FERRISBURGH — A Ferrisburgh man who holds a key post at Cabot has joined the board of directors of Mobius, Vermont’s Mentoring Partnership.
Nate Formalarie is currently the Brand Communications Manager for Cabot Creamery Cooperative/Agri-mark, and brings more than a decade of marketing, public relations, and journalism experience to this new leadership position.
“Mentoring kids now only stands to strengthen the foundation of Vermont’s future,” said Formalarie. “It is important work and Mobius is at the forefront of supporting, encouraging, and backing mentoring programs statewide. I am thrilled to serve on the board and hope to help further the reach of Mobius, so more Vermont kids reap the benefits mentoring provides.” 
Formalarie will specifically focus on helping Mobius raise public awareness of the need for mentoring across the state, by drawing from his varied communications work with several local companies. Before joining Cabot in 2014, Formalarie spent three years as the communications manager for Middlebury’s Vermont Hard Cider Company LLC, the maker of Woodchuck Hard Cider. A 2004 graduate of the St. Michael’s College Journalism and Mass Communication program, he also spent about eight years working for WCAX-TV, Burlington’s CBS affiliate, first as a video editor, and then as news producer for the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. news.
According to the “Mentoring Effect,” a study released in 2014 by MENTOR (The National Mentoring Partnership), one in three youth in Vermont will enter adulthood without having a formal or informal mentoring relationship with a caring adult. Based on an abundance of national research, having a mentor can enhance a young person’s learning skills and help him or her build resiliency and pro-social skills.
Youth with mentors are less likely to engage in risky behavior with drugs and alcohol, and are more likely to develop positive relationships with peers and adults, and to grow up to become productive members of society.
Mobius, based in Winooski, is in its third year as Vermont’s Mentoring Partnership. It supports nearly 150 adult-to-youth mentoring program sites that serve 2,300 mentor pairs throughout the state. In 2015, Mobius is partnering with The Permanent Fund for Vermont’s Children, the A.D. Henderson Foundation, and the Vermont Agency of Human Services to provide nearly $340,000 in funding for mentoring programs across Vermont.
Mobius also offers technical support to program staff, maintains an online program directory and referral system for volunteers, manages a quality-based program management database, raises public awareness of mentoring, and works with programs to lead statewide mentoring initiatives. For more information about Mobius, and mentoring programs and initiatives in Vermont, visit www.mobiusmentors.org.