Management Team

Brenda Torpy has over 30 years of experience in the affordable housing field starting with community organizing, rural community development and affordable housing advocacy in northern Vermont. As the Community and Economic Development Office's first housing Director for the City of Burlington, Brenda worked on the development of the Burlington Community Land Trust, now Champlain Housing Trust, and served as its first board president. In 1991, she joined the staff as Executive Director.

Under Brenda's leadership, CHT was selected as the 2008 winner of the UN World Habitat Award for the Global North for its leadership in the development of the CLT model of permanently affordable and community-controlled housing.

Brenda has also worked for the Vermont Housing Finance Agency as Development Director, and coordinated the $21 million tenant-led buyout of Northgate Apartments, 336 apartments that needed extensive rehabilitation and reinvestment to assure continued affordability. She serves on the Board of the National Community Land Trust Network, the National Risk Mitigation Corporation and on Vermont's Governor's Housing Council.

Michael Monte is CHT's Chief Financial and Operating Officer having joined the executive leadership team in December 2007. Michael was a founder of Burlington Community Land Trust and was a board member for Lake Champlain Housing, the two organizations that merged to form CHT. He has over 30 years of community and economic development experience. He worked at Burlington's Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) from its creation and was its longest serving Director. Prior to CEDO, he was employed as Executive Director for several non-profit organizations including the King Street Youth Center. Michael is also a founder and partner of the independent community development consultant group, Burlington Associates, where he worked with Community Land Trusts around the country.

Kandi Thermansen is our CAO. She joined BCLT in April, 2006 prior to the merger with LCHDC as HR Director to assist with merging all aspects of Human Resources with a focus on benefits, compensation and staffing. Her past experience with mergers and acquisitions, a rapidly growing start-up with multiple locations in several states and her nine years as a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources were very pertinent to CHT through the merger and going forward. Kandi has now taken the additional responsibilities of the IT and Administration Teams and is a member of the Executive Leadership Team.

Mike Bourgea, our Director of Finance joined CHT in October, 2009.. Mike's most recent experience at the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity as Fiscal Director (05-09) and private sector experience at Lane Press as controller (95-05) made him a great fit for being in charge of CHT's complex financial systems.

Mike graduated from Bentley College in 1984 and has been in the accounting field for over 25 years. His experience has prepared him well for the unique mix of public funds accounting and entrepreneurial finance that is the business of non-profit housing and community development.

Josie is our Director of Property & Asset Management and has worked at Champlain Housing Trust for almost 9 years. Prior to the merger Josie worked for the Lake Champlain Housing Development Corp. as a property manager for a number of properties in South Burlington. As Director Josie oversees the day-to-day operations of the 1,500+ apartments and is accountable for their financial well being as well as compliance with a number of regulatory requirements.

Josie is currently serving on the education committee of the Vermont Housing Managers Association.

Amy is our Director of Real Estate Development and has worked at the Champlain Housing Trust since 1994. She leads development projects from inception through permitting, funding and construction often in partnership with our co-developers, Housing Vermont. Amy is responsible for a number of our most unique and challenging projects such as the Community Health Center, Bus Barns, City's Edge and the Multi-Generational Center. Amy started at BCLT on North Street single-handedly serving our homeownership customers and remains a resource to the Homeownership staff. Amy is a non-profit representative on the Housing Vermont Board.

Chris Donnelly is CHT's Director of Community Relations, having joined the Trust in April 2005. He directs CHT's external communications, including community and endowment fundraising, grant writing, media and public relations, coalition and advocacy work, marketing of all programs and homes, and all publications. Chris also oversees community organizing and member relations. He has many years' experience in fundraising for social justice organizations and has a strong background in public policy.

Emily Higgins is our Director of HomeOwnership. She manages the day-to-day activities of the center offering homebuyer education, counseling, a housing rehab loan fund, and the largest portfolio of permanently-affordable shared-equity homes in the country. Emily focuses on organizational development, grants and reporting, goals and outcomes, as well as issues of strategic importance to programs, stewardship, and planning. In addition to this role, Emily has offered her expertise on a national level. She recently participated in a national Shared Equity Resale Study conducted by the Urban Institute which included a case study of Champlain Housing Trust and was published in July 2010. Emily provided case studies, and presented in a webinar about the Neighborhood Stabilization Program in December 2009. She has also presented workshops at the National Community Land Trust conferences including such topics as post-purchase stewardship and managing resales.

On a local level, she acted as project manager for the second CHT resale study conducted by John E. Davis and Alice Stokes entitled, “Lands in Trust, Homes that Last”, which documented and analyzed the outcomes of 25 years of selling resale-restricted homes. In 2008, CHT won the World Habitat Award from the United Nations for its innovative, sustainable, and replicable model of homeownership that Emily has been a part of for over 7 years.