CHRISTOPHER A. BRAY of New Haven, Vermont, became a member of the Vermont House of Representatives in January 2007, and has served two terms on the House Agriculture Committee.
Chris graduated from the University of Vermont (BA, Zoology, 1977; MA, English, 1991), where he also taught for four years in the English Department. Chris then worked at National LIfe of Vermont as a project manager, and later with IBM, Intel, and Apple. Chris then founded and still operates award-winning Common Ground Communications, which provides writing, editing and production services to technical clients and the publishing industry. Chris and his family operate an 82-acre farm in New Haven.
In 2006, Chris graduated from the Governor Richard Snelling Center for Government’s Vermont Leadership Institute. In 2007, Chris founded Fair Trade Vermont in order to bring fair trade certification to domestic food and agriculture. In 2009, Chris was elected to the Board of Trustees of the University of Vermont.
Chris is a lead sponsor of Vermont’s Farm to Plate Program, which is developing and implementing a strategic plan to rebuild Vermont’s food system over the next decade, and which will add an estimated 2,500 jobs and $500 million annually to the local economy.
Chris is also the lead sponsor of the Biomass Energy Developing Working Group, which he now co-chairs. This group is working to grow and develop Vermont’s biomass industry while also maintaining forest health. In 2009, Chris received the Vermont Natural Resource Council’s Legislative Leadership Award for this work.
In 2010, nominated by Governor James Douglas and Senator William Doyle, Chris received the Council of State Government’s highest leadership award, the Toll Fellowship. Past Toll Fellows includes numerous members of the United States House of Representatives, US Senate, US Supreme Court, and numerous state governors and lieutenants governor.
Chris’s other current and past service also includes the Vermont Milk Commission (Secretary); Rural Economic Development Working Group (Chair); Vermont Forestry Study Group; NCSL Agriculture & Energy Committee; Justice of the Peace; and Middlebury Area Land Trust (past President).
Chris enjoys outdoors sports year-round, and he is an Army Qualifying Test Sharpshooter. He also enjoys indoor rowing.
ADDRESS: 829 South St, New Haven, VT 05472;
TELEPHONE, home office: (802) 453-3444.
EMAIL: cbray@sover.net.
WEBSITE: www.BrayforVermont.com
