Office and People Directory

Darrin Pillsbury

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Andersen Pinckney

Biography

Andersen is a Game Design graduate from Champlain College’s class of 2020. He has worked as an aerospace software engineer for Saber Astronautics, a project manager for the DoD, and in production for Rockstar Games. He has been an adjunct professor for Champlain College since Fall 2021.

Favorite Quote

“Shake and bake, baby!”

–Ricky Bobby

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Hallie Pixley

Biography

Hallie Pixley is the Sustainable Transportation Coordinator with Campus Operations, where she passionately advocates for biking and active transportation. A 2024 graduate of Champlain College, Hallie holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies and Policy. Her dedication to promoting sustainable transportation solutions is driven by her commitment to environmental stewardship and community well-being.

What are your hobbies?

Hallie loves biking, skiing, playing guitar, going to see live music, and painting/drawing (as well as most things involving the great outdoors).

Favorite local eateries and things to do in Vermont:

Nothing beats The Grey Jay’s shakshuka followed by a bike ride down the Colchester Causeway!

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Michelle Platt

Biography

Michelle earned a BA in Political Science at Southern Illinois University in 2008 and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) at Southern Illinois University in 2014. Michelle began working in Higher Education in 2014 after a 15 year career in retail management. Michelle was previously the Director of Outreach and Recruitment at a College in Washington State. Michelle is passionate about access to education, removing barriers and promoting educational equity. Michelle looks forward to working with students throughout their educational journey through to completion. In her spare time, Michelle is a geek and a dog mom who enjoys; attending Comic-con, tabletop gaming, pop-culture, movies and tv, reading, traveling, and collecting fandom art and collectables.

What are your hobbies?

Reading, Gaming, Listening to music, Travel, Film/Television, Comic-con and collecting fandom memorabilia.

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Kimberly Polite

Biography

For the last 29 years, Dr. Kimberly Polite has built her career in business and Higher Education Administration as a leader in training and development, management, project management, sales, marketing, and team engagement. She is also a veteran.

Kimberly holds a doctorate in Business Administration from Walden University, a Master of Education in Management as well as a Bachelor of English, both from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. She currently teaches and trains in business and educational organizations on strategic change management and employee engagement.

Her concentration areas include research on employee engagement and what factors contribute to increased engagement and productivity.

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Isabella Poloes

Biography

Isabella is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and has worked at Champlain College since 2020. Isabella strives to create a nonjudgmental and welcoming environment for students, where they can collaboratively work on the issues that are most important to them. In her work, she recognizes the impact systems of oppression have on our mental health and welcomes exploration of these themes. She appreciates humor and honesty within the therapeutic relationship and practices from an eclectic, trauma-informed lens- bringing in elements of narrative, feminist, and cognitive behavioral theories as appropriate.

Outside of the office, she enjoys cooking, hanging out with her dog, Oliver, and reading in hammocks.

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Alexis Pomerleau

Biography

Alexis Pomerleau serves as a Leadership Giving Officer, where she cultivates meaningful relationships that advance the College’s philanthropic mission. With expertise in donor relations, leadership giving, and strategic partnership development, Alexis works closely with diverse constituencies, including parents of current students, alumni, board members, and major gift prospects.

Alexis brings a unique professional background that spans higher education advancement, retail operations, startup ventures, and wellness services. Her career has been defined by a passion for connecting people with opportunities that create lasting impact. She excels at managing multiple high-profile projects simultaneously while maintaining the personal touch and attention to detail essential to effective relationship building.

In her role at Champlain, Alexis orchestrates donor cultivation activities, develops strategic communication campaigns, and coordinates volunteer advisory councils. She is particularly skilled in event stewardship, long-term relationship management, and creating value through authentic engagement. Her approach combines strategic thinking with genuine relationship-building, ensuring that every interaction advances both immediate goals and sustainable institutional growth.

Alexis holds a bachelor’s degree in Business and Marketing from Saint Michael’s College.

Hobbies

Horseback riding, cooking, hiking, and exploring new places.

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Raymond Presky

Biography

Ray is originally from London, England, and moved to the USA in 1979. Married since 1982, his wife is from Japan, they have 3 children, all of them have left home years ago, so he is an empty nester with extra time. He enjoys teaching at Champlain and like getting to know the students.

He was a self-employed store owner for 15 years, it was a lot of work, enjoyable but stressful. He considers himself fortunate to have fallen into networking and security engineering around 2000.

He is currently working for a large ISP and has been working in Networking, Security and Communications since 2000. He has worked with Telco, Fiber-Optic and Cable Companies and covered all aspects of networking and security from the user to the internet and lots in between.

Favorite Quote

“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

—1 Corinthians 17:7

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Ginger Pressey

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Claire Preston

Biography

Claire Preston is an Adjunct Professor at Champlain College where she teaches Animation History. She holds an M.A. from Goldsmiths, University of London in Virtual and Augmented Reality and a B.A. in Studio Art and English from Kenyon College. She is a passionate researcher and artist with a strong interest in storytelling forms. She has worked to develop Virtual Reality research projects in a variety of fields and is invested in educating students in the possibilities present in emerging technology. In her free time, Claire enjoys working on creative stop motion animation projects and exploring the beautiful outdoors of the Upper Valley, where she resides.

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Melissa Proietti

Biography

Melissa Proietti obtained her PhD from McGill University in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education. Her research documents the development of the visual urban arts and a gallery space within the context of a wider shift in a school’s transformation towards becoming an urban arts concentration school. Through her research, she identifies the curatorial process as a useful tool in engaging learners and highlights this process as a form of YPAR, called YPAC (youth participatory action curation), which have also informed her teaching practice. Melissa has been working in formal and informal educational contexts for nearly 20 years with diverse learners of all ages. Melissa worked with the Under Pressure International Graffiti Festival for 15 years (of its 30-year existence) and now runs Queens Creation, an all-women’s hip hop event in Montreal. These years of work have given her an important and unique perspective on everything related to graffiti and street art in Montreal and abroad. Having worked with artists from all over the world, Melissa has helped to produce conferences, panels, large-scale murals, and works closely with city officials, often being invited to sit on consultation committees pertaining to these types of art.

Curriculum Vitae

View my CV!

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Hannah Puryear

Biography

Hannah is a versatile Systems & HR Specialist with a diverse background that encompasses roles ranging from Recruiting Administrator to Onboarding Specialist and HR Generalist. With a wealth of experience in the human resources landscape, Hannah’s expertise has been honed through her multifaceted career journey.

Having begun her professional journey as a recruiting administrator back in Oklahoma, Hannah quickly displayed a natural flair for nurturing meaningful connections. Her transition to an onboarding specialist role allowed her to ensure seamless assimilation of new hires into company culture, underlining her dedication to a positive employee experience.

She moved to Vermont at the beginning of 2021 and began a new role as an HR generalist. This allowed her to gain a comprehensive understanding of various HR functions such as, benefits, reporting, recruiting, and more.

Hannah has been with Champlain College since August 2022.

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James Quinlan

Biography

James is the Human Resources Manager at the People Center. He brings 15 years of HR and higher education experience. His strong commitment to education that transforms lives has included work in study abroad, curriculum development and human resources across the country. He’s made significant contributions at the University of Minnesota, Antioch University and Naropa University.

James holds a BA in Business from the U of MN and an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from Meridian University. He lives in Shelburne with his wife (a Champlain alum) and their two young children. Outside the office he can be found skiing, kayaking or renovating kitchens.

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Susan Ragusa

Biography

Sue joined Champlain’s Information Systems team as in 2024. Sue serves as the Canvas LMS administrator and provides academic technology support for the Center for Learning and Teaching. Prior to supporting instructional technology she spent many years as a design and technology instructor in higher ed. She holds an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and BA from Cedar Crest College.

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Willard Sterne Randall

Biography

See my personal website.

Favorite Quote

“Do the best you can with what you have, where you are.”

—Theodore Roosevelt

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