News

Honoring the Life of Mariah McGill


It is with deep sadness that our team at BBF honors the passing of our friend and colleague, Mariah McGill. We are heartbroken to share that on October 26, 2020, while a pedestrian crossing in a crosswalk on Route 100 near her home in Waitsfield, Mariah was struck by a car and succumbed to her injuries. We extend our deepest sympathies to Mariah’s family and will support them in any way we can as they grieve the loss of their incredible mother, partner, sister, and daughter.

Mariah was the newest member of the Building Bright Futures family and network of over 300 early childhood partners statewide. She was hired as a Regional Coordinator to support the Lamoille and Central Vermont Regional Councils to identify gaps and develop strategies to improve the well-being of children and their families. 

Upon first meeting Mariah, we were impressed by her skills and training, her dedication and kindness, as well as her potential for leadership. We were thrilled when Mariah joined our team and had just begun to integrate her tremendous expertise and passion to our work strengthening the early childhood system in Vermont.

During her time at BBF, Mariah brought a thoughtful approach to learning about the organization and her new role. As the former Director of the Early Childhood Leadership Institute (ECLI) at the Snelling Center for Government, and previously serving as the Assistant Director of the Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy at Northeastern University in Boston, Mariah’s experience allowed her to seamlessly transition into her role, making astute observations and immediately make an impact in the early childhood community statewide. Her legal and research expertise as well as her passion for human rights, brought a new perspective to our work. 

Separate from Mariah’s professional career and expertise, our team is grateful to have had the opportunity to learn about the amazing woman Mariah was outside of work through our weekly team wellness check-ins. Her love for her daughter, husband, and extended family was so strong. She shared wonderful stories of family holidays and baking with her daughter, swimming in local swimming holes, and exploring all that Vermont’s beauty has to offer. 

Mariah was a brilliant and passionate colleague who will be truly missed by our BBF team and within the early childhood community.

In gratitude,

The Building Bright Futures Team

PS-Mariah’s friends and family established a fundraising page to support her family [link]

Similar Blog

Blog

March 14, 2024

Read the Summary of Our Report on Act 76 Monitoring

BBF is expanding our written communications to include plain language versions of reports whenever possible. This will promote accessibility to important information about our work and the early childhood system to as many people as possible. The plain language versions of documents will often be shorter, exclude or explain jargon and acronyms, be more accessible, […]

Read More

Blog

Map of Fall 2023 VECF grantees
February 20, 2024

News from the Network: Spotlight on VECF Grantees

The Vermont Early Childhood Fund (VECF) supports creative solutions that will improve the well-being of children from the prenatal period to age 8, their families, and the Vermont communities where they live. BBF supports multiple rounds of this funding, and the spring 2024 grant round is now accepting applications through March 22! Fall 2023 Grantee […]

Read More

News

Screenshot of Data Portal webpage
February 13, 2024

Our New Early Childhood Data Portal Has Launched

We’re excited to announce that we’ve just launched an Early Childhood Data Portal as part of VermontKidsData.org. The portal has indicators across all sectors that impact children and families: basic needs, child care, child development, demographics, economics, education, housing, mental health, physical health, resilience, prekindergarten education, and workforce. Search the portal by topic, geographic region, or VECAP […]

Read More

Stay up to date on news + events.

Please check your inbox for a confirmation email.