There is still time to make your 2019 end of year gift or 2020 pledge! Many of you received my annual year-end letter in US mail but, if you are so far only part of our E-BRIDGE family, I wanted to share my letter here.  

I also want to give a huge thank you to those who joined us Dec 7th for our end of year SJIA launching our appeal - we raised $22,000 in donations and pledges for 2020 that evening! 

Stay tuned for January details for another SJIA! 

And many thanks to our Giving Tuesday supporters who helped us raise $2035 on and offline!

Happy holidays,
Gwendolyn

Hello friends,
With each of you, I want to celebrate community, love, and courage as we close out 2019. For me, I know 2020 will be a year of clarity—clear vision and focus for us all. In order to achieve positive social impact of equity in our communities and organizations, I know that we must continually activate ourselves and others, intentionally reflect, and diligently work with grit and resilience so that we stay activated.

"True learning is the ability to decide upon change and then follow through with clear mind and steady purpose. True learning is the ability to take action." Richard Heckler-Strozzi

So many of you have already leaned in to the urgency of now when it comes to your personal activism here in the Berkshires and beyond by being a part of the BRIDGE community. You, with the rest of our BRIDGE family, have focused on LOVE for one another and a vision of equity and justice for each and every one of us! Thank you!

A few important updates about where BRIDGE is today. In the last year, our team has... 

• Formed or continued to build upon strong learning partnerships with such long-standing community institutions as Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Jacob’s Pillow Festival of Dance, and WAM Theatre (just to name a few). 
• Co-created a coalition of leaders from organizations working on racial justice, including leaders like our local NAACP President, Berkshire Interfaith Organizing leaders, and more.
• Helped to curate a portion of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion conference at Mass. College of Liberal Arts in June 2019- the launch of the Arts Institute 
• Received recognition from the Center for Democracy as a finalist for the Aicher Award 
• Received recognition when our CEO, Gwendolyn VanSant, was named 2019’s “Woman of Achievement” by Berkshire Business and Professional Woman (an event which helped us raise over $12k in career advancement scholarships for women aiming to pursue advanced education.)

And YOU? YOU have also made it possible so that we at BRIDGE have been able to... 

• successfully match a capacity grant we received from an anonymous donor supporting BRIDGE at this critical time in the organization’s growth and development
• continue to meaningfully respond to racial incidents in schools with our culturally competent approach and wherever possible, aim to repair harm and restore belonging
• bring a youth-centric leadership model to County Superintendent called SPIRIT in partnership with the United States Attorney Office and Department of Justice for all participating school districts wanting to empower student activists on issues they deem essential for students safety and thriving. Launching in Central Berkshire this December. 
• hold 10th anniversary celebrations of BRIDGE’s Happiness Toolbox and our “Women to Women” program (the heartbeat of our organization)
• partner with Greylock on their “Women’s Day of Caring Action” during International Women’s Day by sending packed backpacks of care to greet Berkshire women as they return home. We proudly plan to make this an annual event!

As we move into 2020, we are focused on bolstering the humanity of our children and of women here in the Berkshires who face threat of harm and/or experience harm or exclusion every day. 

As we move forward, we aim to embody in practice a systemic, holistic approach to equity and justice for every one of our community members. We know that we not only have the power to touch hearts and minds, but the power and responsibility to shift power, access, and resources here in our community and beyond. We will continue to bring attention to the spaces that need our “love in action.”

“If you know what is love and what is fear, you become aware of the way you communicate to others… Love is not about concepts; love is about action. Love in action can only produce happiness. Fear in action can only produce suffering. The only way to master your love is to practice your love.” -Don Miguel Ruiz

Please join us by choosing the ways in which you can support BRIDGE in 2020. We have outlined them below. Your support and collaboration helps us be the change we want to see in our country and community. Thank you in advance! We will be able to send you your new BRIDGE supporter decal for your car, window or office door.

Serving it forward in peace and justice,
Gwendolyn

I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver. ~ Maya Angelou

Women to Women is joined by Walking Our Talk to celebrate the holidays

Fun to have our BRIDGE family join Shirley Edgerton in the Community Read
at Conte Community School.

Hello BRIDGE,
I received nothing but accounts of understanding and praise on today’s training from my officers. In return I shared with them your team’s appreciation of their openness and participation in return as well as an understanding of their dedication and responsibilities to their job... today was certainly a day of pride, satisfaction, and hope for me.  I can’t thank your team enough. I routinely recognize that you are professionals and today you demonstrated that again...thank you for continually trusting and sharing personal experiences with our community.
Jeff Coe
Dalton Police Chief

Click here to read all about those different ways to support.

• ​Join as a member
  
• Sustaining Monthly Donation
  
• BRIDGE’s Reparations Fund
  
• Moonlight Mile Match
  
• BRIDGE’s Endowment Capital Campaign
  
• Sallie VanSant Memorial Fund
  
• Open Doors
  
• Facebook Fundraising campaign 
  
• Amazon Smile 
  

For more information and options, please click here to email us!

BRIDGE, and all of our external operations, will be on Holiday Break from Tuesday, December 24 until Tuesday, December 31 to provide all of us a chance to clear our heads, catch up on our lives and/or families, and recharge our batteries for the new year. Bridge,

Wishing everyone Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa and a Happy New Year! Celebrate your traditions and ask a friend with different ones for an opportunity to share with one another.

Solstice Reflection: 
“At this time of year, there is a great deal of emphasis placed on birth and the coming of the light. But the Solstice is really Nature’s season of rebalancing between life and death, and new life is never possible without a darkening, a sloughing off.
What makes this season holy is the act of casting off that which, with little to no guarantee, will set us on a new course. Like winter, Nature’s death field closes in on us with its cold and dark promise to claim all that isn’t thriving. It isn’t unusual to resist this process. We may find ourselves trying to prop up the old way, lifeless as it may be, in an attempt to reanimate the ill-fitting, limp, and even destructive, because at least it was familiar. 
But as reluctant as we may be, the holy act of this season is trust. Even as the old things are being cast off, torn away, or leaving of their own accord. Even as disappointment, heartbreak, and fear are rearing up on all sides. Something better for our well-being is marshaling itself below the cold ground. And the sooner we can conclude our old attachments, the sooner the new way will be made visible.” 
-Excerpt from toko-pa blog

And for inspiration this holiday season - watch these videos:

We are again happy to have Dr. Emily Williams on our team as Senior Engagement and Education Director.

Please see her second interview with our CEO, Gwendolyn, and partner for InsideHigherEd with BRIDGE client John Bissell of Greylock Federal Credit Union.

Any feedback, please feel free to contact her at Emily@multiculturalbridge.org: