Vaughan Woodruff returned to his hometown of Pittsfield and now serves as a volunteer on MaineCF’s Western Mountains Committee. Ashley L. Conti photo
“Maine is in my blood and bones,” says Vaughan Woodruff, a seventh-generation Mainer who returned with family to his native Pittsfield 13 years ago.
His love for the Somerset County town is a reason why, in 2019, Woodruff became a volunteer county advisor on the Maine Community Foundation’s Western Mountains Committee.
“I saw it as an opportunity to become more connected with Somerset County and become a link between our community in Pittsfield and the larger county,” he said.
Each of MaineCF’s county and regional committees is composed of community members committed to their counties, nonprofits that serve them, and the importance of local philanthropy. As a county advisor, Woodruff also helps review grant proposals submitted to the Western Mountains Fund through MaineCF’s Community Building Grant Program.
“What MaineCF is doing aligns directly with my priorities,” says Woodruff. Those include sustaining healthy communities, social and economic justice, and addressing climate change.
Woodruff’s love of the outdoors and appreciation for the environment steered him toward the clean energy sector after teaching in California and Colorado and working on sustainable housing in Montana. In 2008, he founded Insource Renewables, a solar energy and clean technology company that sold in 2021 to ReVision Energy.
As director of the ReVision Energy Training Center, Woodruff identifies workforce challenges such as recruiting women and addressing systemic racism in the workforce. The center offers educational opportunities for employees to earn an electrical license, upon which they can build a lifelong career.
“If we don’t address these issues, Maine won’t have the workforce to support economic development,” he says. “Primarily, it’s the right thing to do. But we also can’t address the climate crisis without including folks who have historically been excluded and disproportionately shoulder the consequences.”
Woodruff, his wife Holly Zada, and two sons spend time enjoying all that Maine’s outdoors offers, from playing in Pittsfield’s many parks, to exploring the mountains and visiting their cabin in Ripley.
They also are working with others in the tight-knit community of 3,900 to bring back the vibrant town that Woodruff knew as a child. Pittsfield’s residents are working now to revitalize its downtown and attract new businesses.
“It’s hard not become involved to help the town become healthier and more sustainable as my children move into adulthood,” Woodruff said. “It is important to pass on a sense of rootedness in place to my kids.”
