VCWA Person of the Year

Tim Rieser

Throughout his career, Tim Rieser has left an indelible mark on the international stage and has shown a longstanding commitment to diplomacy, peace, and global security. A distinguished senior Foreign Policy Advisor to Senator Patrick Leahy for 37 years, Rieser’s work has helped create a more peaceful world for future generations, Rieser is a true diplomat and a champion of peace. His work has made the world a safer place, and him a worthy recipient of the VCWA Person of the Year Award.

Rieser's dedication to diplomacy and peace is evident in his many accomplishments. He helped to broker the Dayton Accords, which brought an end to the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He also played a leading role in the creation of the International Criminal Court. An ardent advocate of peaceful dialogue and diplomacy, Rieser played a pivotal role in supporting Senator Leahy in normalizing relations with Cuba during the Obama administration. He has also helped to orchestrate the fight against landmines and cluster munitions, establish programs to assist innocent victims of war, and address war legacies in Vietnam including contamination resulting from Agent Orange.

His instrumental contributions to shaping U.S. foreign policy encompass critical issues ranging from human rights to global health, international environmental conservation, and a wide range of other foreign assistance programs. Rieser's work has spanned the globe, from the Balkans to the Middle East to Africa. He has played a key role in negotiating peace agreements, resolving conflicts, and promoting human rights.

Abraham A. Awolich

Abraham Awolich comes from South Sudan Lakes State, Awerial County. In 1989, like many South Sudanese, Awolich became a refugee in Ethiopia where he joined the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) at roughly the age of 10. Following the collapse of the Derge Regime in Ethiopia in 1991, Awolich returned to South Sudan and was displaced again, becoming a refugee for the second time in 1992, this time in Kakuma, Kenya. Awolich lived in Kakuma for roughly 9 years until he went through a resettlement program to the United States in 2001 as one of the lost boys of Sudan.

Awolich resettled in Burlington, Vermont where he attended the Community College of Vermont (CCV) and later the University of Vermont, graduating in December 2005 with a BA in Anthropology and minor in Business Administration. Awolich was a MacNair Scholar 2004 Cohort. At graduation, Awolich was awarded the William A. Haviland Medal for outstanding achievement in Anthropology. In 2006, he won the Samuel Huntington Public Service Award for his commitment to public service and was granted $10,000. In 2006, Awolich co-founded the New Sudan Education Initiative, an organization that raised funds to support education in Southern Sudan. Awolich became an American citizen in 2006.

In June 2008, Awolich was admitted to the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University for a master’s degree in public administration and graduated in 2009 with an MPA. After graduation, Awolich co-founded the Sudan Development Foundation, an organization providing support to villages in South Sudan to rebuild.

After voting in the Southern Sudan Referendum for independence in January 2011, Awolich returned to South Sudan in May 2011 as a consultant for the government of Southern Sudan, participating in a Comprehensive Evaluation of the government. After the South Sudan Declaration of Independence, Awolich and his colleagues cofounded the Sudd Institute, with seed funding from the United States Insitute of Peace, and became its founding administrator. Awolich became the Managing Director of the Sudd Institute in 2019 and is also a senior researcher and policy analyst.

In January 2021, Awolich was appointed as a Deputy Rapporteur for the Upper Nile Conference. He was also the Deputy Coordinator of the South Sudan National Dialogue Steering Committee Secretariat. Awolich served as a member of the Board of Directors at the National Revenue Authority of South Sudan from 2018-2019. Awolich also served as a head of government delegation Secretariat to the Rome Peace Talks.

On the 30th of July 2021, Awolich and three other colleagues signed the Declaration of the Founding of the People’s Coalition for Civil Action (PCAA), a pro-democracy civil rights movement. The declaration and the organization’s mission prompted the government to seek his arrest or his life. Awolich left South Sudan in October 2021 and returned to the United States where he is currently running an advocacy campaign.

Lida Nadery Hedayat

Lida Nadery Hedayat is the former Chief of Party for the Women's Leadership Development (WLD) Program, a personal development and leadership mentoring program that engaged 25,000 Afghan women. She serves on the board of the Afghan American Chamber of Commerce (AACC), formerly served on the board of the Afghan Women’s Network, and is a co-founder of Modern Education Development (MoDE), an organization that promotes women's education rights.

Nadery Hedayat has also published pieces on women's rights and economic empowerment in Afghanistan and the critical role for Afghan women in the peace process. We are privileged to have Nadery Hedayat accept this award in recognition of her work and on behalf of Afghan women and girls during this critical time.

President Emeritus Tom Sullivan

Tom Sullivan served as University of Vermont president from 2012 to 2019.

Sullivan has authored 13 books and over 50 articles and is a nationally recognized authority on antitrust law, complex litigation, and constitutional law. Sullivan has been an elected member of the American Law Institute (ALI) since 1984 and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation since 1994. He is also a Life Fellow member of the Cambridge University Clare Hall College (UK).

Governor Howard Dean

Howard Dean, an American physician, and politician was governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2002. As governor, he achieved a balanced budget and implemented a program that provided universal health care for children and pregnant women in the state. He also signed a civil unions law in 2000.

He ran for the Democratic nomination for the president of the United States in the 2004 election and served as the chair of the Democratic National Committee. During his tenure, he created and championed the “50 State Strategy,” an effort to run competitive Democratic candidates in all states and at all levels of government to secure the long-term future of a Democratic majority. Dean strengthened the party by using social media and other Internet tools to bolster the party’s ability to organize. Improved organization and communication were often cited as major reasons that in 2008 Democrats recovered several congressional seats and won the presidential election.

Bill Mares

Raised in Texas, educated at Harvard, Bill Mares is a former journalist, state representative, and high school teacher. He has authored or co-authored 18 books on subjects ranging from the U.S. Marines to desert travel, and from war memorials to brewing.

During 11 years he wrote over 200 Commentaries for Vermont Public Radio. He also serves on the board of F4Farmers, the Vermont Brewers Association, and the Vermont Beekeepers Association.

Congressman Peter Welch

Peter Welch has been a champion for working Vermonters throughout his career. Since his election to Congress in 2006, he has been widely recognized as a thoughtful and effective legislator who chooses governing over gridlock.

In 2006, Peter was elected to Vermont’s only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. In Congress, Peter is a leading advocate for energy efficiency, cutting the price of prescription drugs, investing in infrastructure, and expanding broadband and telemedicine in rural America.

Peter is a Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus and a member of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. He serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Mary Powell, CEO & President of Green Mountain Power

Mary Powell is nationally recognized as an energy visionary, positioning Green Mountain Power as a leading energy transformation company. Delivering clean, cost-effective, and highly reliable power to customers all across Vermont, GMP offers cutting-edge products and services to reduce costs and carbon.

Mary has served as president and chief executive officer for GMP since 2008. She initiated and implemented a strategic and comprehensive restructuring of the company that dramatically transformed GMP, and she has been the backbone of a cultural transformation and service quality improvement. Fast, fun, and effective is her motto. Under Mary’s leadership, GMP became the first utility in the world to become a member of B Corp, showing a commitment to use energy as a force for good.

Jay Peak Development Team

Jay Peak Resort, located on Jay Peak in Vermont’s Green Mountains, is home to some of the East’s best terrain providing skiers and riders with amazing tree glades, long groomed trails, and abundant natural snowfall. The resort lies just south of the Canadian border near the town of Jay, Vermont.

At Jay Peak, there is a great mix of beginner to advanced trails connected by an updated chairlift system. The ski area contains a large snow making infrastructure able to cover a majority of the resort.

Senator Patrick Leahy

Patrick Leahy was elected to the United States Senate in 1974 and remains the only Democrat elected to this office from Vermont. At 34, he was the youngest U.S. Senator ever to be elected from the Green Mountain State.

Senator Leahy is currently the president pro tempore of the United States Senate. Leahy is the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He is the senior-most member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Leahy is the Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on State Department, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. He ranks first in seniority in the Senate.

Vermont National Guard

The Vermont National Guard is an organization that is fully ready, values-based, professional, and connected to their communities.

Governor James Douglas

Governor James H. Douglas served as Governor of Vermont from 2003-2011. Prior to his election as Governor, he served 12 years as Vermont's Secretary of State and eight years as State Treasurer. He also served in the state House of Representatives and as Executive Assistant to Gov. Richard Snelling.

While Governor he served as chairman of the National Governors Association. He also has served as President of the National Association of Secretaries of State, President of the National Association of State Treasurers, and President of the Council of State Governments. He is currently the Executive in Residence at Middlebury College - his alma mater - and serves on the Governor's Council of the Washington-based Bipartisan Policy Center.

Ambassador Madeleine Kunin

Ambassador Madeleine Kunin was the first woman governor of Vermont and the first woman in the U.S. to serve three terms. She was a state legislator for three terms and Lt. Governor for two terms.

She served as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. department of Education and U..S Ambassador to Switzerland in the Clinton administration. She is currently a Marsh professor at the University of Vermont and a commentator on Vermont Public Radio and the Huffington Post. She is the founder and board member of the Global Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC), a non-governmental organization focused on climate change and civil society. She is founder and board member of Emerge Vermont, an organization that recruits and trains women to run for public office.

Marc and Dana Vanderheyden, President and First Lady Saint Michael’s College

Dr. Marc A. Vanderheyden served as president of Saint Michael's College in Colchester for 11 years and, stepping down in June 2007. As the 15th president of the liberal arts Catholic college, he brought intelligence, compassion, creativity, and extraordinary development to the institution.