Vermont Independent Media
Lynn S. Barrett, President
Former director of communications for CBS Sports, Lynn Barrett is founder and president of Primetime Concepts, Inc., a specialty public relations and publishing company. Named one of 23 VIPs in Windham County by the Brattleboro Reformer, Barrett is citizen's commissioner for tourism, Windham Regional Commission; Board member of BCTV and Editor of Okemo Valley Magazine.
Stuart Strothman, Vice President
Stuart has taught in Windham 27 years, managing community newspapers with middle schoolers in Putney, Guilford, and Bellows Falls; he edits The Howler at BF high school at present. President of the Putney Historical Society through acquisition of the General Store and the current Next Stage, he served on the board of the Southeast Vermont Watershed Alliance. His books range from local history and historical fiction to the education of college students with learning disabilities.
Michael Bosworth, Treasurer
Michael has held various information technology and management positions in the public, nonprofit, and private worlds: Telecom Business Manager for the University of Massachusetts; Executive Director and Business Manager for The Brick House Community Resource Center in Turners Falls, Massachusetts; and Business Manager for Ironwood Brand in Brattleboro, Vermont.
Barry Aleshnick, Secretary and Co-founder
Barry has been a stay-at-home dad to his three home schooled daughters and a committed cyclist. He is co-founder of several local community initiatives, including Friends of Algiers Village, Guilford Preservation Inc., Brattleboro Biofuels Cooperative, and Vermont Independent Media. As founding member of VIM, he recognizes the essential role of the free press as a bulwark of democracy and lifeblood of community. He lives with his wife, Martina, in Guilford. He is often seen lugging bundles of papers on his bicycle.
Heather Ahrenholz, At Large
Heather grew up in Marlboro and East Dummerston, but moved to Chicago in 1990 to attend the University of Chicago. She graduated in 1995 with a BA in English Literature, and spent the next three decades working at Chicago’s legendary academic bookstore, the Seminary Co-op Bookstore, and its sister store, 57th Street Books, in the city’s Hyde Park Neighborhood. She moved back to Vermont in August 2020, and joined Next Stage in Putney in February 2021.
Michelle Frehsee, At Large
Michelle is a well-known portrait photographer in Southern Vermont. She is a community activist, supporter of many organizations, and spends a great deal of her time volunteering for her town. She has a deep background in graphic design, which has been essential for teaching those involved in her town newsletter to which she helped revive 7 years ago. She is an active participant in her town with the continual goal of bringing folks of all walks of life together through written word and communication. She lives in Guilford.
Phayvanh Luekhamhan, At Large
Phayvanh and her family arrived in Brattleboro, VT in 1979, refugees from Laos. She moved to Montpelier in 2007 where she worked as the city’s downtown director before diving into nonprofit news as associate publisher for VTDigger.org. There, she helped to grow the business team from 2 full time staff to almost 6 and quadrupled the budget with strategic membership, underwriting, and business development. After 5 years there, she applied her skills on the national level as Director of Revenue and Operations at LION Publishers, an association for independent online news publishers. Today, she is executive director for the Center for Arts and Learning, a nonprofit arts hub in downtown Montpelier. She is also director of the Green Mountain Film Festival and co-founded PoemCity.