Listening with Curiosity: Reflections from 2024 Emerging Leader Elijah Summers
Elijah Summers Named a 2024 Southern Vermont Emerging Leader
Halifax resident Elijah Summers, collaborative top timber technician at Raspberry Ranch Timber Frames, has been named a 2024 Southern Vermont Emerging Leader, along with 23 other young people from across the Bennington and Windham regions. Individuals were nominated based on their work as community leaders and volunteers, and for their professional accomplishments and commitment to serving the region, and were presented with awards in May at the Southern Vermont Economy Summit in Dover.
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 100 local leaders have been given an Emerging Leaders award since the beginning of the program, and 35 of those have subsequently been recognized statewide through Vermont Business Magazine’s Rising Stars awards as well.
Read more about the other awardees at www.sovermontzone.com/emerging-leaders. Nominations for the 2025 cohort will open in January.
What Elijah’s nominator had to say: When I first met Eli, I immediately felt their warmth, joy, and passion for life. Eli is both passionate and humble. They have a great sense of humor and great depth and thoughtfulness. They are a community builder and a bridge builder. Since the series of horrific events in Israel and Gaza which erupted last October, Eli has been able to intelligently articulate their opinions while also listening with an open heart and mind to people they disagree with. They reach out to all who show up at Brattleboro Area Jewish Community – veteran members and brand new faces – with warm, welcoming energy. They truly want to connect with others and go out of their way to do so. Eli seeks to understand as well as to be understood. Eli is a huge asset to any project or community they engage in!
Elijah’s Reflections
If people feel cared for, they will reflect on whether their words, actions, and values are in alignment
When I was a student at Marlboro College in 2013, I worked very hard to push the student and administrative bodies to make more intentional effort in how they referred to trans and nonbinary people. I took a bulldozer approach, believing that if I repeated myself enough times and loudly enough, people would listen. I was completely wrong. My requests were perfectly reasonable, and I regret that I was not more listened to, but I also regret that I didn’t have the interpersonal wisdom to see that it is not possible to change another person’s mind.
I now do my best to approach political and interpersonal differences with curiosity about others’ thoughts and emotional experiences, with the belief that if people feel cared for, they will reflect on whether their words, actions, and values are in alignment.
Solutions for the housing crisis while maintaining communities
My main passions are natural building (construction with local natural materials) and affordable housing. Often, naturally built homes are accessible only to the well-off because they must be custom-built and it is difficult to get mortgages for “unconventional” building practices, even if they have been in use for thousands of years.
I believe that with state and federal funding, we could build natural, barn-size apartment buildings with under 7 units and community spaces such as gardens, workshops, grocery stores, or cafes. These buildings would fit in with the historic appearance of the towns, and allow older people to stay in their communities and younger Vermont families to explore if more rural life in towns like Halifax is right for them.
Grateful for honest kvetching alongside appreciation for the splendor of divine energy
I was nominated for this award by my Rabbi, Amita Jarmon, while we were working on facilitating community conversations at our synagogue about the occupation of Palestine and Hamas’ attacks on October 7, 2023. She and I have very different perspectives on what a just resolution to the current wave of genocidal violence might look like. It means a lot to me that she wants to acknowledge the difficult work we have been doing together and sees the role I have been taking as one of leadership. Her spiritual leadership focuses on genuine personal relationships, including honest kvetching alongside appreciation for the splendor of divine energy.
While most of my building career has been self-guided, I deeply appreciate Liz Johndrow, Serena Torrey, and Eric Nash for their patience with me while I learned new skills and the support and confidence they offered at times of growth.
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/
