ESTHER CHARLESTIN

MIDDLEBURY — Former Middlebury selectboard member Esther Charlestin will announce her run for Vermont governor on Friday in Montpelier.

The Addison County resident is scheduled to make the announcement at a campaign kick-off event on the steps of the Statehouse at 1 p.m. on Jan. 5.

In a bio shared with the media, Charlestin described herself as “a working mom, a change agent and an educator, weaving her life experiences and values into a tapestry of advocacy, hard work and community engagement.”

She runs a company called “Conversation Compass LLC,” through which she serves as a “facilitator, moderator and consultant to help individuals, companies, organizations, and school districts unlock understanding through compassion, one conversation at a time.”

Charlestin is first-generation Haitian American who first won a seat on the Middlebury selectboard in 2021, when her last name was Thomas. She was re-elected on Town Meeting Day 2022, when she was the top vote-getter. Charlestin stepped down from the Middlebury selectboard in August 2022 when she moved out of town because she had been unable to secure a place to live in Middlebury after her previous lease had expired. She told the Independent back then that she’d received no call-backs from some prospective Middlebury landlords and home sellers, even though she’d met the income requirements.

Formerly a residence director at Middlebury College, Charlestin earned a job as the first Dean of Climate and Culture at Middlebury Union Middle School in 2022. She left that job a year later after she was the target of racial slanders by a couple students and she felt the school administration did not support her.

Many people rallied to her support with comments to the Addison Central School District Board and letters to the editor and commentary.

Charlestin will presumably face a daunting challenge in a race against incumbent Gov. Phil Scott, who is widely admired, though he has not yet announced his intention to run for re-election. The Vermont primary election is Aug. 13.