Ana Mejia (left), homeownership specialist and financial educator in Brattleboro, is one of several 2025 Emerging Leaders whose work focuses on housing and human services.

On any given day in Bennington County, stability is built in small but consequential moments: a shelter guest feeling heard, a form completed correctly, a handoff between agencies that actually works. For Karissa Myers, those moments reveal whether systems are doing what they are meant to do—support real people when it matters most.

Alongside Ana Mejia of Brattleboro, Negina Azimi of Brattleboro, and Sarah Blizzard of Shaftsbury, Myers represents a group of young adults whose work strengthens the foundations that allow people to stay housed, supported, and engaged in their communities. Across housing services, refugee resettlement, homeownership counseling, and human services, their leadership focuses on access, dignity, and the steady work of making stability possible.

These four leaders are just a handful of 27 young adults honored as 2025 Southern Vermont Emerging Leaders by Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation’s Southern Vermont Young Professionals and the Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce’s Shires Young Professionals. Nominations for 2026 are now being accepted at sovermontzone.com/emerging-leaders.

Seeing People Behind the Data

As Executive Director of Communications and Outreach Services for the Bennington County Coalition for the Homeless, Karissa Myers brings a rare combination of analytical skill and on-the-ground engagement. That approach is intentional. Myers explains that if she doesn’t know the guests staying with us and leaving us, she cannot analyze the data accurately. By immersing herself in the daily life of the shelter, Myers ensures that reports reflect reality—and that decisions improve outcomes rather than obscure them.

Her nominator describes her as “having a way with our homeless guests and those who walk amongst us in Bennington County as if she were right there in their shoes too.”

Reflecting on her role, Myers says she had been hearing expressions of frustration from a lack of collaboration and communication among organizations and providers alike. “I wanted to change and shape the way Bennington County providers collaborated with one another,” she says, “and with that passion to do so, I joined BCCH to allow myself to best align to do so.” Since stepping into leadership, she has worked to strengthen communication across organizations and co-chairs a countywide committee focused on collaboration around the housing crisis.

Opening Doors to Homeownership

At Windham & Windsor Housing Trust in Brattleboro, Ana Mejia supports first-time homebuyers through what can be a daunting and opaque process. Her nominator notes that Mejia “patiently and expertly guides our housing counseling customers as they proceed through what can be a confusing and sometimes frustrating home acquisition process, building rapport and understanding early in the process.”

Mejia’s work is shaped by her own experience. “In 2020, I purchased my first home, and that experience was really pivotal for me,” she shares. “I encountered so many challenges during that really stressful process and found incredible support.” That experience led her to a guiding principle: “My philosophy has been to ‘lift as I climb.’”

In addition to individual counseling, Mejia serves as the principal organizer of the Building Equity Collaborative and its BIPOC Financial Empowerment Program, offering workshops, affinity-based support, and one-on-one coaching to help families of color build lasting stability.

Carrying Resilience Across Borders

Negina Azimi, a case manager with ECDC Vermont in Brattleboro, brings both professional expertise and lived experience to her work. Before arriving in Vermont as a refugee from Afghanistan, she attended law school and the Fine Arts Institute of Kabul, and later received a She Builds Peace Award in Kabul. As part of the ArtLords collective, she also contributed to the creation of an art piece displayed at the United Nations.

Azimi describes the experience that shaped her leadership: “Leaving Afghanistan with only a small backpack, I carried not just cherished belongings but also resilience, hope, and a deep sense of responsibility.”

Her nominator says, “The knowledge and dedication that she brings to this work is transforming lives, helping new Vermonters achieve stability and self-sufficiency.” Alongside her case management work, Azimi helps lead ArtLords, using murals and public art to foster dialogue, understanding, and belonging.

Turning Clarity into Care

Sarah Blizzard serves as associate director at Greater Bennington Community Services, helping individuals navigate housing, food, and fuel assistance. Blizzard also maintains their own consulting practice, Blizzard Coaching, which is focused on life coaching for queer individuals and helping organizations become more inclusive through coaching, consulting, and workshops.

Blizzard describes a personal crisis as a pivotal moment in their leadership journey. “I am so proud to have utilized one of the most difficult times in my life as the impetus for positive change,” they say. That period clarified their values and reshaped how they lead—with intention, compassion, and steadiness.

Their nominator also highlights Blizzard’s role in recruiting volunteers for the Remote Area Medical program in Bennington, calling it “an absolutely incredible service that was a game changer for thousands of people,” and adding, “Sarah worked hard to talk up the program and recruit volunteers, while remaining cool under pressure and consistently making people feel at ease.”

Sarah’s newest venture is starting a queer-centered choir, Bennington Voices of Pride. “In times when people are struggling to avoid the news and perhaps keep their own hope alive,” they share, “singing is a way to be in community with others and find meaningful connections.”

Making Stability Possible

Across Southern Vermont, these leaders are strengthening the systems that support housing security, economic participation, and community wellbeing. Their work—often quiet, often complex—creates the conditions that allow individuals and families to remain rooted, pursue opportunity, and contribute to the region’s long-term vitality.

By centering collaboration, trust, and human connection, Myers, Mejia, Azimi, and Blizzard demonstrate how housing and human services are not separate from economic development, but essential to it. Their leadership reflects a broader regional commitment to ensuring that stability is accessible—and that communities grow stronger when people are supported where they are.

About the Southern Vermont Emerging Leaders Awards

Each year since 2018, the Southern Vermont Young Professionals (a program of Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation) and the Shires Young Professionals have sought to highlight and honor young adults in their roles as leaders and change-makers in the Southern Vermont economy and community through the Emerging Leaders awards. Over 130 local leaders have been given an Emerging Leaders award since the beginning of the program, and 40 of those have subsequently been recognized statewide through Vermont Business Magazine’s Rising Stars awards as well.

Nominations for the 2026 cohort are now open. Read more about other awardees and submit your nomination at www.sovermontzone.com/emerging-leaders.

About Southern Vermont Young Professionals

The Southern Vermont Young Professionals is a workforce initiative of Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS) and the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC). Our mission is to attract, retain and support Young Professionals in Southern Vermont by providing engaging opportunities and networking through social and educational events, and volunteer opportunities. The YP initiative is increasingly important to Southern Vermont’s businesses and communities as a strategic approach to growing the size of the region’s workforce and increasing the number of younger households in the region. For more information please visit: https://brattleborodevelopment.com/sovtyps/