I had the great good fortune of rooming with Elizabeth Hummer during a study trip to Ecuador in 2015 as part of a field experience through World Savvy's Global Competence Certificate Program. Not only did she help me get by because of the Spanish language proficiency I do not possess, but throughout the trip, I was fascinated by her ability to connect with everyone we encountered. Every where we went, people were drawn to her vibrant personality and her genuine curiosity conveyed through her thoughtful and earnest questions that engaged them quickly in sharing their stories. In the years since, I've come to know that Elizabeth's ability to connect is at the very core of both her identity and her value system.
Watch the video of our conversation, listen to the podcast and read the summary below to see how Elizabeth has woven her magic for connecting into her work as a filmmaker and educator using her incredible talent to inspire kids to tell their own stories.
Homegrown Elizabeth
Growing up, Elizabeth had what she describes as a privileged childhood in Chicago where she attended private schools with every advantage. This is where her love of learning blossomed.
I have an incredible family. I have loving, smart, amazing parents and siblings.
She credits not only her birth family, but the people she's “invited into” her life as among her most treasured and influential relationships. Her ability to connect with people with genuine curiosity and interest has turned what she calls a typical “white girl's” life into a life with rich and meaningful connections with those very different from herself. Likewise, her positive educational experiences have created a strong passion for enriching the educational experiences of others.
“I know how important that is when you're a little kid to be in an environment where you're inspired to learn by what you're interested in.”
Elizabeth's inspiration for learning and deep interest in life led her first to a career in film. She became a producer and filmmaker who spent more than two decades travelling the world working on runways creating video content for fashion shows and producing for television.
Solution Focused Elizabeth
Despite the prestige of working in film across environments, it is her work with children that lights up Elizabeth's eyes when she talks. She began to steer her career toward work with children's television where she felt that some important changes were needed.
I thought if I can empower children to take over a medium that I felt was taking them over, by giving them cameras, by having them be a part of the production process, they would feel more empowered to take control of their lives.
She started working with three network channels and a variety of cable channels with the goal of getting “real kids” on TV. As one example, the show “Teen Court TV” was created as a simulation of the court trial process meant for younger viewers to understand the legal proceedings in the country. She sought as many opportunities as she could to put the camera in kids' hands to showcase the world through their own eyes.
It was just this incredibly different dynamic. I could never have gotten the footage that they were shooting because nobody would have talked to me the same way.
The more she worked with children in television settings, the more she recognized a strong desire to teach and to use video as source of academic expression for students. She found opportunities to do so by teaching in every setting available to her including summer programs, after school programs and outdoor experiences. In each case she set her focus on reaching children in a way that is meaningful to them and enhances their lives.
In these teaching settings she began to question the inherent superiority of the standard English she had been raised to value so highly. When students were encouraged to use their own familiar words to describe their world, she found they painted a far richer picture that honored their lived experiences.
She took on training to be a teacher in earnest and entered Bank Street College of Education with a goal to obtain her teaching credentials. At Bank Street she's continued her learning about how we acquire language and the connection between language and identity. This reinforced her understanding that language use isn't about categorizing or ranking people but about helping people connect and create understanding across differences.
Elizabeth sees her young students as people who have been invited into her life and she into theirs. This responsibility inspires her to do good work on their behalf.
I want to just be a force for something better … As long as I've ended my day knowing that I've moved towards something that enhances the life of the people around me, especially children, then I kind of feel like I've had a pretty good day.
As she works with kids, Elizabeth is always “looking for the richness in their lives.”
Elizabeth's Patchwork
Elizabeth has taken these new understandings into every environment she touches. She took her commitment to finding that richness through the eyes of youth with her to Senegal recently to tell another truly incredible story.
I think my interest in all different cultures has been really about … where do I come from and how does it fit in with other people, and then where other people come from and where does it fit in.
Elizabeth strives to create conversations where there is equal sharing of information, dreams and goals across the diversity of experience and opportunity.
I'm working with somebody in a special way to create a story that's meaningful that then gets shared with other people that can receive it in a special way.
Changemaker Elizabeth
As a teacher, Elizabeth has always felt very focused on her goals and her strategies for reaching those goals, but something happened in 2020 that put the whole world off kilter.
My life changed abruptly on March 12th (2020) when it was a Thursday and at lunchtime, I was on a long-term subbing position with kindergarteners teaching them writing, which was the hugest privilege…
When the pandemic started and Elizabeth's school shut down, she went from 12 hour workdays to suddenly – nothing. If you know Elizabeth, sitting still is not her thing. It wasn't long before she was involved in a couple of exciting virtual filmmaking projects; one putting video in the hands of frontline workers for a documentary about their lived experiences during the pandemic and the second – with kids, of course – encouraging kids to tell their own pandemic stories through a video series on YouTube called My #QuarantineLife. You can access the series co-produced by Elizabeth at the link below.
It's a real honor to be working on it right now too, because it sort of helps keep my sanity because I feel connected.
I believe in excellence and I believe in HUMANS.
–Elizabeth Hummer
Global Goals #4 – Quality Education, #5 Gender Equality and #10 Reduced Inequalities are certainly easily apparent in Elizabeth's work to create a better world by encouraging children to tell their own stories. Can you see how putting cameras in the hands of individuals to tell their own stories can be used as a powerful mechanism for change toward every one of these United Nations Sustainable Development Goals?
I hope you'll get in touch to let us know what you know about people working toward the Global Goals in your community.
CHECK OUT our CHANGEMAKER YOU course and share with others you know who want to show up in the world in a big way – as Changemakers!
About the Author
Patti cultivates homegrown changemakers prepared to step into their power and work with others to create the world they want to live in. Get in touch to find out how you can grow the social changemaker in yourself and those you serve with Blue Roads Changemaker YOU.
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Patti cultivates homegrown changemakers prepared to step into their power and work with others to create the world they want to live in. Get in touch to find out how you can grow the social changemaker in yourself and those you serve with Blue Roads Changemaker YOU.
