Emerging Leaders Email Blocks (2)

Nominations Sought for Southern Vermont Emerging Leaders

2024 Marks Eighth Annual Cohort to Be Recognized

SOUTHERN VERMONT – Our communities are full of extraordinary individuals who are working to make a difference. Help honor and celebrate the next generation of leaders (age 21 to 40) by submitting a nomination for this year’s Southern Vermont Emerging Leaders awards. 

Nominations are due March 15 and can be submitted using a brief online form at www.sovermontzone.com/emerging-leaders.

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. Here’s what some 2023 Emerging Leaders shared: 

“During this formative stage in my career, the resources and connections I’ve made through the supportive local community have been pivotal for my future as an artist and a nonprofit development professional. The people are what make Southern VT so special, and I’m grateful for the chance to live here and learn every day from my coworkers and community.”

– Alexandra Mushinski, Grant Writer at MASS MoCA, Performance and Visual Artist, Creative Writer

“As a graduate of Bennington College and someone who is deeply committed to community building, I have found that Southern Vermont is an ideal location for young professionals who are interested in working collaboratively with other community members.”

– Ahmad Yassir, Marketing Manager, VT News & Media

For more information, visit www.sovermontzone.com/emerging-leaders or email Rachel Shields Ebersole at rsebersole@brattleborodevelopment.com.

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.

About Shires Young Professionals 

The mission of the Shires Young Professional group is to help young professionals and families create deep roots in our community that encourage them to stay and build a prosperous life in the Shires of Vermont. The SYP looks to engage, emerge, and empower young professionals throughout the region. Our young professional’s events, programs and gatherings are open to all people, but we do focus on the 21 to 40-year old age range. More information at www.ShiresYP.com. 

About BDCC

The Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) is a private, nonprofit economic development organization with the mission of investing in the drivers of the regional economy so that people, businesses, and communities in Southern Vermont can thrive. BDCC serves as the State of Vermont’s certified Regional Development Corporation (RDC) for the greater Windham County area (including Windham County and the towns of Readsboro, Searsburg, Winhall and Weston). BDCC is one of 12 RDCs throughout Vermont. BDCC activity is made possible in part by a grant from the State of Vermont through the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. For more information visit: https://brattleborodevelopment.com.

About SeVEDS

Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS) is an affiliate of BDCC that grew from a 2008 grassroots effort, initiated by BDCC, to understand and create long term strategies needed to reverse the economic decline of the Windham Region and plan for the economic impacts from the closure of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. In 2014, after multiple years of regional input, education and data gathering, SeVEDS received federal approval for the Windham Region’s federally recognized S.M.A.R.T. Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). SeVEDS partnered with Bennington’s Regional Economic Development Group in 2018 to develop the 2019 Southern Vermont Zone CEDS. For more information visit: www.seveds.com.