Sky BarschErica Heilman. Terry Allen photo.Kevin EllisSky Barsch is the CEO of VTDigger. A Vermont resident, Barsch joined VTDigger in April 2023 after an extensive career in local and national media, including roles at the Burlington Free Press, the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus and The Nation magazine. Most recently, she served as vice-president of sponsorships and market strategy for Chalkbeat, one of the largest nonprofit news organizations in the United States. Previously, she served as associate publisher of Vermont Life and was the owner, editor, and publisher of Vermont Sports. Before moving into media management, she got her start in journalism as a reporter for the Burlington Free Press and for the Times Argus, where she was named the Vermont Press Association’s rookie of the year. She also is the owner of Alpenglow Fitness in downtown Montpelier.
Erica Heilman is the producer of Rumble Strip, an independently made podcast in East Calais, Vermont. Rumble Strip was named number 1 Podcast of 2022 by The New Yorker and among the top 10 podcasts of 2022 by The New York Times. The Our Show series was named the number 1 podcast of 2020 by The Atlantic. She is also a reporter at Vermont Public.
Kevin Ellis is a communications consultant and writer working at the nexus of political and cultural change. Ellis spent 10 years as a newspaper reporter in Nashville; Washington, DC; and Burlington, Vt., where he covered politics and environmental issues. As a Washington correspondent for The Tennessean in Nashville, he covered presidential campaigns and energy and national security issues. His experience includes senior positions at two political consulting firms, where he ran strategy campaigns, crisis communications, speech writing, and public relations efforts for clients nationwide. He was a co-founder of Ellis Mills Public Affairs and spent 22 years at KSE Partners, LLC, a leading government affairs and communications firm.
