Hi, I’m Jared.

I grew up in and am committed to the working class of Vermont. For most of my childhood, my mother Alice worked as a waitress and my father Bill as a chef. My desire to serve my fellow Vermonters is grounded in the experiences of my family, including having my father survive multiple heart attacks only to weather bankruptcy and housing insecurity caused by medical debt.

I know what it means to face economic hardship and I will be a champion for working Vermonters.

Public Service

For over two decades, I have worked to advance a more equitable and sustainable economy. For the last nine years I have served as Executive Director of the Energy Action Network, a statewide non-profit organization based in Montpelier. With EAN, I conduct energy research and analysis and also help lead efforts to reduce the costs and pollution associated with continued fossil fuel dependence and in support of more efficient and renewable energy use. In recognition of this work, I was honored to receive the 2024 Con Hogan Award from the Vermont Community Foundation.

Since 2017, I have served on the Board of the Public Assets Institute, where I currently serve as Board Chair. Public Assets works to improve the well-being of all Vermonters by conducting research and analysis related to the state budget and fiscal policy. I also volunteer for and am a founding Board member of the Montpelier Emergency Cold Weather Shelter. 

In 2021 I was appointed to the Vermont Climate Council and have co-authored each of Vermont’s Climate Action Plans. I have also testified dozens of times before House and Senate committees as an invited expert witness, providing analysis on energy and economic issues.

Earlier in my career, from 2014 - 2017, I served as Economic Development Director at the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, providing support to working lands and green economy businesses and workers across Vermont. From 2005-2007, I served as National Director of the Sierra Student Coalition, the national student chapter of the Sierra Club and then the largest student-led environmental organization in America. I also served as the youngest member of the policy team for Governor Howard Dean’s presidential campaign in 2003 and as an intern for then-Congressman Bernie Sanders in 2002. 

Beyond work and volunteering, I also enjoy hiking, fishing, hunting, and playing in the Vermont Senior Baseball League. 

Roots in Montpelier

Montpelier has been my family’s home for over a decade. When we moved here in 2014, it was a homecoming of sorts — while I was raised in the Upper Connecticut River Valley, I often came to Montpelier while growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s to visit family who lived here.

Farther back, some of my ancestors immigrated to Montpelier from Ireland in the early 1800s, including my 4th great grandfather, James McGlaflin, who was a stone mason who worked some of the granite that makes up the Vermont State House. It would be one of the honors of my life to be entrusted with responsibility to craft policy on behalf of working Vermonters, working in the same Statehouse that he helped build as a laborer. 

I love Montpelier and Vermont and I am committed to working to improve life for all residents of our city and state. For me, politics matters because policy matters – and policy matters because people matter.

I believe that the best policy is made when guided by evidence and empathy and while working collaboratively with humility, open-mindedness, and dedication.

Education and Writing

With the help of scholarships, I earned my Master’s degree in public affairs from Princeton in 2014. My concentration was in domestic policy, with the goal of becoming the most effective public servant and policy analyst I could be for Vermont.

My book Next Generation Democracy was published in 2010. Over the years, I’ve also authored articles and commentaries for many publications including The Bridge, Times Argus, and Waterbury Roundabout.

I graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a double major in Economics and Political Science from Wheaton College in Massachusetts (2005).

I would not have been able to attend college were it not for the encouragement of my parents — neither of whom were college graduates themselves — and the financial support of need-based state and federal grant and loan programs. During college and over the summers I worked multiple jobs to be able to afford tuition and room and board.

It will take resources to introduce myself and share why I’m running with voters all across Montpelier. Will you consider making a donation to the campaign today?