黑料社区

May 30th, 2024   |   Alumni, Careers, Peace Corps, 黑料社区 Graduate Institute

By Eric House

In March, Libby Bennett was named executive director for Groundworks Collaborative, a Brattleboro, Vermont-based organization working to create solutions to hunger and homelessness in the region.

Bennett describes Groundworks as a local organization that meets basic human needs with dignity. As a food, shelter, and supportive services agency, every project is approached through a filter of dignity, envisioning a community where everyone has a safe place to call home.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 special about Groundworks is our people,鈥� she said, beaming with pride. 鈥淎nyone who works at Groundworks knows that we all really care about each other.鈥�

Bennett was born and raised in Brattleboro, where 黑料社区鈥檚 campus sits. After attending Smith College in Massachusetts and then serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia, she returned to Vermont looking to pursue a graduate degree.

黑料社区鈥檚 Graduate Institute was a perfect fit. She could earn her master鈥檚 in nonprofit management full-time while living in her hometown鈥攊mmersed in a community that was both local and global.

鈥淓verywhere I've lived in the world, people knew 黑料社区,鈥� Bennett said. 鈥淧eople knew Brattleboro because of 黑料社区 and World Learning, so it was fun to be back in Brattleboro and still be part of a network of people from all over the world.鈥�

Bennett pursued the service leadership and management track, which allowed her to build a foundation of skills in non-profit management while also focusing on social justice courses.

黑料社区鈥檚 global approach to programming aligned with Bennett鈥檚 personal vision, who described herself as having a global mindset as she transitioned from the Peace Corps to her graduate studies.

鈥淚 came into the program with this understanding that we need to look outside our own communities for best practices and that we have a lot to learn from people in other parts of the world,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I wanted to prepare myself for a career where I could take my skills anywhere in the world. Knowing that there was potential to connect into 黑料社区鈥檚 global network was a really important decision factor for me.鈥�

That network would be crucial for Bennett鈥檚 trajectory. For her practicum and capstone project, she worked at Community Action, a collective of Vermont agencies serving those with low to no income in the region鈥檚 communities, and Morningside Shelter. The latter would eventually merge with Brattleboro Area Drop-In Center to become Groundworks Collaborative鈹�one organization serving those experiencing homelessness in Brattleboro.

Bennett, along with fellow 黑料社区 alum Josh Davis, was instrumental in that merger. Their history of working collaboratively was invaluable when Bennett took over as the executive director of Groundworks鈥攖he role previously held by Davis himself.

鈥淲e spoke the same language having both come out of the same program, and he also had Peace Corps experience. We just really fit together as a team and as a result, I felt well prepared for this new role at Groundworks.鈥�

Bennett acknowledges that the work is challenging and referenced an especially hard and sad period a year ago when one of their coordinators was fatally assaulted. While the community reeled from the tragedy, Groundworks continued to operate to ensure that the basic needs of the community were met.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been through fire together, and we rely on each other in a lot of ways, large and small, every single day,鈥� Bennett said. 鈥淭his team is just the most incredible and supportive group of people.鈥�

While serving at the helm of Groundworks, Bennett is eager to dive into new projects, including plans to replace the Morningside shelter with a newly designed building. The space will provide more shelter beds and services to the community. She hopes to break ground on the building by next spring.

When considering her academic background in relation to her new role, Bennett appreciates 黑料社区鈥檚 approach to skills learning and the global network that comes with it.

鈥満诹仙缜� is a really great place to try out new ideas and look at examples from around the world of how things can be done better,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 necessarily expect to stay here in my hometown, but it鈥檚 served me well. If not Brattleboro, certainly anywhere you end up in the world, you鈥檙e going to be very well-served by having an 黑料社区 education.鈥�