After eleven years of trees, communities, people, and all the connections between them, I'm sharing some bittersweet news: I'm saying farewell to the Vermont Urban & Community Forestry Program to begin a new role with the UVM Cancer Center. 

It has been an honor to learn about the important work happening in so many communities across the state, work led by people who care deeply about their neighbors, their towns, and making Vermont a shade greener. Your dedication has inspired me more than you know.

I've learned so much from my colleagues and have truly "grown up" professionally under the guidance of the mentors and leaders on the UCF team. I'm grateful for the collaboration, the forward thinking, and the chance to be part of a small team that has made a real and lasting impact.

As I step away, I want to share a few lessons that I've learned in my time with UCF:

• Keep asking. Good ideas don't always take root right away. Sometimes it's simply a matter of finding the right funding at the right time to make something happen.

• Be patient. It might take eight months to work out the logistics of planting a single tree, but that effort is always worth it.

• Stay connected. Some of my favorite moments have been listening to families describe watching one tree over generations, or hearing how a tree from a giveaway event will be planted and celebrated. Trees ground us and bring us together in so many ways. Please keep telling those stories and keep connecting with each other and with the world around us.

Thank you for everything, for your partnership, your passion, and your care for Vermont's trees and communities. I'll be cheering you on and looking up at the canopy with gratitude wherever I go.

With warm wishes,

Gwen Kozlowski