Role: Staff

As the Volunteer & Education Coordinator, Lorne is tasked with supporting the GMC’s current base of active volunteers and with developing opportunities to engage new volunteers. He also coordinates GMC’s educational programming, developing skills workshops and opportunities for people to learn about the Long Trail and its natural environment. Lorne grew up in South Berwick, Maine, and attended Keene State College, majoring in Environmental Studies and Geology.

After college, Lorne spent three years working seasonally for the Appalachian Mountain Club in the White Mountains. Lorne moved to Vermont in 2016 and began working with the GMC in March of 2017. Lorne completed a Long Trail End-to-End hike in October 2018 and spends his free time solving crosswords, hiking, learning to tele-ski, and baking bread.

Mike returned to his home state to join the GMC’s staff as executive director in 2014. Mike is a licensed professional forester and prior to joining the GMC served as executive director of the Forest Stewards Guild in Santa Fe, NM. In 1996, Mike completed a southbound AT thru-hike and completed Long Trail hikes in 2004, 2017, and 2021.

Mike earned a bachelor’s degree in natural resources from Johnson State College and a master of forestry degree from Yale University. Mike and his wife, Jennifer make their home in Moretown along with their two dogs.

Alicia DiCocco (she/her) is the Deputy Director, where she works on external relationships, development, membership, and communications. She has worked with the Green Mountain Club since 2014 and previously was a Development & Communications Coordinator at Spectrum Youth & Family Services and has worked for other organizations in development and environmental education.

Alicia studied Environmental Science at Boston University and spent the years after graduation living in tents across the country working on trail and desert restoration crews. She lives in Richmond with her husband, Shay, daughter, Lane, and son, Hugh, where they spend their weekends exploring the woods of Vermont. She is also working on completing the Long Trail in sections with her dad.

As Director of Land Conservation, Mollie (she/her/hers) oversees the management and ongoing protection of the over 21,000 acres of land the Club has conserved and spearheads GMC’s land protection work to conserve the last remaining miles of Long Trail System.

Mollie grew up in Ithaca, New York, and came to Vermont to earn a BS from the Rubenstein School at the University of Vermont in environmental studies with a minor in plant biology. She joined GMC in 2016 after working with a number of conservation organizations throughout Vermont, including the Vermont Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and UVM Extension. Mollie completed a section hike of the Long Trail in 2019 and is picking away at a side-to-side with her husband, Jacob. When not hiking on the Long Trail System, Mollie can be found restoring her 1870s home in Burlington, growing peaches, skiing, biking and canoeing.

Rhonda (she/her) is GMC’s Development Manager, working to deepen relationships with the club’s members and donors and raise community awareness about the importance of protecting and maintaining one of Vermont’s greatest assets – the Long Trail System.

Rhonda is a lifetime Vermonter, having grown up in Middlebury and remained in this beautiful state for most of her adult life. She is a self-described casual hiker, primarily enjoying side trails and day hikes. She recalls some memorable overnight trips as part of UVM’s Outing Club, and many fun-filled days spent inspiring an early love of the trail with her young children, who are now adventurous young adults.

Rhonda is a graduate of the Grossman School of Business at the University of Vermont. After college, she spent time in Boston and then returned home to begin decades of volunteer and professional work advancing the missions of local non-profit organizations. Her experience includes leading engagement and fundraising activities for several local schools, Spectrum Youth and Family Services, the University of Vermont Foundation, and UVM Cancer Center. Rhonda’s passion for access to education, improving health and wellness outcomes, and protecting Vermont’s great outdoor resources all combine in her current development role at GMC.

Rhonda lives in Essex, where she and her husband Dan raised their three children, Zach, Sophie, and Drew. When not working, Rhonda enjoys time on the trails with family and friends, and her favorite furry lab friend, Molly. She also enjoys gravel biking, yoga, boating, and any opportunity to enjoy a perfect sunset.

Rowan’s work at GMC centers on the stewardship of conserved lands on both the Long Trail and Appalachian Trail in Vermont. This work would be impossible without the work of the volunteers in the Corridor Monitor program. These folks monitor and maintain a specific section of property boundary along the conserved trail corridor. Their work and presence along these remote boundaries help to preserve the remote character of the trail. Rowan coordinates this program, training and supporting volunteers in this crucial work across the state. He also supports efforts to manage invasive plant species on conserved lands. He gets to traverse far-flung hills and dales for work (often in rather straight lines), and he thinks that’s a pretty good deal.

Rowan is a homo sapiens that has broad experience across the non-profit spheres of conservation and outdoor education: trail crews; backcountry caretaking for Randolph Mountain Club; two years of AmeriCorps service at the Willowell Foundation’s outdoor, public high school; conservation program coordinating at Vermont Youth Conservation Corps; non-profit development and administration. Rowan has almost exclusively lived and worked in the Otter Creek or Winooski River watersheds (it’s hard to branch out). He’s walked the LT and most of the AT. He does some ultrarunning coaching on the side. These are three of his interests: Phish, endurance sport, other stuff. If we ever cross paths on a bearing of N 74 degrees W, introduce yourself!

Lily is GMC’s Communications Coordinator, working with the rest of the communications team to increase public awareness and engagement with GMC through the organization’s digital and print platforms. Lily grew up in central Pennsylvania and graduated from Penn State where she studied photojournalism. Before joining GMC, Lily spent two seasons producing photo and video content in Acadia National Park for Friends of Acadia, in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Her two seasons in Acadia inspired her to continue pursuing a career at the intersection of communications, environmental conservation, philanthropy, and outdoor recreation, leading her to GMC. In her free time, Lily loves hiking, a good book, and painting and drawing.