Intern Spotlight: Malachi Shiffer-Delegard
Name: Malachi Shiffer-Delegard
College: Middlebury College
Field of Study: International Politics and Economics
Anticipated Graduation: May 2026
Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota
What is your Vermont story?
My Vermont story started when I visited Middlebury College in the fall of my senior year of high school. I first noticed the beauty of the surrounding mountains and felt a profound sense of uniqueness while driving to visit my dream school. At that point in my life, Vermont felt like a utopia, a place where the business of the rest of the world could not reach, inhabited by people who love their state and the natural world around them. Furthermore, the people of Vermont who I met, mostly students, seemed to genuinely love going to college and living in Middlebury. This only deepened my preexisting belief that Vermont was the perfect place to spend the next four years of my life. The night before the admission decisions were released, I could barely sleep, wracked with apprehension about the possibility of being rejected from the perfect school for me. When I was accepted into college in December of 2021, I wished that high school could be over already and that I could immediately move to Vermont. While this wasn’t possible, it made my arrival and subsequent move in period even more exciting and meaningful. Over my first two years as a student, I explored the many mountain hikes, skied extensively, and enjoyed the fall foliage all while being intellectually engaged in a rigorous liberal arts education. When the time came to decide what I wanted to do this summer, the idea of living in Vermont became more and more appealing, and led me to apply to several Vermont based internship programs. I look forward to spending the summer months here, a season widely considered the most beautiful and pleasant time to experience what Vermont has to offer.
What drew you to the work of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce/Vermont Futures Project? Why do you think it is important?
As someone who is studying economics and economic policy, the work of the Chamber and Futures Project closely aligns with what I have been fascinated with over the last two years. While my time at Middlebury has given me a theoretical understanding of policy and economic theory, I always wanted to see how these abstract ideas impacted the people interacting with the economy. Business runs in the family, and getting an opportunity to understand the conditions in which the economy runs smoothly and how best support businesses seemed very aligned with my personal values and ethics. The economy, whether you like it or not dictates a significant portion of your life, as we all depend on each other to provide the goods and services necessary to live a thriving life. The health and correct implementation of economic policies to reach our shared goals is therefore of the utmost importance, and something that I am honored to be a part of. The opportunity to develop my hard skills and interact with a place that I still feel like a visitor in seemed like the best option for me.
What are you hoping to learn more about during the internship and why? How do you envision this summer experience fitting into your long-term aspirations?
I have spent most of my time in Vermont on campus or in Addison County, not usually venturing out into the capital region or Chittenden County. Working there with people not from my small corner of Vermont will expand my understanding of the state. I hope my data analysis and communication skills will improve over the summer and hope to learn how to use data-driven arguments to lobby officials and create meaningful resources. I think that this experience will help me learn how to work in an office setting, something that I have little prior experience with. Through learning about Vermont businesses and how they perform best I hope to equip myself with knowledge of how to run my own business one day, whether it be in Vermont or somewhere else.
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