Heather Davis Miller
39 | Founder, Just Conservation LLC/ Chief of Staff, TechTonic Justice
Residence: Bennington
Career highlight: One of my proudest highlights is launching Just Conservation Solutions here in Southern Vermont, a practice built to connect single properties to the larger landscapes they belong to, and to bring landowners, young people, and communities into the work of stewardship. After more than a decade in national conservation, it has been a gift to put that experience to work in my own backyard, helping the people who live on and near the land become part of caring for it. I believe conservation lasts only when the people closest to a place have a hand in its future, and I get to test that belief here every day. It is a privilege to do this work in a community that loves the natural world and wants to help care for it, and I am only getting started.
Community involvement: My community involvement includesMuch of my community work centers on young people, our shared landscapes, and neighbors who need a hand. I am deeply engaged in our local school community, including serving on the board of Northshire Day School, where I have helped raise the school’s profile and strengthen its ability to meet real community needs, such as a Community Closet that provides free food and clothing to local families. I also help organize community-care efforts that make sure neighbors facing hard circumstances have food, clothing, and support when they need it, because a strong community is one that takes care of all of its people.
Through my practice, Just Conservation Solutions, my aim is to bring experiential conservation to our communities through working collectively to define a conservation ethic that reflects where we actually live. Across all of it, my throughline is the same: strong communities and healthy landscapes are the same project, and both depend on making room for everyone to contribute.
Motivation for living and working in Vermont: Honestly? A man. But three kids later, we’re still here, and I’ve fallen for the place as much as the person, the landscape, the community, and the kind of childhood my kids get to have.
Most inspiring mentor: My most inspiring mentor was the late Lark Galloway-Gilliam, who taught me that lasting change takes three things: policy, projects, and people. She believed the people part was the hardest and the most important, that you have to meet communities where they are and build with them rather than for them. I carry that lesson into every project I take on, and it is the quiet engine behind everything I do.
Best career advice: The best career advice I have received is to lead through influence, not authority. The most lasting results I have ever been part of came not from being in charge but from giving people a process and a vision they genuinely wanted to own.
What three words best describe you: Connector, community-minded, and tenacious.
Favorite Vermont escape: My favorite Vermont escape changes with the season but always comes back to water: summer I am open water swimming, spring/fall I am paddling, winter I am skiing or skating.
Favorite Vermont season: My favorite Vermont season is summer, no contest. In my book, if it’s not summer weather, it may as well be winter.
If you had unlimited access to funds, which cause(s) would you support: The cause I would support is education, without a doubt. Every child deserves a real shot at a great education, and I believe an informed, curious, engaged generation is the foundation of everything else we care about, from a healthy democracy to a healthy planet.
What one song is on your playlist that are you embarrassed to tell your best friend: My husband knows all my secrets, but he might be surprised to here me listening to Queen by Fat Nwigwe
Drawing on your experiences, what advice would you give to someone looking to get involved in community service: Start where you already are focusing on what you already love and listening to those you want to help.