Marlboro Grad School Student Tapped by Governor

Governor Peter Shumlin announced recently that Philip Kolling will serve as executive director of SerVermont, which coordinates and promotes community service across the state and is housed within the Agency of Human Services. Kolling holds his Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Marlboro College Graduate and Professional Studies is currently finishing the graduate school’s MS in Managing Mission-Driven Organizations as well.

He has been SerVermont’s VISTA project supervisor, and is responsible for starting Vermont’s AmeriCorps VISTA program, which currently hosts 27 VISTA members within 20 different non-profit and government agencies statewide.

Kolling credits his grad school experience with success he is finding in this new position. “Applying my studies as I go has been a critical piece of the grad school experience for me. Beginning with the first week of my first trimester at Marlboro I have been able to apply what I learn at the grad school to my work at SerVermont. From Project Management to Marketing and Appreciative Inquiry, everything I have learned has proven applicable and useful.”

Prior to joining SerVermont, he was club director of the Boys and Girls Club in Everett, Massachusetts, field coordinator for the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Berkshire Chapter, assistant program director of the Vermont Youth Tomorrow VISTA and Vermont Youth Development Corps AmeriCorps state programs, and served terms as both an AmeriCorps VISTA member with Vermont Youth Tomorrow, and as an AmeriCorps state member and field team leader for the Maine Conservation Corps.

“I am honored by the appointment,”Philip says. “National service members are a great asset to our communities, and I know that they make a difference in the lives of Vermonters every day. I am proud to be leading SerVermont and look forward to deepening the strong tradition of service in our state.”