Kim Gleason for Vermont Senate, an engaged leader and a fresh perspective.

My Vision

I’m Kim Gleason, and I’m running for the State Senate to represent our Grand Isle District, which includes Colchester, South Hero, Grand Isle, North Hero and Isle La Motte.

I’m running because I share a deep commitment to our communities. I want to bring a fresh perspective and a strong engaged local voice to the decisions that are made in Montpelier. I’m concerned about affordability, accountability and transparency, and I believe in the power of cooperation, collaboration and relationships to move the work forward. I want to ensure that our laws reflect our communities’ values - informed by us, rather than imposed on us.

By listening, engaging, and working together, we can build solutions that strengthen our communities. I would be honored to represent our district as your Senator.

A woman with blonde hair and sunglasses smiling while sitting on a rocky beach near the water, with two golden retriever puppies.
Close-up of a smiling woman with blonde hair, wearing a light blue shirt.

Affordability is front and center for all of us. We feel it at the grocery store, at the gas pump, in housing costs, healthcare bills, and property taxes. None of these challenges can be solved in isolation. We need to work together to improve access and affordability in healthcare and housing, while balancing our shared commitment to our environment and the beauty of Vermont. We need to support education in ways that prepare our students to be the thinkers, doers, and leaders that Vermont’s workforce so desperately needs, while making sure they and we can afford to stay in Vermont!

Vermonters deserve leaders who will treat every taxpayer dollar as carefully as they would their own, listen to the people they represent, understand the needs of rural communities, and make decisions that strengthen the schools and essential services our communities depend on. That’s the standard I’ve held throughout my career, and it’s the standard I’ll bring to the Senate.

Person riding a bicycle on a hillside road with fall trees, a river, and the sun in the sky.

  • Strong Local Schools: As a Governor-appointed member of the State Board of Education and longtime local school board member, I’ve helped shape the regulations governing Vermont education, including leading the effort to update the Education Quality Standards. As Treasurer of the Vermont School Boards Association, I helped develop a statewide strategy for legislative action, advocacy, and policy that reflected the very different circumstances of Vermont’s school districts. At the local level, I worked with families to develop an equity policy and mentored student board members to participate in school decisions.

  • Protecting Essential Services: I’ve helped eight small non-profit hospice organizations work together to keep quality healthcare available in rural neighborhoods.

VERMONT LEADERSHIP

  • Responsible with Vermonter’s Money: For almost a decade, I have overseen more than $8 billion in pension investments, protecting the retirements of Vermont teachers, state employees, and municipal employees.  

  • A Voice for Rural Vermont: On the School District Redistricting Task Force, I helped bring more than 5,000 Vermonters into the conversation. I’m proud to say that our final report was adopted by the Legislature and signed by the Governor. Our decisions about public education (and frankly, everything!) must be directly informed by our neighbors’ voices AND the data, and these decisions must make sense for both rural Vermont and our larger towns.