The Mad River Valley Planning District has hired Franni Hoag as its new community planner, bringing on a lifelong Vermonter with a background in public lands management, nonprofit development, and environmental communications.
Hoag, who started February 9, said her path to the job began in the Upper Valley town of West Newbury, where she grew up along the Connecticut River.
“I’m a lifelong Vermonter,” Hoag said. “I grew up in the Upper Valley, in a little town called West Newbury, kind of along the Connecticut River up in the hills.”
She earned her undergraduate degree in parks, recreation and tourism from the University of Vermont and stayed on to complete a master’s degree in natural resource management. Her graduate research examined how national parks, wildlife refuges, and national forests in New England use Facebook to communicate with the public.
“I looked at the Facebook communication of national parks, wildlife refuges and national forests in New England, exploring how these agencies interact with digital audiences,” Hoag said.
After graduate school, Hoag taught environmental interpretation and ecotourism courses at UVM before moving into the nonprofit sector. She worked in marketing for Age Well, the area agency on aging serving northwestern Vermont, and later joined the development team at the Center for Research on Vermont, based in Wilder.
Through those roles, Hoag said she developed a strong appreciation for community engagement and relationship-building – skills she now brings to the planning district.
In a news release, the planning district said Hoag’s background in public lands management and communications, combined with her experience in nonprofit marketing and development, positions her well to support collaborative partnerships and strengthen public participation across the Mad River Valley.
“What drew me to the role is just how clear it is that this organization cares a lot about community connection and relationship-building and making this place better in so many different ways,” Hoag said. “To be part of that just felt so natural. I’m so excited to be part of the team.”
Hoag said she has long felt connected to the Mad River Valley. While attending UVM, she frequently skied at Sugarbush Resort and spent time in Waitsfield. She recently moved to Waitsfield with her partner who works for the state and commutes to Montpelier. The couple relocated from Ascutney.
“I spent a lot of days skiing at Sugarbush and really just fell in love with Waitsfield,” she said. “I’ve spent a lot of time here recreationally, and now we get to live in the community that I’ll be working in.”
As she settles into the position, Hoag is already reviewing the planning district’s 2025 annual data report, which is slated for presentation to the organization’s steering committee later this week.
In the coming months, she expects to work on the first phase of the Sugarbush Access Road Shared Path, an Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible project designed to connect Lincoln Peak with the surrounding community and trail network.
“I’m super excited,” Hoag said of the shared path project.
For Hoag, the new role represents both a professional step forward and a personal homecoming.
“I’m just really excited to be here,” she said.
