Brenda Pitmon, MSW, LICSW, President
Brenda moved to Vermont in 2005 deciding that a
career change was in order after 20 years in New York City
working in healthcare and advertising to help support her
acting career. Brenda has performed in Europe and NYC and
was a founding member of Synchronicity Theatre Group in SoHo.
She received her MSW from the University of Vermont in 2007.
Brenda is the Direct Services Advocate for SafeSpace, the
anti violence, anti discrimination program at the RU12?
Community Center. In addition to her work as an advocate for
the LGBTQ community, Brenda is the Volunteer Coordinator for
RU12? She most recently served the Chapter as co-chair of
the 2009 Social Work Month Committee. She also is on the
Board of Directors for Island Arts, a non-profit in Grand
Isle County working to raise money for youth scholarships in
the arts. Brenda is always on the lookout for opportunities
to combine social work with artistic expression as a way of
creating new dialogues between communities.
|
 |
John Gramuglia, MBA,
LICSW, LADC, CCS, Vice-President
John has been in the field of behavioral health for
approximately 20 years, focusing on addictions and both
adult and juvenile offenders. He is currently the Chief
Clinical Specialist at the Department of Corrections for the
State of Vermont. Prior to moving to New England in 2000,
John worked in Newark, New Jersey in correctional reentry
centers. Additionally, John studied under Rational Emotive
Behavioral Therapy pioneer Albert Ellis in NYC while
attending Fordham University for his MSW. John also served
on the Board of Directors for
Self Management and
Recovery Training (SMART),
assisting in expanding SMART programming in the field of
corrections. |
 |
Lynda C. Shoenbeck,
MSW, Treasurer
Lynda is the Program Coordinator, Madison-Deane Initiative,
VNA of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties. Lynda earned her
social work degree from The University of Vermont. She will
work closely with our current Treasurer, Merle Edwards-Orr,
for one year and then take over as Treasurer in 2010. She
recently completed a term as Vice-President and has many
Chapter service credits to her name, including Past Board
Treasurer, Chair Nominations & Leadership Committee,
Practice Advancement and Professional Standards Committee.
She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. Lynda
lives in Waterbury.
|
 |
|
Melinda Rouille, MSW , Treasurer-Elect
Melinda recently graduated from
the University of Vermont in 2011 with her MSW in social
work. She received her Associate in Applied Science from
Kentucky College of Business in 1990, her BSW from the
University of Vermont in 2008. Since moving back to Vermont
in 2000, she has worked at the University of Vermont and
completed two internships, one at the Converse Home in
Burlington and at the Veteran's Administration in
Colchester. As a veteran, Melinda's social work interests
surround the issues and challenges our military personnel,
military families and veterans face as a direct consequence
of war, such as post traumatic stress disorder, (PTSD),
Traumatic Brain Injury, (TBI), and other disabling
complications that have created record levels of mental
health issues, suicide, broken marriages, alcoholism, drug
abuse, including grief and bereavement.
|
 |
Merle Edwards-Orr, PhD,
LICSW, Secretary
Merle is a Manager in the State Unit on Aging at the Vermont
Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living. He
has also worked as a critical care social worker at Fletcher
Allen Health Care and taught at the undergraduate at
graduate levels. He received his MSSW from the University of
Tennessee-Knoxville and his PhD in Social Welfare from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison. He lives in Burlington with
his wife, Jamie, also a social worker. He has two children
who are quite self-consciously not social workers.
|
 |
Andrea McGill-O'Rourke,
LICSW, Director
Andrea has been in
health care since 1981 in a variety of leadership roles.
Joining Gifford Medical Center in October 2009, she is
currently the Vice President of Operations. Prior to coming
to Gifford, Andrea was Vice President of Ancillary and
Support Services at Blue Hill Memorial Hospital.
Additionally, Andrea has been a part time instructor at the
University of Maine and Connecticut in the Graduate School
of Social Work for the past 21 years. She will be beginning
to teach in the Human Services Department through the
Community College of Vermont in the Fall of 2010.
Finally, Andrea is completing her PhD through the University
of Maine School of Education in Higher Education . She is
slated to graduate in May 2012. |
 |
Tawnya McDonald,
Director
Tawnya has earned her Master’s in Social Work degree from
McGill University and a post-graduate certificate in the
Clinical Treatment of Children and Adolescents from Smith
College School of Social Work. Her clinical employment has
been working in the mental health field specializing in
children, adolescents, women, sexuality, and Dialectical
Behavioral Therapy. Prior to joining the Social Work
Program at Champlain College in 2009, Tawnya was a member of
the Social Work Faculty and Director of Field Education,
SUNY Plattsburgh, and held adjunct positions at Champlain
College, Johnson State College, and Trinity College of
Vermont. In July 2011 Tawnya’s role has changed from the
Social Work Program Field Education Coordinator to the
Social Work Program Director. In addition to her current
role she teaches courses in Human Behavior and the Social
Environment, Social Injustice in a Diverse Society, Advanced
Social Work Practice, International Social Work, and
Introduction to Social Work. Tawnya’s academic interests
include field education, human behavior, sexuality,
gender-ism in mental health diagnosis, adolescent
resiliency, GLBT issues, and social justice. |
 |
Elizabeth Kanard, MSW,
Director
Elizabeth Kanard earned her MSW from Smith College in 2008.
She has worked at the VA with returning veterans with PTSD
and traumatic brain injury. She also worked with veterans in
the VA's Home-Based Primary Care program. Elizabeth is
currently a medical social worker at the VNA of Chittenden
and Grand Isle Counties and is currently working on
obtaining her LICSW. |
 |
Christina Cosgrove, LICSW,
Director
Christina is the Director of the Dementia Program at the
Vermont Veterans’ Home in Bennington, VT. Their mission is
to make life worth living for people with memory loss.
Christina has helped initiate some innovative programs, such
as Namaste, and the expressive arts program. She was elected
to complete the remainder of a current term of the
Director-at-Large. Christina received her MSW from the
University of Michigan. She discovered her passion for
working with the elderly during an internship at the Turner
Geriatric Clinic at the University of Michigan Hospital and
graduated with a specialty in aging certification. Christina
currently represents the field of social work on the
Governor’s Commission for Alzheimer’s disease and related
dementias. Christina lives in Rupert, VT and enjoys reading,
music and walks in nature.
|
 |
|
Carol Kelley, LICSW,
Director
Carol works as a school
social worker in the Montpelier district at both the middle
and high schools. She also serves on the Chapter
Professional Development and Education Committee. Carol
lives in Hardwick and enjoys hiking, kayaking, snow-shoeing,
and xc skiing.
|
 |
Erin Ahearn, Director
Erin earned her MSW from the University of Vermont.
After working for almost 15 years in community mental health
she moved to community health and currently works as the
Homeless Healthcare Program Manager and Lead Clinical Social
Worker at the Safe Harbor Health Center in Burlington, a program of
Community Health Center Burlington. She is both an LICSW and an LADC.
|
 |
|
Karin Hammer-Williamson, BASW, Director BSW
Karin serves as Client Services Coordinator at Home Instead
Senior Care serving northwestern Vermont. She previously
worked for nearly a decade as the first full-time staff
person focused on developing residential alternatives to
nursing home care for the Vermont Department of
Disabilities, Aging & Independent Living. She has also
worked with Champlain Valley AHEC, Essex CHIPS & Teen
Center, HomeShare Vermont, and Women Helping Battered
Women. Karin holds a BASW and Certificate in Gerontology
from Trinity College. She took graduate studies in cross
cultural perspectives with couples and families at McGill
University. Karin decided to become a social worker after
serving as an administrative aide at NASW’s national
office. She grew up in St. Johnsbury, lives in Essex with
her spouse Laurence Dean - an architect intern, and has
five stepchildren and two grandchildren. |
 |
|
Sarah Robinson, MSW Student
Representative
No bio available at
publishing time |
|
|
Ross Jakubowski, BSW
Student Representative
I am currently pursuing my bachelor’s degree in social
work at Castleton State College. At this point, I am
interested in helping people with anger issues. However, I
am open to learning how to help people dealing with almost
any issue. I also want to be politically active in order to
change some policies and gain more funds so those in need
can be better helped. As a BSW student Board Member of NASW
VT’s BSW, I hope to provide some input, and learn from the
input of others, when discussing certain problems that are
before the board. It would be an honor to be part of making
decisions that can make Vermont a better place to live. I
also want to help encourage social work students to bring to
light issues that pertain to social work. I have logged over
200 volunteer hours over the past year at Bridges and
Beyond, located in Rutland Regional Medical Center. My job
at Bridges and Beyond is to transport people to and from
appointments, help people run errands, and go grocery
shopping for some people. I have had the opportunity to work
with a diverse clientele with their ages ranging between
about 25 and 95. In this experience I have had many
interesting conversations with clients and have seen the
problems that the elderly face. Most of the clients I work
with are elderly and one problem that I see is that most of
them are financially strapped. I hope to be asset to the
board and provide input on issues than can be useful. I
greatly appreciate this opportunity to be a BSW student
representative.
|
 |
Rilla A. Murray, M.S. (Soc.Adm.)
DrPH - Executive Director
Rilla Murray chose social work as her career with an eye to
advocacy and social action. She earned a M.S. (Soc.Adm.) at
the School of Applied Social Science at Case Western
University. Later, she specialized in public
health policy after earning a DrPH at the School of Public
Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her career spans the public, private, and
non-profit sectors, and ranges from executive management to
policy and resource development, advocacy, and training. A
Michigan native, Rilla has lived all over the eastern U.S.
and abroad. She now lives in Montpelier and enjoys kayaking,
knitting, and basketry. She has one daughter, who works in Spain as a
U.S. Foreign Service Officer.
|
 |
Betsy E. Cody, Chapter
Coordinator
Betsy started at NASW-VT in 2003 as the Administrative
Assistant. As office needs and Directors changed, so did
her job description and duties. Betsy now works with most
facets of the Chapter organization from bookkeeping to
conference coordinating. In her personal life, Betsy sits on
the Executive Committee of the Barre Congregational Church
Board as well as the Finance Committee, and the Barre
Community Baseball BOD, which she Chaired for several years.
She volunteers for many youth organizations in and around
Barre, and has been an active volunteer for the homeless
shelter, Good Samaritan Haven, for over 25 years. Betsy
lives in Barre with her husband, Michael, two sons,
Ethan, who is a Junior at the University of Vermont and Connor
who is entering as a Freshman at Castleton State College,
both in the fall of 2011, and two Golden Retrievers.
|
 |
|
