Housing Champion Awards

Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale, former Chair of the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs and current Senate Majority Leader, has been a leading voice for housing and land-use reform. She played a central role in negotiating passage of the Community Housing and Infrastructure Program (CHIP), helping preserve a strong financing tool designed to support the infrastructure needed for new housing development and was lead author of the HOME Act of 2023. She also teaches environmental policy in the Rubenstein School and received the 2023 EPA Region 1 Governance Award for environmental justice leadership.

Representative Ashley Bartley, Vice Chair of the House Committee on General and Housing, has helped shape significant housing legislation. Her work includes advancing proposals to bring vacant and substandard housing back into use, support manufactured housing, expand infrastructure financing and reduce barriers to development. In 2026, she sponsored legislation focused on creating additional tools to increase housing production. Bartley has consistently worked across party lines to advance practical housing solutions.

As Executive Director of the Addison County Economic Development Corporation, Alex Armani-Munn helped Summit Properties and the Town of Middlebury navigate Vermont's first CHIP application process. Working closely with municipal officials and project partners, he has helped demonstrate how the program can support local housing development. He continues to advise other prospective CHIP projects in Addison County and has made housing a central focus of regional economic development efforts.

Jessica Neubelt, an affordable housing developer at Evernorth, is being recognized for her advocacy to address federal requirements that can significantly increase the cost of affordable housing construction or delay projects.

Neubelt has become a leader nationally in the effort to advance common sense reforms to Build America, Buy America (BABA), a federal act passed in 2021 that requires all materials in federally funded infrastructure projects, including affordable housing projects, to be sourced in the United States. As a developer of affordable housing at Evernorth, Jess has identified aspects of BABA that place undue and exorbitant premiums on the construction of all affordable housing, and in some cases stall projects completely, as they await waivers without any clear approval timeline. Jess has brought both a deep understanding of real estate development and an eye for good policy to her numerous conversations with HUD, and the OMB Made in America Office during 2026. As a direct result of her advocacy, we expect changes to BABA that will clear the path to construction for affordable housing projects across Vermont, and across the country.

The Town of Fairlee and local developer Village Ventures are being recognized for their collaborative approach to addressing the community's housing shortage through downtown revitalization and small-scale infill development.

Working closely with municipal staff, Village Ventures and developer Jonah Richard have navigated obstacles to advance three significant housing projects: 501 Main Street, the Denison, and Bridge + Main. Their partnership demonstrates how municipalities and local developers can work together to create new housing opportunities and strengthen Vermont's downtowns.