“Leadership looks different for everyone”: Reflections from 2024 Emerging Leader Morgan Wilbur

Athens resident Morgan Wilbur, town administrator for the town of Grafton, 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 Morgan’s nominator had to say: “Morgan was born and raised in Athens and went on to graduate from Vermont Tech in Randolph. Fortunately for our community, Morgan returned home after graduation. Morgan is smart, talented, a hard worker and great with people. The way she is able to get various egos to work together for the betterment of our community is an amazing skill. She does an excellent job writing grants, organizing the select board meetings, responding to community concerns, handling personnel issues and keeping the members of the board organized and up to date. She is also the administrator for the local brick meeting house. Importantly, she has successfully sought out and won grants for important community projects through her own initiative.”

Morgan’s Reflections

Leadership looks different for everyone

I’ve always had a passion for leading and guiding others to better themselves and their skills. Growing up, I was very active in team sports such as soccer, basketball, and softball. I naturally took a leadership role while on these teams, and gained not only good leadership skills such as communication and delegation but also a sense of community and relationships. 

Leadership looks different for everyone. I tend to work hard “behind the scenes,” enjoy doing tasks that people in the general public may not notice all of the time, and encourage those around me by leading by example. I take pride in the work that I do, and it is fulfilling watching others do the same.

The more work we do, the better the recovery will be

I had the opportunity to work alongside a group of knowledgeable and experienced individuals throughout the course of the July 2023 rainstorm. Through that, I learned a lot about not only culverts and roadways but also how important it is for town governments and local communities to do stormwater mitigation projects.

A large portion of my job as town administrator is to seek out grants that can help with the financial burden this places on towns. We likely will never be fully prepared for a hurricane or large natural disaster but the more work we do to stabilize streambanks, upsize culverts, ensure there are adequate ditches and water channels, etc. the better the recovery will be.

Close-knit communities are a privilege 

Growing up in Southern Vermont, with most of my family in the area, has been a privilege that I don’t take for granted. Grafton is such a small, close-knit community where everyone looks out for one another. Walking down Main Street and saying hello to a majority of the people you see is so refreshing. 

I see so much potential in students in this area and I hope that we can continue to encourage them to stick around and help maintain these small communities that depend on people, young and old, to keep the day-to-day things going.

I am incredibly grateful to my family, advisors and professors, the community of Grafton, the selectboard, and my co-workers for helping and guiding me in the right direction. The community of Grafton has been very supportive and encouraging to me. It is nice knowing that I can rely on people in the area, and at home, to lean on when things become difficult.

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/