Anna Brouillette
29 | Policy and Program Director, Building Bright Futures
Residence: Chittenden
Career highlight you are most proud of:
In my role as Building Bright Future’s Policy and Program Director I have had the opportunity to strengthen our organization’s process to develop and communicate about our annual policy recommendations. This has included working with our partners to hone in on strong recommendations that would improve systems for Vermont children and families, documenting and bringing greater rigor the process, and publishing an annual Policy Playbook to bring greater awareness to our annual policy agenda. This has enabled us to make meaningful policy recommendations that have the ability to elevate the need for significant and 
impactful changes to policy and programs in Vermont. I feel grateful to have had both autonomy to innovate and a tremendous amount of my team’s support to put my own mark on this process.
Community Involvement:
I currently serve as the Chair of the Essex Housing Commission where we focus on levers that the town can pull to make housing more affordable, accessible, 
and stable for its current and ideally, future residents. I was drawn to this role because of my own experience as someone who returned home to Vermont and strugged to find somewhere to live, despite my incredible privilege. I also dedicate my time and energy to a variety of efforts to support current students at my undergraduate and graduate school in learning about the field of early childhood policy, navigating the job market, and more.
What motivated you to live and work in Vermont?
As someone who grew up in Vermont and spent several years away for college, graduate school, and work, I was drawn to return home for many reasons; the proximity to family and friends was a significant draw, as was my family’s love of Echo Lake in Northeast Kingdom, where we have a cottage that we spend much of our time. Perhaps most significantly, I was drawn to focus this phase of my career on social impact here in Vermont.
Favorite part of your job:
My role at Building Bright Futures is dynamic and ever-changing and I am fortunate to work with a team of smart, component, and mission-driven people. As someone driven by a value for progress, I love my role in managing our policy and legislative work to advocate on behalf of young children and their families and the early childhood system. I am also passionate about our family leadership work, and ensuring that people with lived experience have a voice in policy-making decisions that have a direct impact on their lives and well-being.
Favorite Vermont escape:
My favorite place in Vermont is my family’s cottage on Echo Lake in the Northeast Kingdom. I spend much of my summers there and am so grateful for long days of reading on the dock, laughter-filled card games, and quiet nights.
Favorite downtime activity:
My favorite downtime activity is reading and discussing books with my book club of high school friends, which meets every 3 weeks. We started meeting during the pandemic and it is now such an engrained and positive part of our routines.
If you had unlimited access to funds, which cause(s) would you support:
A someone who has deeply benefited from the privilege of access to quality education from child care to graduate school, I am most interested in expanding access to education as a lever of economic opportunity. I think particularly focusing on early education and higher education, as the two least accessible parts of our education system is something that interests me.
What career goal(s) would you like to accomplish in the next 5-10 years?
In the next 5-10 years I'd like to continue to learn and grow as a policy and social impact leader focused on our systems of care and education. I hope to continue to seek out and thrive in roles where I am surrounded by people who I can learn from, laugh with, and be challenged by.