Gwendolyn VanSant
CEO and Founding Director

Gwendolyn VanSant is a trainer & facilitator in diversity leadership, cultural competence and coalition building for justice and equity. She is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founding Director of Multicultural BRIDGE and contributes to several teams across the region to promote safety, equity and trust in communities and workplaces. Gwendolyn has worked with corporations, schools, colleges and universities, law enforcement, hospitals, teaching and leadership institutes, and more.  In addition to designing cultural competence trainings, Gwendolyn is a frequent speaker and long-time activist deeply rooted in racial justice, gender equity and positive psychology. 

Most recently her work in honoring Dr. W.E. B. Du Bois has taken centerfold as co-curator and co-designer of the Du Bois 150th birthday festival commissioned by the Town of Great Barrington. In spring 2017, Gwendolyn spearheaded the county-wide campaign and coalition "Not in the Berkshires" and, in partnership, stewarded the crafting and passing of her town’s Trust Policy, a step towards a statewide Safe Community Act. In 2016, Gwendolyn served as the Founding Director of Equity and Inclusion at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, her alma mater. In 2015/2016 she was recognized as a “Berkshire Trendsetter” finalist and was named one of her county’s most dedicated and creative social entrepreneurs by Berkshire Magazine. In 2018 she is recognized as an Unsung Heroine by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. in 2020, Gwendolyn received an award on behalf of BRIDGE from MCLA winning the Presidents Medallion and in 2019 she was recognized as the Woman of Year in Achievement by Berkshire Business and Professional Women. She also  is a reactivation and annual member of the Berkshire County Branch of the NAACP. and has served on the African American Heritage Trail.

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JV Hampton-VanSant (they/she pronouns) has worked with BRIDGE in many capacities since 2008. Originally, they would help at events during summer breaks from college. Since her college internship days,  JV stayed very connected to their hometown. They have helped design, coordinate and run the BRIDGE Summer Educational Programs at Hevreh since 2011 . On her own high school and college campus, JV was a youth organizer and leader for LGBTQ education and events. Since graduating from Lesley University in 2012 with a B.A. in Holistic Psychology and minor in Expressive Arts Therapy, she ha worked as a part of the administrative team as well as the primary youth leadership trainer and IT coordinator. JV received their diversity training certification from the National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI) in the summer of 2012 and BEST Youth Worker in 2016. JV is also an actor and voice actor, writer and children’s book author working to encourage kids to actively engage with the world around them and make positive choice around diversity, environmentalism, and leadership. JV has co-designed the positive education program, Happiness Toolbox, that BRIDGE hosts as a summer program and in and out of school time activities. JV is the primary architect behind our online programing in 2020 of New Pathways and Happiness Toolbox as well as our training program pivot.
JV is the President of Berkshire Stonewall Community Coalition, and is the first Black Transwoman to be President of a Non-profit in Berkshire County.

JV Hampton-VanSant
IT Director and Digital STrategist

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Florence Afanukoe
Public Health CoOrdinator

Born in the Ivory Coast and raised in Togo, Florence Afanukoe has worked with Multicultural BRIDGE for six years. She connected with BRIDGE while enrolled in MCLA's college-level "Education in Society" program in high school, where she also met Gwendolyn and Jv. Florence began working as an intern the next year, assisting Gwendolyn at Cultural Competency workshops and in the BRIDGE office. She has subsequently assisted with BRIDGE programs during her summer breaks. Florence also took part in our summer Happiness Toolbox program, helping to organize and educate children about her African heritage and culture. Florence recently received her B.S. in Health Sciences with a specialization in Public/Community health from the University of Bridgeport. She has since joined us and is now serving as our new lead coordinator for youth leadership and Public Health and she intends to continue her degree in Public Health.

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Emily Allen Williams has worked in academia since 1990 in various capacities as professor, department chair, dean, and provost. She started her career as a professor at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, where she taught and conducted research for thirteen years. She later spent time at the University of the West Indies (Mona Campus, Kingston) on a Fulbright Fellowship where she completed research on a book publication while lecturing on West Indian Poetry. Her most recent appointments were at the University of the Virgin Islands, Texas Southern University, and Ramapo College of New Jersey.

Prior to her work in the academy, Williams worked for a decade in the arts as a grants director and arts program manager for the City of Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs and the State of Georgia Council for the Arts.

Williams holds a Ph.D. in Humanities (Caribbean and British Cultural Studies and Literature) from Clark Atlanta University and a Master of Arts degree in Linguistics and Literature from Virginia Commonwealth University. She received a Certificate in Management and Leadership in Education (MLE) from Harvard University.

Williams has published six books with two additional works currently under contract. She has written numerous articles and reviews for peer-reviewed scholarly journals.

She is now the Vice President of Academic Affairs at University Of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Emily Williams, Ph.D

Special Projects 

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Silvia Soria

Women To Women Facilitator

"I am an Ecuadorian woman,  who is pasionete and eager to provide exceptional service to multicultural people; since being of Hispanic background and first generation immigrant, I know from experience the strengths and struggles that minorities can face in their daily life in the United States.  Each year I have improved my speaking and writing skills in both Spanish and English to further advance as a professional and to better serve my community that welcomed me with open arms. 
For many  years, I have been working in the financial services sector as a customer service representative. Worked at Elizabeth Freeman Center as an Advocate and Counselor and now I’m Coordinator of  W2W at  Multicultural BRIDGE.  This is the job that changed my life in many ways as an individual and professiional.
“ Working in different environments and with people of different walks of life, allows me to stay calm under pressure and be able to focus on their  goals that made changes in their lives" "

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Stephanie Wright, M.Ed. has been with Multicultural BRIDGE for about nine years. She became acquainted with the organization through cultural dinners, dances, and talks given at The Dewey Hall in Sheffield. She is the granddaughter of Minnie Golden who lived to be 104 years of age in Sheffield. Her family goes back in the archives in Sheffield to the mid 1880’s. Stephanie is a second career changer going back to school receiving a Masters of Education and getting certified and licensed to teach Middle School English in 2011. She is employed in the Southern Berkshire Regional School District as a Permanent Substitute Teacher and working with elementary students has been her mainstay. For almost two years she has been teaching grades 2-6 in various schools in Berkshire County. She enjoys teaching Cultural Literacy in our summer program and believes with the positive experiences coming from these various classes, students have made progress in treating their peers with compassion and empathy. Stephanie brings an enthusiasm to her classes that are infectious and her students respond in kind. Through a fertile partnership, Stephanie is trained by RISE of Kripalu to bring resilience to BRIDGE constituents and youth to promote resilience at work, home, school and in community.

Stephanie Wright

Community, Family and Client Engagement Coordinator, Happiness Toolbox Coordinator and People of Color Caucus Lead for TRJ & E and Lead Educator for School-based clients

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Kate Bailey is a Lead Engagement Coordinator at BRIDGE, where she manages the Mutual Aid food distribution program and the Solidarity Garden and Farm program. She has been involved with the agricultural community in Western MA since 2014, working to create a robust and sustainable local food system. In her career, Kate has worked with over 100 regional farmers in her various roles as Program Manager at Berkshire Grown and as Produce Safety Inspector with the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR), providing resources to farmers and developing key partnerships with community and civic organizations. She has managed a Farmers Market and school gardens, taught CA youth about farming and gardening and gained farming experience growing vegetables, milking goats, and taking care of chickens at Slide Ranch in Marin County, CA.

Kate Bailey
Lead Engagement Coordinator

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BRIDGE has a core team (above) and several additional staff that join as facilitators, trainers, educators and language access staff in interpretation, translation and bilingual support. BRIDGE is rooted in community engagement and has been inspired by the many volunteers that share their time and talent with us on special projects and daily office support. Get to know some who are listed here and know there are many more who contribute on a regular basis. We consider ourselves a BRIDGE family and invite you to join us.

Sign up for our newsletter as we begin to highlight the many hands that keep the important work led by the protected classes of "minority" and women moving ahead with fervor.

BRIDGE Team

Gwendolyn VanSant, CEO and Founding Director & Curriculum Lead for Training and Education and Equity and Inclusion Team Lead | gwendolyn.hvs@multiculturalbridge.org
JV Hampton-VanSant, Digital Strategist/IT Director and Youth & LGBTQ Advisor  | jv@multiculturalbridge.org
Stephanie Wright, M.Ed., Family, Client and Community Engagement Coordinator & Happiness Toolbox and People of Color Caucus Coordinator | stephanie@multiculturalbridge.org
Silvia Soria, Women to Women Coordinator and Bilingual Outreach | silvia@multiculturalbridge.org
Talya Taliaferro, Community Navigator and Administrative Support | talya@multiculturalbridge.org


BRIDGE Education & Training Team
Gwendolyn VanSant, Staff Lead
Maya Richards
Aseante Renee, Strategic Partnerships | aseante@multiculturalbridge.org
Carmen Silva-Baker, Applied Positive Psychology | maricarmen@multiculturalbridge.org
Dr. Emily Williams, Special Projects | emily@multiculturalbridge.org
JV Hampton-VanSant, Youth and LGBTQ
Stephanie Wright, M.Ed., Education

BRIDGE Engagement Team
Maya Richards, Staff Lead
Stephanie Wright
Silvia Soria
Colleen Goewey
Talya Taliaferro
Donjea Smith

BRIDGE Board
We also want to welcome our 2021 Board of Directors!
Jeff Lowenstein
Rev. Sloan Letman IV
Elizabeth Adams
Alexis Claytor
MaryAnn Norris
Gabriela Cruz
Erica Barreto
Veronica Jacobson Fenton, Esq.
Steve Glick
Gwendolyn VanSant, Founding Director
And we are confirming a few at large members and leadership roles...stay tuned!

Core Volunteers
Sara Mugridge, Volunteer Coordination & Accountability Coordinating Co-Lead | sara@multiculturalbridge.org
Dan Nielson and Louis Graff, Mens Caucus for Racial Justice Leads | dan.n@multiculturalbridge.org
Karen Clark and Rachel Duvall, White Caucus for Racial Justice Leads | Rachel@multiculturalbridge.org
Estela Ortiz, Bilingual Outreach and Engagement Support - Spanish

Accountability Team
Gwendolyn VanSant, staff/board
Maya Richards, staff
Stephanie Wright,  M.Ed., staff and POC Caucus
Jeff Lowenstein, board/staff
Rev. Sloan Letman IV, board
Veronica Fenton, JD and M.Ed,  board
Sara Mugridge, Coordinating
Stacy Parsons, Race Task Force
Jasmine Dejackome, Race Task Force
Lily Swartz, Development Co-Chair
Dan Nielson, PhD, TRJ-South and Mens Caucus
Louis Graff, TRJ-South and Mens Caucus
Curtis Mraz, Coordinating
Karen Clark, White Caucus
Rachel Duvall, White Caucus

Accountability Coordinating Team
Maya Richards, Lead Staff
Stephanie Wright, staff and POC and Happiness Toolbox Engagement
Silvia Soria, staff and W2W Engagement and Bilingual Outreach
Colleen Goewey, staff/community navigators and SSS Engagement/Southern Berkshire Outreach
Talya Taliaferro, staff/community navigators and SSS Engagement/ Central Berkshire Outreach
Donjea Smith, staff/community navigators and No. Berk Engagement/Outreach
Sara Mugridge, Co-Lead Volunteer of AC
Curtis Mraz, Co-Lead Volunteer
Tracy Johnson, Office Support volunteer
Olivia VanSant, Rideshare and SSS Delivery Route Coordination
Lily Swartz, TRJ and Development Co-Chair
Sam VanSant, Development Co-Chair
Louis Graff, Not in Our County
Stacy Parsons, Race Task Force and SPIRIT-North Berkshire
Jasmine DeJackome, Race Task Force
Gwendolyn VanSant, Supervising Staff
plus any staff & accountability members

And we have dozens of volunteers, activists and allies powering up forward towards equity and justice! Join us!

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Tracy Johnson is the internal office support volunteer to the Engagement Team and CEO.  Tracy enjoys helping behind the scenes, learning about and supporting BRIDGE's racial justice work in her community.  Her family enjoys traveling internationally with their extended family, a total of 12 people. tracy@multiculturalbridge.org

Tracy Johnson

Volunteer: Office and Program Support and Member of Accountability Coordinating Team

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Lily Swartz Ellis is a Volunteer Development Co-Coordinator at BRIDGE. She is also a member of Accountability and helps to facilitate the TRJ White Caucus. Lily first became involved with BRIDGE in 2016 through the Towards Racial Justice and Equity and the Berkshires meetings and the Great Barrington Trust Policy campaign. In her professional life, Lily works as a digital communications strategist for nonprofits, and is honored and excited to share and grow her skills with BRIDGE. ​lily@multiculturalbridge.org

Lily Swartz Ellis

Volunteer Development Co-coordinator and Member of Accountability Team

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