Meg Farley
Middlebury College
Meg Farley, a second year student at Middlebury College studying Education and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, is fascinated by the intersection of equity-centered trauma-informed practices and local-level systems work. With a background in inclusive grassroots climate justice organizing and queer liberation theory, their current work focuses on institutionalizing labor rights for migrant dairy workers and queer youth empowerment and resource access. Their student government work, in which they currently serve as Co-Vice President, aids in institutionalizing the need for justice and inclusion. They collaboratively worked to integrate systemic support for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming (GNC) students through legislation and Residential Life training and are currently a central organizer of a collective of eighty students and staff to end migrant worker mistreatment at local dairy farms. With this collective, Meg focuses on developing infrastructure to aid horizontal information sharing practices and ensuring that all interested individuals are empowered to be involved in group leadership. They also work at a trauma-informed local teen center, leading the center’s LGBTQIA+ group for queer and questioning youth ages 12-18 and co-developing inclusive programming for those who hold marginalized experiences of gender and/or sexuality.
Personal Statement
Growing up queer in the midwest, I did not know that queer people could be respected. When I started college, I began understanding queerness as a deviation from dominant cultural norms and committed to empowering queer humans in ways that exceeded my wildest dreams. I started climate justice organizing, where my work with Sunrise Movement focused on increasing the accessibility of internal documents and coordinating support for regional election campaigns. I bring this organizing knowledge to my student government work, where I prioritize community building and identifying small changes with potential for transformative impact. This community-focused systems work led to my Privilege and Poverty internship at Addison Central Teens (ACT), where I practice trauma-informed unconditional positive regard, develop financially-inclusive programming, and lead their group for LGBTQIA+ youth. I am now a central organizer of an eighty person collective, where I work to institutionalize the human rights of migrant dairy workers at a college-partnered farm. Academically, I am working towards my Vermont Secondary Health Education Licensure, where I look forward to being an openly Trans educator. My work is rooted in deep respect and revolutionary love; I look forward to a lifetime of changemaking and co-creating a more just future.
