The Commission is governed by 16 Commissioners: 8 appointed by the Governor; 6 by the Legislature: 3 by the Senate Committee on Committees, and 3 by the Speaker of the House; and 2 members, one each from the Republican and Democratic parties.  Commissioner terms are four years.

VCW Commissioners

Marcia Merrill
Jericho
Chair of the Vermont Commission on Women
Commissioner Merrill is a partner in Montgomery and Merrill, P.C., a woman-owned public accounting firm in Burlington. She has served in board positions for many organizations that have focused on women's and family issues. In addition, she has been active in Business and Professional Women (BPW) in Vermont and in BPW/USA for over 15 years. Commissioner Merrill is a certified public accountant and holds a BA, Summa Cum Laude, from William Smith College and an MBA from Rochester Institute of Technology.  

Laine Dunham Akiyama
Manchester
Commissioner Akiyama is Deputy Director and Creative Director of Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home in Manchester. She has a degree in Illustration from Art Center College of Design in California and has worked for twenty-five years as a producer and designer in the themed entertainment industry, including for Walt Disney Imagineering, Sony Development, and MCA Universal. Commissioner Akiyama is a 2007 graduate of the Snelling Center for Government’s Vermont Leadership Institute, is on the board of The Shires Regional Marketing Program, and is a charter member of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.  

Sharon Baade
Waterbury
Commissioner Baade's passion for and expertise in issues affecting women and girls is a result of working in Girl Scouting for 29 years in Iowa, Michigan, New York, and now Vermont. She is the current CEO of the Girl Scout Council of Vermont, the largest organization for girls in the state, committed to diversity, and serving 7,500 Vermont girls and women. Scout programs develop girls' skills in public policy and governance, financial literacy, community activism, adventure, and leadership. She founded the Girl Scouts Beyond Bars program at the Southeast Women's Correctional Facility to maintain bonds between incarcerated mothers and their daughters. Over the years, she's volunteered with the United Way, the YWCA, the Boys and Girls Club, and the American Red Cross. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Iowa State University and undertook graduate studies at Central Michigan University.  

Gretchen Bailey
Burlington
Commissioner Bailey is an attorney and currently the Casework Coordinator in Senator Bernie Sanders' Burlington Office. She has worked in constituent advocacy since 1997, and her primary interests are economic and social justice. She spent several years as a Staff Attorney at Vermont Legal Aid, Inc. and as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Burlington. She served as Vice Chair of the Vermont Coalition for the Equal Rights Amendment, and as Chair of the Women's Division of the Vermont Bar Association. She was an original founder of the Burlington Community Land Trust (BCLT), and has been a member of the BCLT Board of Directors. She has served as a Board Member of the Committee On Temporary Shelter (COTS), and was a long time member of the Burlington Women's Council. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from Lincoln Memorial University, a Master of Science in Foreign Service degree from Georgetown University and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center.  

Eileen Boland
Wheelock
Commissioner Boland's interest in women's issues began with her involvement in Vermont's efforts to pass the equal rights amendment in the early 80's. She has remained concerned with women's issues throughout her work with senior management teams in education and state government. Commissioner Boland is currently human resource director for St. Johnsbury Academy. She was Commissioner of Human Resources (formerly Personnel) from 1997-2000 where she was a member of the Governor's Affirmative Action Council. Numerous community and civic involvements include serving as trustee for the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum and as Justice of the Peace for her hometown of Wheelock where she lives with her husband and two children. She holds a B.F.A. in photo illustration from the Rochester Institute of Technology and an M.A. in Education Administration and Supervision from Johnson State. 

Cary Brown
Montpelier
Commissioner Brown is currently Intermin Executive Director of Turtle Island Children's Center. Prior to that position, she was Director of Girls Programs at Northern New England Tradeswomen (now Vermont Works for Women) and Director of the Women in Technology Project at Vermont Technical College. Comissioner Brown is a graduate of Haverford College and has an elementary education teaching certificate. She lives in Montpelier with her husband and two children. 

Carol Buchdahl
Saxtons River
Carol Buchdahl, R.N., M.A. is Manager of Leadership Development and Organizational Learning for the Technology Extension Division (TED) of Vermont Technical College. Her work with TED involves facilitating and consulting for businesses throughout New England. Commissioner Buchdahl served in the Vermont Legislature from 1997-1999 as a representative from Georgia, and was Clerk of the House Commerce Committee. She presently serves as secretary for the national board of the Health Care Education Association. She is current chair of VCW's Health, Safety and Civil Rights Committee. Commissioner Buchdahl and her husband David spend as much of their spare time as they can with their five grandchildren. 

Mary Claire Carroll
Richmond
Commissioner Carroll is a professional photographer and partner in Vitzthum & Carroll, L.L.P., an advocacy firm devoted to the political empowerment of non-profits working to enhance the quality of life of Vermonters. Commissioner Carroll is a long-time member of Burlington Business and Professional Women (BPW), a national networking organization advocating for working women. Through BPW she developed an interest in economic issues, particularly closing the wage gap between men and women. She is current chair of the Vermont Works for Women board, as well as VCW's Economic Security and Equity Committee. She also serves on the Richmond Free Library Board of Trustees. She lives in Richmond with her son and husband. 

Retta Dunlap
Woodbury
Commissioner Dunlap is the executive director of Vermonter's for Better Education (VBE), which advocates for education reform in Vermont. She is the editor of the Vermont Education Report (VER), an email publication of VBE. She is also the executive director of Vermont Home Education Network (VHEN) an organization that works to enhance home education in Vermont. In addition to homeschooling her own children, she coordinated activities for a local homeschool group for 12 years. For the past seven years, she has worked at the Legislature monitoring issues pertaining to education and parental rights. Commissioner Dunlap's efforts in the area of women's issues have focused on providing women with the ability to care for their families. She has educated women about their rights through one-on-one aid, workshops, and message boards. She has four children and lives in Woodbury with her husband and four Basset Hounds. 

Ruth Finn
Barre
Commissioner Finn retired as Barre Town Clerk-Treasurer in 2000. She volunteers for many state and community organizations, and is currently Vice Chair of the Barre Town Republican Committee, treasurer for the Washington County Republican Committee, Parliamentarian for the VT Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), volunteer at the Vermont Historical Library, member of the Barre Town Zoning Re-Write Committee, and serves as a regional advisory council member of the UVM Extension Service. In the past, she served as President of the Vermont Town Clerk-Treasurer Association, President of the Vermont Government Finance Officers Association, President of American Association of University Women's Barre Branch and as State Regent and VP General of the DAR. She was also a member of the New England Municipal Clerks Association, and served on the Historical Records Advisory Board.  

Linda Martin Fogg
St. Johnsbury
Commissioner Fogg is Director of St. Johnsbury Works, the downtown development organization for St. Johnsbury. She had previously worked as a plant manger for Procter & Gamble in the United States, Asia and Europe. Since moving to Vermont, she has worked in marketing, promoting, and fundraising for Catamount Arts, Stevens School, and Boxcar & Caboose Bookshop. She has also done consulting work with manufacturing businesses in the areas of quality control, customer service, and human resources. Commissioner Fogg brings to the commission an interest in helping women develop their potential and learn the skills they need to be economically independent. She has a special interest in developing leadership skills in women. She has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Biology from the University of Texas and is a native Texan. She enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, gardening and reading.  

Cathy Frey
Barre Town
Commissioner Frey is Dean of the School of Mathematics and Sciences at Norwich University. As Dean, she is the highest-ranking woman in academic administration at Norwich. She was the first female Dean of the School of Mathematics and Sciences, the first female full professor in mathematics, and the first female tenured in the Mathematics department. She holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Mathematics from the University of Vermont. She has completed seven exams towards Associateship in the Society of Actuaries. Commissioner Frey lives in Barre Town with her husband Scott and two children. 

Karen Henry
Brattleboro
Commissioner Henry graduated from St. Johnsbury Academy and the University of Vermont with a B.A. in History. She then attended graduate school at UVM, where she received an M.A.T. Commissioner Henry worked as a substance abuse prevention program in Burlington, and currently teaches history at Brattleboro Union High School where she also coaches soccer and softball. A native of St. Johnsbury, she now resides with her two daughters and husband in Brattleboro. 

Anne McClaughry
Kirby
Commissioner McClaughry is the mother of two women and grandmother of two girls. She has been active in support of girls and women through her work on the Vermont Girl Scout Board of Directors and Bennington County Project Against Violent Encounters. She also serves on several other boards and commissions reflecting her interest in strong communities, historic preservation, conservation, and education. She is married to John McClaughry and is a principal of the Ethan Allen Institute. She is currently vice chairman of the Vermont Republican Party. She holds a BS in education and has worked as a teacher and journalist.  

Marion Milne
Washington
Commissioner Milne has lived in the town of Washington since 1960 and started Milne Travel in Barre in 1975. She has been active in her community for over 40 years. She's served as: Representative to the Vermont House from 1994 to 2000, where she was ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee; first woman President of Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce, where she was recently named a Life Member for her fundraising efforts since 1980; member of the Vermont Judicial Nominating Board from 1996 to 2002; and was BPW's Woman of the Year in 1980. She currently serves as a Library Trustee (for over twenty years); a recently-appointed member of the Governor's Commission on Healthy Aging; as a member on the Professional Responsibility Board (a state board appointed by the Supreme Court); a Director of Washington Electric Co-op; and is an incorporator of the Northfield Savings Bank. She was co-chair of the Woman's Caucus in the Vermont Legislature and recipient of their Legislator of the Year award in 2000. She is married to House Clerk Donald Milne.  

Victoria Young
Proctor
Commissioner Young has retired from a career in management of non-profit organizations. Currently, in addition to her past efforts as Chair of the Commission, she serves as Vice Chair of the Rutland Regional Medical Center and the Rutland Health Foundation Boards of Directors, and on the Boards of Vermont Public Radio, the Vermont Community Foundation and the Sunset Home, a community care home in Rutland. With retirement, she enjoys spending more time with her family, including four grandchildren. Commissioner Young received a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of California at Berkeley and undertook graduate studies at Stanford University and St. Michael's College.

Read how Commissioners and Advisors describe our work.