Ali Dieng is a notable leader in international development and civic engagement, dedicated to fostering inclusive and equitable communities. Currently he serves as regional manager for Building Bright Futures.

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Ali’s educational background in international public law informs his approach to community development, emphasizing the importance of cultural competency and cross-cultural dialogue. He strives to bridge divides, amplify marginalized voices, and create systems that are both inclusive and transformative. 

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In 2015 he founded the Burlington School District's Parent University. He co-founded the Vermont New American Advisory Council an, organization dedicated to increasing civic engagement and fostering a sense of belonging among Vermont’s immigrant communities. 

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He served three consecutive terms on the Burlington City Council, the first African to be elected to that body. There he enabled legislation that created the Office of Racial Equity Inclusion and Belonging (REIB) and chaired its committee. He spearheaded the sister city relation between the city of Burlington and the the city of Thiès-Est, Senegal. 

Eric Agnero is a distinguished broadcaster, communications strategist, and entrepreneur whose career spans three decades in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. He began at Radio Nostalgie in Abidjan and later reported for the French Service of Voice of America and CNN, covering Côte d’Ivoire’s postelectoral crisis, African Union summits, and global environmental negotiations. 

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Beyond journalism, Eric served as a senior communications specialist for the African Union and several multilateral organizations such as USAID, building deep expertise in diplomacy, public engagement, and international development.

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Today he aims to foster balanced, values‐driven trade between Africa and the US, providing a democratic counterweight to the expanding influence of China and Russia. 

Eric serves on the boards of the Media Factory and the Vermont Institute for Community and International Involvement, supporting community journalism and civic‐education projects. Fluent in French and English and conversant in several West African languages, he pairs cultural fluency with a strategic global outlook.

Janet Biehl is an editor, author, graphic artist, and translator. Over five decades, she has copyedited thousands of books for New York book publishers, first as a New York resident, then after moving Burlington in 1987, as a telecommuter.

She is the author of Ecology or Catastrophe: The Life of Murray Bookchin (Oxford, 2016), the biography of a noted author (and Burlington resident) who was her partner and collaborator until his death in 2006. Since 2011 she has been involved with the Kurdish freedom movement. In the 2010s she translated several Kurdish-themed books from German to English (published by Pluto Press). More recently, she wrote and illustrated a graphic memoir about her month in Syrian Kurdistan: Their Blood Got Mixed: Revolutionary Rojava and the War Against ISIS (PM Press, 2022).  She served as co-president of the Alliance Française of the Lake Champlain region, manages its website, and publishes its monthly newsletter.

Major  Enriquez is the Vermont Army National Guard’s Director of International Affairs, overseeing State Partnership engagements with North Macedonia, Austria, and Senegal. In this capacity, he organizes training, educational exchanges, crisis-response cooperation, and strategic policy dialogue to strengthen security ties in the Balkans, Central Europe, and West Africa.

Major Enriquez’s career reflects an unwavering commitment to building global partnerships that enhance Vermont’s National Guard readiness for missions abroad and allied interoperability. A Norwich University graduate and 20-year Army veteran, he has deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo, led units in NATO’s exercises Cooperative Lancer and Decisive Strike, and served three years at the U.S. Embassy in Skopje as a Vermont’s liaison officer.

Jim Holway is an advocate for global engagement, cross-cultural collaboration, and community development. He co-founded the Sister City partnership between Burlington and Thiès-Est.

With extensive experience in nonprofit leadership, strategic consulting, and media initiatives, Jim currently supports Vermont Kin as Parents through leadership transitions. He developed a community-focused low-power FM radio station and Vermont-centric internet streaming platform, aimed at enhancing community dialogue and collaboration across Vermont.

Jim’s personal experiences of childhood adversity, including abuse, neglect, and foster care placements motivate his influential voice in child welfare reform. 

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He co-founded US Giving To Mahar, supporting women, children, and men experiencing domestic abuse in India, reflecting his passionate commitment to cross-cultural compassion and activism.

His ongoing work, "Split Second Leadership: How Great Leaders Make Decisions When Every Second Counts," provides practical guidance for leaders across sectors.

Wendy Rice is a community development leader with over 25 years of experience advancing sustainability, equity, and resilience in the United States and in sub-Saharan Africa.

She was selected for the Burlington–Thiès Est Sister Cities delegation based on her extensive work in Africa, including natural resource management projects in Madagascar, Gabon, the Central African Republic, and Cameroon. Her international portfolio includes service with the U.S. Peace Corps and project work for USAID and State Department contractors.

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Rice founded Vermont Connector, a statewide mutual aid organization that played a pivotal role in community mapping and resource coordination during the COVID-19 pandemic and Vermont’s historic 2022–2023 floods. The Baby Product Exchange, a flagship program of Vermont Connector, helps Vermont families with unmet needs.

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Rice currently serves as President of the Green Mountain Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and is an alumna of the Snelling Center for Government’s Vermont Leadership Institute