Rep. Taylor Small, P/D-Winooski, called winning the Politician of the Year Award given by One Young World, a British charity that works to develop young leaders, a “life-changing experience.”
But she couldn’t believe it at first.
“I said to some of their organizers, I thought their email was spam,” Small, 28, said about her reaction to winning the award. “I’m just, what I found to be, a small legislator. No pun intended.”
The award is presented at the organization’s annual summit, which took place from Sept. 5-8 in Manchester, England. The event invites thousands of change makers from around the world to come together and take on global challenges as a collective group, according to One Young World. The event also offers the opportunity to honor and celebrate young leaders.
The Politician of the Year Award was created in 2018 by the One Young World community to recognize promising young politicians that have used their political power to benefit young people in their country, according to One Young World.
Small, the first openly transgender legislator in Vermont, was one of 2,000 nominees for the award. After making a shortlist of 15 potential candidates, a panel of judges selected five winners. Small was the only winner from the United States.
“To be recognized on the global scale is truly immeasurable,” Small said. She expressed her belief that her winning of the award highlights the potential impact that Vermont can have.
“What I learned from all the conversations from the various delegates and from other leaders from around the world, is what impact Vermont can play on a global scale,” she said. “We actually can have a global impact even as a small state.”
Small said she was especially touched by the recognition provided by the event as an openly transgender person, because she interacted with fellow delegates that told her how she had changed their perspective.
She said she spoke to one delegate who told her she was unexcited to hear that a transgender speaker was announced on stage. The delegate told Small that she had preconceived notions about what it meant to be trans, but that had changed.
“They described it as hearing my speech and hearing my story as feeling the ignorance just leave their body,” Small said. “To think of that small impact, but on the global scale was really just truly phenomenal.”
In her speech at the summit, Small said she emphasized the importance of getting young, marginalized people — especially women — involved in politics.
“I think what we don’t fully recognize yet is the marginalization of young people in politics,” Small said. “How often we are tokenized or celebrated on a small scale but aren’t given those full leadership opportunities.”
She also emphasized involvement within local office, rather than federal. She argued that local office provides the opportunity for leaders to impact their communities the most.
“We’re the ones that are standing up and being able to understand exactly what our community needs and are able to connect with them more directly,” Small said.
Small said the One Young World summit’s closing ceremony on Sept. 8 was cut short due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The protocol in England requires that all events cease immediately.
“What a backdrop to have that be during the closing ceremony at the end of this amazing conference,” Small said. Despite her complex feelings about the idea of a royal family, she described it as “almost symbolic of change to hear of the queen’s passing.”
