Wichie Artu

Born and raised in Puerto Rico and Boston by an Indigenous father, two mothers, and a sister, Wichie Artu and his family faced many opportunity barriers: homelessness, mental institutionalization, poverty, and more. But his community stepped in with food, housing, education, and hope. Today, Wichie and his family thrive because the community gave them tools to realize their potential.

For the past 17 years, Wichie has dedicated his life to working and volunteering in a myriad of social equity environments: public health, workforce development, public policy, youth services, performing arts, information technology, and more.

Currently, he works throughout Vermont as Executive Director at Vital Partnerships – a VT collective of community advocates focused on bridging resources and community. Recently, he has successfully:

• Worked in partnership with the VT Department of Health’s Tobacco Control Program (TCP), NAACP of Windham County VT (NAACP), SPARKS Leadership Program, and local clinicians to reduce and prevent tobacco use in Brattleboro area BIPOC communities through facilitating multi-sector local coalitions and promoting health systems change.
• Worked with the VT Department of Health and over 30 organizations to coordinate VT BIPOC-specific vaccine clinics in Rutland, Bennington, and Brattleboro.
• Co-authored legislative recommendations to a people-first Criminal Justice Data Warehouse as a member of RDAP (Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice and Juvenile System Advisory Panel). This policy recommendation included the need for a governance from people whose data (which is collected and analyzed) it belongs to.

Wichie aims to always to help empower others by making sure decisions are made for them WITH them, by creating opportunities of solidarity among different social equity initiatives and groups, and by fostering an environment of humility when speaking truth to power.