Jaime Contois
VT (Co-Chair)
Jaime worked as a community organizer in NH and VT for over fifteen years, leading campaigns for living wages, health care reform, affordable housing, labor and LGBTQ rights, and addressing systemic racism. She has worked in NH as Director for Working Families Win, been a campaign organizer for MoveOn.org and EDF Action.
In VT, Jaime has served on the school board, and helped create and served on the Equity Committee for the Town of Putney. Jaimeis exploring how we can use non-violence, communication, democratic process, personal empowerment and community practice across political and ideological divisions to restore or create communities that are healthy and just for all of their members.
DANA HACKETT
NH (Co-chair)
Dana Hackett joins the board with a wealth of experience as a longtime New Hampshire resident, low income single working parent, and fierce advocate for intersectional justice. In the summer of 2020, Dana was one of the five activists arrested at the New Hampshire State House in protest of the passage of the divisive state budget. She looks forward to stepping into this new role within Rights & Democracy to help further the mission for collective liberation, justice, and equity for all.
Susmik Lama
NH (Secretary)
Susmik is a one-and-a-half generation Nepali immigrant to the United States, born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal. In 2020, Susmik moved to New Hampshire to work as a field organizer for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. In New Hampshire, Susmik reached out to immigrant and refugee communities in the state, which has a particularly high number of Bhutanese refugees from Nepal. Susmik now works at People’s Action on the National Field Team, where she supports deep canvassing and movement politics work.
BARBARA WILSON
VT (Treasurer)
Barb grew up on a small dairy farm in Michigan and graduated with a B.S. in Secondary Education and Mathematics from Michigan State University. She spent 38 years working for a large telecommunications software development company in New Jersey, where she designed, implemented, and deployed engineering support software. Upon moving to Shoreham in 2008, she started a small fruit farm where she grows berries, peaches, and other fruits to make value added specialty products, such as jam and sorbet.
Barb has been a member of Rights & Democracy since 2016 and was first elected to the RAD C4 board in 2020. She has been active on many fronts, where those most impacted are often unable to fight back, including litigating on behalf of an elderly neighbor, fighting the expansion of the VT gas pipeline and exposing Vermont Gas’ deceptive marketing practices, advocating for healthcare reform, and fighting to keep rural schools opened.