester/ arborist. She has experience working for the US Forest Service at Hoosier National Forest, the State of Maine at Baxter State Park in Maine,  and has spent time abroad working in the fields of land management and horticulture. Rachel lives on a farm in Salem, NY with her two dogs.

Mariah is a trail planner and designer with Sinuosity: Flowing Trails, a small Vermont-based firm based out of Morristown/Dover, specializing in trail planning, design and construction. Mariah grew up in Southern VT where she began her trails career on the Stratton Pond Trail in 1996 which eventually led to becoming co-owner of Sinuosity in 2013. In there Mariah earned a B.A. and the M.S. in Environmental Studies/Science. She has been on the Trails and Greenways Council since 2012 and also serves on the boards of the Green Mountain Club and Professional Trail Builders Association (PTBA). Mariah has recently been working on workforce and education projects to professionalize the trail industry both in Vermont and on a national scale through projects such as creating: trail skills competency frameworks, a Trail Technician occupational exam, best management practices, and trail training and course curriculum. When not working in service of trails, she likes to gain inspiration and perspective on trails in far away locations with her partner and their mountain bikes.