Dear friends,
Looking ahead to 2020, as representatives of the BRIDGE Board, we (A.J. Enchill and Ari Cameron), are focused on resourcing and supporting the BRIDGE team as it transitions into its second decade (yes!) of organizing, service, and training for equity and justice here in the Berkshires. Toward this effort, we are looking to expand our work and welcome in new board members. We currently seek potential new board members who are happy and eager to fundraise for BRIDGE as well as lift up and represent the work of BRIDGE while also showing commitment to self-reflection and ongoing learning. It’s an exciting time at BRIDGE! Many wonderful community and organizational partnerships are blossoming. BRIDGE holds a minority and women-run status through the state of Massachusetts’ Supplier Diversity Program, something we are committed to maintaining on the board with intentionality and care. As our CEO Gwendolyn VanSant recently shared with us, we can also expand our definition of “diversity” for the board to include profession, age, region, etc. We look forward to collaborating with corporate leaders across all sectors as board members and advocates, something we know is a best practice in corporate responsibility. More than anything, we want to continue to build a strong board of directors who will work together to guide and support BRIDGE as it becomes a nationally-recognized model for training, education, and rural organizing! We, A.J. Enchill and Ari Cameron, are honored to step into the Board Co-Chair role and work with our brilliant CEO, Gwendolyn VanSant, to steward BRIDGE into a new chapter of network- and momentum-building, with a continued commitment to accountability, collaboration, and equity at all levels. By accountability, we mean taking responsibility for the impact of one’s actions and following the leadership of people of color who have been at the core of BRIDGE’s mission since its founding. Through cultural competency coaching and strong structures already in place at BRIDGE, we have worked with Gwendolyn as a Governance Committee to create a set of Operating Agreements and formalize an Accountability Committee within BRIDGE’s bylaws intended to fortify and guide our board of directors. BRIDGE will also move forward with a Co-Board Chair structure as a part of our bylaws to further weave in BRIDGE values of shared leadership, space for multiple social identities, and collaboration. We choose to invest in BRIDGE at this time in history because we have witnessed and experienced the impact that BRIDGE’s organizing, training, resources, dialogue, and work toward repair has had on young people, adults across a range of professional sectors, organizations, institutions, and ultimately, the social and structural fabric of the Berkshires. This is work that touches people’s hearts and lives, increases self-understanding, and shows us our interconnectedness. Now is the time that we need full community collaboration in creating the world we want to live in. As co-chairs, we are passionate about serving as ambassadors for BRIDGE, building resilient connections, and creating a well-resourced future for BRIDGE by supporting our CEO Gwendolyn VanSant and her team to grow BRIDGE as a model for accountable, grass roots movement-building and systematic change. With excitement, A.J. Enchill and Ari Cameron Tribute from Christy Daignault, BRIDGE Vice Chair and Development Co-Chair "Prior to this event I was not familiar with Berkshire Business and Professional Women and looked it up to better acquaint myself. BBPW has been honoring a local woman with the Woman of Achievement award since 1965 which is Based on considerable career accomplishments and outstanding commitment to the community. Their MISSION : is To promote full participation, equity, and economic self-sufficiency for America's working women. Three major issues that Berkshire Business and Professional Women have identified and commit to working on:
One of the founders of this organization is Dr. Lena Madesin Phillips who said “you are now pioneers in the dream of peace and social justice, of international understanding and goodwill. This dream will come to pass. It matters little whether you or I live to see the day. It is only important that each of us struggle without pause towards that day. I know many women of color in this area that I see stand for these same principals, that I see fight and advocate all in different ways, bringing different and much needed strengths to the table. So I just want to again bring attention to the fact that in 54 years of this award being given out Gwendolyn is the first women of color to receive it and she very much deserves it! She is a driving force that is moving forward in countless ways to promote a more inclusive, and safe environment helping to shift the narrative and center the voices of those often left out of the equation. I realize I only see a tiny portion of the work that Gwendolyn does day in and day out forging new paths. I want to leave us today with a quote by Carol Snow who is of Seneca heritage. “There are those of us who insist on finding our own paths. We use those things that speak to us to mark our trails: the stars; the winds; the sound of a beloved voice; the calling of our hearts. We become the ones who lay down signs for guidance by the tracks we leave. Those of us who go before all others are the pathfinders, and sometimes the path makers. There must always be a first step taken. Thank you to all women who are the ones to take the first step. Thank you Gwendolynn for helping to forge new paths, congratulations!" tRIBUTE FROM John Bissell, President & Chief Executive Officer of Greylock Federal Credit Union "Our partnership with Multicultural BRIDGE dates back 10 years. During the past 3 years, we have kept Gwendolyn very busy with equity and inclusion work inside of our organization. BRIDGE provides training for all of our employees and for our Board, and Gwendolyn provides coaching for me personally... She believes that our community is stronger when the doors of opportunity are open to everyone regardless of income, race, religion, culture, gender identity or physical ability. Please understand, I mean, not when someone SAYS the doors of opportunity are open, but when the doors are ACTUALLY open, and inviting, and ready to accept EVERYONE, from EVERY neighborhood. THEN we are stronger, and then we will be more successful in our community. She knows that to achieve this, we must think and work, strategically and collaboratively, at the systems level. Financial systems, public funding systems, transportation systems, education systems – They were all designed by people who look like me. And left in their current state of play, those systems continue to operate for the benefit of people like me. To change the outcomes, to include all people in our vision, we must change the systems. And that means we must change the hearts and minds of the people controlling the systems. This is the work to which Gwendolyn has dedicated her career, and indeed, her entire life. Make no mistake, she is deeply devoted to her family. But it seems that every other waking hour is spent in pursuit of social and economic justice....Whether working in a room with 12 banking executives, or an auditorium full of middle school students, she creates space for honest dialogue, for growth, for healing... I am grateful that thanks to our partnership with Gwendolyn and BRIDGE and so many others, Greylock is becoming a more inclusive organization. We may not be able to transform the entire US financial system – not yet! – but working together, in partnership with BRIDGE, we can have much greater impact right here at home."
In our course, Gwendolyn had identified an ongoing basic need to reduce the barriers that many face due to lack of transportation. One underutilized service due to that barrier was access to the BRIDGE Women to Women (W2W) group. I started offering rides there in collaboration with Silvia and Stephanie, the W2W coordinators. From there my awareness was heightened and during some local crises I could see the need expand throughout our community. I volunteered to steward a volunteer ride service through BRIDGE for clients to make appointments for health and human services, school needs, legal support, grocery shopping, work and whatever else helps bring ease to these BRIDGE folks and their families.
This RIDEshare program supports access for individuals and also helps develop mutual relationships that support both the health and wellbeing of underserved members that are so often overlooked, muted or erased and those of us living blindly in our community. To show up, listen, and support folks advocating for themselves is imperative. RIDEshare operates within an accountability framework that BRIDGE holds central to its culture. It is essential that we (I am speaking directly to white and other privileged folks here) are accountable to the leadership of People of color and underheard voices. I have learned and been humbled through this practice. RIDEshare is never just a designated amount of time. It disrupts my life: work, schedule, income, and other priorities— as exactly it should. I have felt myself change and grow as a person: it has fortified and built up my resilience, understanding, humanity, perspective, values, connectedness, relationships and trust. Seeing how we, as white and/or privileged folks, so often perpetuate the exact behavior that we are claiming to want to dismantle has underscored how essential BRIDGE training is as a prerequisite for showing up for any and all underrepresented folks to minimize harm while gaining a deeper understanding of the intersections of class, race, poverty, privilege, and accessibility. I have a deep sense of commitment and responsibility to the mission of BRIDGE. Collectively we must resource this work especially for generations to come. I am grateful to Gwendolyn, my sister-in-law who is a persistent leader and resource, for encouraging me to open my eyes to what it really means to live and engage as an active member of our community. Please join me in supporting BRIDGE with a contribution today. Thank you so much for making this a memorable year for us—for protecting and stewarding the courage and heart of BRIDGE. That was YOUR work! 2018 marked our 10th anniversary as an organization—wow! With your help, we shared and celebrated the collective positive impact that we’ve made, here in the Berkshires and across the country. We are so grateful for our resilient connections with you, our BRIDGE community. This year we also launched a new membership program, which allows you to help support
BRIDGE by making a membership donation or sustaining pledge. We invite you to join us as part of our intentional family and community, focused on trust, safety, and equity. As an added bonus, your donation can bring benefits to your business, partner organizations or favorite non-profit—consultation or trainings on topics like cultural competency, leadership development, diversity in the workplace, and more! In looking back over the last decade, the BRIDGE message is clear: Let’s persist in our charge to be catalysts for change and integration, just as we started out to do ten years ago. And, as we’ve all grown together in the work, BRIDGE now layers in an ongoing commitment to accountability, happiness, justice and equity—aiming to touch the hearts and minds of every child, student, banker, teacher, law enforcement officer, and elder we meet. As we enter in to 2019, I know we all will continue to work together to make our lives safer for everyone—in our homes, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, towns, and cities. I invite you to lean in with us at BRIDGE, so we can make ripples for justice that travel far and wide. Together, we are the change we want to see. We are here but for a second, but our impact ripples through time. - Neetal Parekh With love and gratitude, - Gwendolyn VanSant, CEO and Founding Director PS. This summer, we also launched our new logo and website. If you haven’t already, take a look and let us know what you think—lots to read on the site capturing our last year!
My work as a family physician over the past few decades, has highlighted for me the reality of health disparities for these groups of people. We know that people of color in the United States have far worse health care outcomes than their white counterparts: higher rates of preterm labor and infant mortality, worse access to health care, higher rates of death for similar disease processes (such as cancer, asthma, heart disease, HIV and diabetes) and the list goes on. So, I ask myself, as I am sure many of you do, what can I do to be part of the solution and not simply another part of the problem? A central part of the answer for me has been to join the already incredible work of Multicultural BRIDGE right here in our community. We know that health is more than what happens in a doctor’s office. Health is all around us: our schools, our jobs, our communities. That’s just one of the reasons I’m proud to serve as the Board Chair for Multicultural BRIDGE. BRIDGE connects vulnerable community members with networks and key resources, while also advancing equity and justice -- key pieces of community health -- by providing education and consultation to local institutions like hospitals, law enforcement, public safety and municipal leaders, as well as to the community at large. Whether it’s acting as a partner of the Berkshire Opioid Addiction Prevention Collaborative -- leading culturally-competent conversations of addiction, recovery and treatment -- or helping young people learn resiliency, communication skills and conflict resolution through the Happiness Toolbox program, BRIDGE is laying the groundwork to good health for all of us. BRIDGE has spent the last decade cultivating health and equity across our communities, and we’re just getting started! As 2018 comes to a close, please consider making a donation to BRIDGE to help us keep the momentum going. Thank you, Dr. Lara Setti Multicultural BRIDGE Board Chair thank you from the board We want to close with a special shout out to JV Hampton-VanSant for their contribution of gender identity and gender trainings for the workplace within the BRIDGE cultural humility training in their authentic leadership on this topic as Massachusetts leads the nation with transgender rights!
Another special shout out to Jeff Lowenstein in co-leading Spanish for the Workplace with native and Spanish-language learners in banking! And Stephanie Wright and Silvia Soria for leading our Women to Women program with heart and compassion! Thank you for joining the BRIDGE board of directors and giving to BRIDGE and showing immense gratitude and support to our staff. ~ Lara, Steve, AJ, Christy, Patrick, Arsema and Ari!
BRIDGE is closing out its tenth year of celebration and celebrating the fruition, as a co-founder, of a vision of what our community needed. In one way it was to close the gaps of services for new immigrants and very specifically value women and women of color’s labor, contribution and value to our community. But in a larger way it was to foster a sense of humanity, justice and interconnectedness.
“To live anywhere in the world today and be against equality because of race or color is like living Alaska and being against snow.” William Faulkner I was introduced to Multicultural Bridge by Natalie Shiras, my classmate from College who was the Pastor of Church on the Hill in Lenox MA. At first I was incredulous that there was racial discrimination in the Berkshires, but I was told otherwise. As an immigrant who has been bullied both in France and in the US, I feel it is important to protect the rights of all people, regardless of the color of their skin, or their origin. I am proud of the work of Gwendolyn and congratulate her and Multicultural Bridge on their 10th Anniversary. Yeou-Cheng Ma To you, Gwendolyn, and the committees, I send good wishes for a GREAT event which I think will be wonderful for all. I trust it will reward your good work in bringing Multicultural Bridge to is tenth year. I lectured in Japan recently and spoke reverently of W.E.B. Du Bois and your community work.
Sincerely, Peggy McIntosh June 18, 2018
BRIDGE is an important organization in the Berkshires, supports the community regardless of their nationality. It allows us to integrate this country through various programs and for all ages.
Bilingual camps for our children which allows them security and interest to learn another language and culture. Programs for Youth that keep them busy. Group of women which have been a member for 10 years; During this time I learned a lot through informative talks about health, drugs, political, moral support and laws of this country, English classes and topics, which have helped me improve my relationship with my family and integrate a more efficient way to this country, It also connects us with other organizations that exist in the community. BRIDGE thank you for your support and commitment to our community. Gabriela Cruz |
ImpactMulticultural BRIDGE helps to improve the lives of community members throughout the Berkshires, and provides consultation and training to groups and businesses across the state and throughout the country.
Perspectives
January 2024
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