Can I Ask You Something? Vol. 4
Wendy Rice, Vermont Connector
Wendy Rice's best leadership teacher right now is her five-year-old daughter.
She's learning about bravery from a kid who can hold a hissing cockroach. About collaboration from three little girls who held hands through an entire race, deciding together when to run and when to rest. About the kind of leadership where everyone's opinions matter and everyone's needs get met.
Those lessons show up everywhere in Wendy's work with Vermont Connector—the statewide mutual aid network she founded that's helped over 800 Vermont families. She's building systems of care that started in her garage and grew into something powerful; not because she had all the answers, but because she knew when to lead, when to follow, and when to create space for others to step up.
This is what community infrastructure really looks like: not perfect, not polished, but deeply rooted in connection and trust. What a delight it was for me to get to learn from Wendy's words!
Hi Wendy! Tell us about Vermont Connector
Vermont Connector is about bringing people together to care for one another and strengthen our communities. From sharing baby gear with families, to coordinating mutual aid during floods, to important policy and advocacy conversations, our work is rooted in connection, service, and the belief that neighbors can create real change when they act together
What’s something you want people to know about your organization?
At Vermont Connector, we’ve accomplished outsized results with a lean structure. For much of our history, we’ve been a staff of one. In collaboration with an incredible network of social service agencies, businesses, and community volunteers, however, we’ve been able to achieve outsized impact. Together we’ve built systems of care that ease burdens for families, support caseworkers, and strengthen community resilience.
My background in community development and disaster response has helped knit these efforts together—but the real story is what happens when neighbors share their abundance for the good of others. The challenges facing Vermont families are growing, and the times call for us to scale. To do so, we need to invest in organizational sustainability and deepen the ways we partner for the future. The Baby Product Exchange, while essential and deeply impactful, is only one part of that vision.
Vermont Connector is building a broader portfolio of mutual aid coordination—developing tools, curriculum, and convenings that make it easier for local leaders to respond to community needs. We are also positioned to offer technical and organizational consulting for partners who want to adapt projects like ours to their own communities.
Our work builds on a history of statewide coordination. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we mobilized resources to meet urgent needs. After the 2023–2024 floods, we supported community recovery across the state. We also helped establish a historic marker in Brattleboro honoring the long-standing partnership between the School for International Training and the Peace Corps—a reminder of the power of collective action and community storytelling.
Looking ahead, we are eager to expand our services and strengthen Vermont’s mutual aid network. Plans include developing a hands-on school curriculum focused on community mapping, needs assessment, and advocacy; launching a podcast to amplify local voices; and serving as a statewide convener for mutual aid organizations. With additional support, we can scale these efforts and continue creating the systems of care and connection that Vermont families need now more than ever.
What’s something your organization is proud of right now?
I’m incredibly proud of how the Baby Product Exchange has grown from a small, grassroots idea into a statewide program making a real impact for Vermont families.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, I wanted to do something tangible to support fellow parents. I started collecting baby gear and diapers out of my garage, thinking it would just be a temporary effort. Within six weeks, I had 80 donations stacked to the ceiling and quickly realized I needed community partners to help with storage and distribution.
Those early collaborations turned into something much bigger. What began as a small act of collective care has evolved into a full-fledged program supported by two Vermont Early Childhood Fund grants from Building Bright Futures. To date, we’ve collected 2,702 pieces of equipment, partnered with 646 individuals—including donors, volunteers, and social service providers—and helped 783 families across Vermont. We’ve also received equipment donations from six local businesses.
What excites me most is seeing community champions step up to organize their own collection drives and leverage their own networks to meet local needs. In a time of declining federal budgets and shifting policy landscapes, especially around human services, community-driven initiatives like the Baby Product Exchange are more critical than ever. I’m proud of how organically this came together and how deeply it’s been embraced by the community. It’s proof that when people come together, small acts of generosity can spark something powerful and lasting.
What’s something bringing you joy in your life right now?
Twenty five years ago, almost to the day, I first set foot on the African continent. I was an agroforestry volunteer with the Peace Corps in a small, Sahelian village, in northern Cameroon. After two years in Kolofata, I extended my tour to design an ecotourism and national park management program Peace Corps Cameroon. These three years in Cameroon, left an indelible impression on me and was foundational to my career in community development and public service. For a decade, I continued my work in international development on USAID and US State Department projects. My last overseas assignment in the Central African Republic ended in 2010. The following decade, my work still focused on community development, but my focus shifted from international aid to disaster response/long-term community recovery, gender equity in the workforce, human services, and non-profit leadership.
Fast forward to September 2025, and I was wheels down again in Africa after a fifteen year hiatus. Serendipitously, Burlington, VT has a Sister City relationship with Thies-East, Senegal. In 2024, the Burlington City Council adopted a resolution to create the Sister City, which builds off of a long-standing State Partnership between Senegal and the Vermont National Guard. Because of my prior African work experience and francophony, I was invited to participate in a scoping mission and relationship building tour. The seven person delegation - a combination of non-profit and business leaders, journalists and writers, VT Army National Guard, Alliance Francaise members, and a Senegal native - spent a week in Thies-East working with the Mayor’s full cabinet.
We created a common vision, did work planning, and visited a local hospital and primary school to reinforce our understanding of needs and opportunities. Although the trip was short, we successfully built a bridge between our two municipalities and laid the groundwork for future collaborations centered on environment, culture, education, and health. This coming year, we will continue to define our partnership and advance sister city goals of global peace and understanding and people to people connections through citizen diplomacy and action.
When friends and family asked about the trip, I couldn’t help but describe it as “soul food.” I felt so enriched to be back in Africa, enveloped by the warmth of African hospitality. The trip reawakened my senses and body memories of my first days on the continent as a Peace Corps Volunteer.
Looking forward, this trip also brings me joy and hope because the Sister City ideal is limitless in what it can be. The Sister City is rooted in the simple but powerful idea that communities can shape their own relationships across borders—beyond the constraints of traditional government programs or formal diplomatic channels. Unlike federally directed initiatives, Sister City collaborations are inherently flexible and community-driven. With committed leadership, mutual respect, and a shared spirit of amity, two cities can co-create whatever form of exchange best serves their people.
At its heart, a Sister City relationship is an open canvas, allowing neighbors across the globe to imagine, design, and build enduring connections that reflect their own values and aspirations. At a time of deep political divisiveness in the United States, these partnerships offer an essential opportunity to build bridges, foster understanding, and remind us of our shared humanity.
Who or what are you learning from lately?
Recently, my best teacher has been my five-year-old daughter—a COVID baby who just started kindergarten. While she might seem like an unlikely source of professional wisdom, she continues to impart lessons that feel surprisingly relevant to leadership and community-building.
The first is bravery and enthusiasm for new things. She can just as easily hold a hissing cockroach as she can walk into a brand-new classroom on the first day of school without a single tear. Without fear of failure or judgment, or crippling perfectionism, she throws herself into hard things—learning to play chess, trying out skateboarding, or tackling unfamiliar challenges with joy and curiosity.
She also teaches me about empathy and justice. She’s the kid who stops to check on anyone crying on the playground. She doesn’t look away from the rows of tents along the bike path, instead immediately decrying why any human is unhoused. Her clear sense of fairness and care for others reminds me daily of the kind of leadership our world needs—rooted in compassion, advocacy, and an unwavering belief in equity.
And then there’s her ease in connecting with people. At Shelburne Farms, she’ll happily hold hands with kids she’s never met. Or at a recent intergenerational political gathering, she naturally connected with Generation Alpha and septuagenarians alike. She sees no boundaries—just opportunities to connect.
Perhaps the most profound lesson she teaches me, though, is about leadership itself. This spring, she ran the Burlington City Marathon’s one-mile fun run with two of her closest friends. The three little girls held hands the entire race, smiling all the way. Collectively, they decided when to take breaks and when to resume running. Everyone’s opinions mattered, and everyone’s needs were met.
Sometimes, she leans in strongly—being directive and assertive when it’s needed. Other times, she steps back, letting her friends take the lead while she becomes the supportive, encouraging cheerleader. Her ability to adapt, collaborate, and share leadership so naturally is a reminder that influence isn’t always about being in front; it’s about knowing when to lead, when to follow, and when to walk alongside.
Professionally, these lessons are transformative. Leading through uncertainty requires courage, empathy, adaptability, and collaboration. It’s about creating space for others to shine, honoring different voices, and building bridges across differences. Like my daughter, we thrive when we stay curious, approach challenges without fear of failure or judgement, remain flexible and remember that every interaction is an opportunity to connect, learn, and grow. Sometimes, the best leadership lessons come from the smallest teachers.
What values guide your work when the path forward isn't clear?
When the road ahead is uncertain, I return to my core values: community and service. I believe deeply in the power of showing up for one another and leaving the world — or the “campsite” as my dear Uncle John always used to say— better than I found it. This personal creed grounds me when decisions are complex and answers aren’t obvious.
For me, leadership starts with transparency, accountability, and integrity. I strive to make choices that have a systems-level impact, meaning they ripple beyond individual moments and strengthen the collective good. I strive to listen closely, seek diverse voices, and ensure the communities most affected by decisions are represented in shaping them. Equity and accessibility are central to everything I do.
True leadership isn’t about being the most vocal— it’s about creating space where others can lead, too. Sometimes that means stepping forward; other times, it means stepping aside when someone else is better suited to guide the work. I avoid duplicating efforts and instead lean into collaboration, because sustainable solutions come from harnessing the strengths of many, not just one. When the path isn’t clear, I’ve learned that staying rooted in these values — service, integrity, inclusion, and equity — creates its own kind of compass. It doesn’t eliminate uncertainty, but it ensures that the work, and the community it serves, continue to move in the right direction.
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