Economy | Schools | Stewardship | Community
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In November 2022, Sara Coffey was re-elected to a third term by the voters in district Windham-1 to serve the towns of Vernon and Guilford in the Vermont House of Representatives.
As a legislator, Sara has brought fresh ideas and an entrepreneurial spirit to the legislature in Montpelier. She listens and works energetically on behalf of her constituents to help build strong, integrated systems of support that address important issues facing rural Vermont families.
Sara cares about the future of our small rural communities and as your State Representative she is working to:
• Focus on Southern Vermont’s recovery and response to COVID-19 by providing financial support and technical tools for workers, small businesses and our schools
• Strengthen our rural economy through innovative approaches to workforce development and job creation
• Invest in our youth by ensuring quality public education and early childcare
• Support farming families, local agriculture and stewardship of the land and water
• Help working people and small businesses by supporting access to affordable housing and healthcare
Sara received endorsements from many local community members and local leaders. Check out Sara's Endorsements page to see all of the statements.
"I grew up in Guilford in a farming family that has been working the land for over ten generations and I first met Sara many years ago volunteering at the Sugar on Snow Suppers at the Grange. When Sara told me she was running for office I could not have been more excited.
Sara cares deeply about Guilford and Vernon, the people who live here, and the traditions of our farming families. She’ll bring innovative ideas to the legislature, ask hard questions, listen to her constituents, and make good choices on our behalf.
In my line of work, which is policy advocacy and education, we often talk about blockers and builders. Blockers are the people who are particularly good at stopping bad policies from being passed; whereas builders have a vision for the future and are good at working with people to achieve that vision. Sara is a builder if I ever met one."
~Heather Franklin, Guilford resident and campaign volunteer
Innovative | Dedicated | Experienced
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Sara is an experienced leader and community builder with more than two decades of organizational management, community organizing, and public advocacy experience. Sara grew up in a large working class Irish family outside Boston where she was active in her community as a volunteer and student leader. She first came to Vermont to earn an undergraduate degree from Marlboro College and the School for International Training. Sara then went on to earn a M.A. in Performance Studies from NYU, and after 15 years of working in the nonprofit cultural sector in New York City, she returned to Southern Vermont in 2004 with her husband to raise their two small children and start two businesses: Guilford Sound and Vermont Performance Lab.
Sara was the founder and Director of Vermont Performance Lab, a community-based organization that links art-making with civic engagement. Over the past decade, Sara's program leadership at Vermont Performance Lab and her innovative approach to building community and civic dialogue through the arts has been recognized by the Andrew Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New England Foundation for the Arts, the Vermont Arts Council, and the Vermont Community Foundation.
Sara has been an active volunteer in her community, serving on the several school associations and boards including Marlboro College and the Governor’s Institutes of Vermont. She has been an active member of the Broad Brook Grange, Guilford’s 250th committee, and most recently as the President of the Broad Brook Community Center, where she has been working with the community to steward a $1.2 million campaign to transform Guilford’s grange hall into a vibrant community center. She has twice been elected as Justice of the Peace in Guilford and currently serves on the Board of Civil Authority. Sara was also appointed by the Speaker of the house to serve on the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory, and is a member of Emerge Vermont's Class of 2018.
Sara lives in Guilford with her husband Dave Snyder and their children.
