Dan White
37 | Founder & CEO, Localvore
Residence: Burlington
Career highlight(s) you are most proud of:
Having facilitated over 1 million meals through the Localvore app for Vermont Everyone Eats.
Your community involvement:
Supporting nonprofits; local food and agriculture; and local businesses throughout the state.
Inspiration for living and working in Vermont:
Friends who grew up here. I moved from Chicago in 2011 and loved the entrepreneurial spirit and natural lifestyle Vermont offers.
Favorite part of your job:
It continues to evolve, and every failure leads to a new success.
Most inspiring mentor:
Janice St. Onge, president of the Flexible Capital Fund. She’s the most consistent long-term support system I’ve had as an investor and adviser.
Best career advice you have received:
Communicate with two ears and one mouth.
Something fun about yourself that few people know:
My dad’s first cousin was the late mayor of Boston, Kevin White. My dad was one of the youngest of many cousins of the Whites of West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain, and Kevin was one of the oldest. I never met him, but I did meet his younger sister once at a family event. He left a great legacy, and I am proud to be connected with what he stood for and did in the city of Boston.
Three words that best describe you:
Evanstonian, Vermonter, American.
Favorite Vermont escape:
Staying in Stowe at The Green Mountain Inn, Topnotch Resort, The Stowehof or any of the great northern hospitality businesses you can find there.
Favorite Vermont season:
Fall. I love the summer here too, but I love getting into the cool weather and getting those first tastes of ski season.
Favorite downtime activity:
Biking on the lakefront and dining out at Vermont’s great restaurants.
Favorite social media:
Localvore, of course! We are changing the game and not allowing manipulative algorithms from Facebook and TikTok to take over the way our local economies function and communicate. Localvore’s new social features allow our community to create positive recommendations and posts that help support their favorite local businesses.
Person you would most like to share a Vermont beverage with:
Melanie Brown, my lovely girlfriend. Melanie works for Hickok & Boardman and is one of the best financial advisers in the state.
Cause(s) you would support if you had unlimited funds:
Food and nutrition security. It’s essential to life and at the root can change everything for the better. I’ve always been passionate about food systems and local commerce, but after the past two years of working with our network of partners in the Everyone Eats program, my eyes were opened to how big this issue is and how many people are passionately working on solving these issues.
A song on your playlist you are embarrassed to admit to your best friend:
“The Power of Love” by Céline Dion!
Where you see yourself professionally in the next five to 10 years:
I’d like to start another company that helps solve problems for our growing elderly population.
Goal(s) you’d like to accomplish in the next five to 10 years:
I’d like to see Localvore grow and get a return for all of our investors and team while creating a ton of positive impact.
How your community service has changed since the pandemic:
By focusing on solving food insecurity issues in our state and country.
How your job has changed since the pandemic:
Localvore now helps solve food insecurity by being the technology partner to Vermont Everyone Eats, a federally and state-funded program that pays restaurants $10 a meal to feed people who are experiencing food insecurity.
