New Leadership for the Ottauquechee Health Foundation
The Ottauquechee Health Foundation, the Woodstock-based organization which for nearly 30 years has worked to improve the health and well-being of residents of nine communities, announced today the appointment of David Sleeper as Executive Director and Lizzie Coelho as Grants Coordinator. OHF serves the communities of Barnard, Bridgewater, Hartland, Killington, Plymouth, Pomfret, Quechee, Reading, and Woodstock through financial assistance, community partnerships, and educational opportunities.
“I’m in awe of how much OHF has accomplished to improve the health of people in need in our communities,” said David Sleeper. “I feel privileged to join a long line of leaders including trustees, OHF members and community partners, and staff members-working to improve the lives of our citizens.” Sleeper especially thanked his predecessor Mary YoungBreuleux, who served as OHF’s Interim Executive Director since September 2024.
Sleeper brings to the job a wealth of experience in communications and nonprofit administration. He was managing editor of Blair & Ketchum’s Country Journal magazine and founder, editor, and publisher of Vermont Magazine. In 2001, he moved to Pomfret, VT (the first of three OHF communities in which he has lived, along with Hartland and Woodstock) to work in marketing and development for the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, where he had been a trustee. Following that, he was the Executive Director of the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation, before leaving to start his own conservation consulting business. Sleeper is a member of the Vermont board of the Conservation Law Foundation and an officer on two local boards, Taftsville Community Trails and the Taftsville Cemetery Association. Sleeper’s wife, Cronin Sleeper, is owner of the Plum Tree School preschool, which she started 17 years ago. The couple has three grown children and eight grandchildren.
Lizzie Coelho is OHF’s new Grants Coordinator, having served in that role in an interim capacity for four months. “I love meeting people and helping them determine how OHF can address their needs,” said Coelho. With more than 250 Good Neighbor Grants to process and distribute each year, no two workdays are ever the same, according to Coelho. “I love how dynamic it is at the office,” she said. Coelho had the opportunity to spend time in Central America volunteering with children in remote areas as a teacher, learning culture, customs, and Spanish. Following her time abroad she attained a master’s degree in social work, specializing in management of nonprofit organizations and community relations. She and her husband, Bernardo Coelho, who is MultiUnit General Manager of Nutrition, Environmental Services, and HHR at Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center, moved to Bridgewater in 2021 to raise their four children, now ranging in age from four to eleven. Coelho is a member of the joint Woodstock Elementary School and Prosper Valley School Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). Additionally, she is a talented athlete, having competed in water polo and swimming while growing up and now playing pickleball competitively in Woodstock and throughout New England.