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Initiatives & Impact
Community Engagement

Overview

Why it Matters

Involvement in communities or organizations provides opportunities for people to act individually or collectively to address an issue or solve a problem by offering their time, skills and expertise. Research also shows that relationships and networks are strengthened through involvement in nonprofits, community initiatives or service to local government. In turn, those relationships and resources create far-reaching benefits, contributing to higher levels of trust and reciprocity among residents.

Desired Outcomes

Increased community engagement through arts and the creative process, especially among lower-income residents, communities of color, youth and immigrants
Increased community engagement in service and leadership activities in communities and through organizations

Arts Build Community

Berkshire Taconic launched the Arts Build Community initiative in 2017 to increase community engagement through a key regional asset—the arts and creative sector. With generous support from the Barr Foundation, BTCF is partnering with arts and cultural nonprofit organizations in Berkshire County and year-round residents to test new approaches to community engagement that use the proven power of the arts to build trust, cooperation and unity, while strengthening the arts as a sector.

Strategies

Community-Based Research: To learn more about creative expression and barriers to engagement in the arts among historically underserved populations, BTCF funded a team of resident-researchers to conduct community-based participatory research via surveys, interviews and focus groups, reaching over 450 Pittsfield residents.

Grants Programs: Grants programs support innovative ideas to increase community engagement through the arts and creative process, especially among communities of color, immigrants, youth and other residents who wish to participate in the arts but face barriers such as cost, transportation and social discomfort. We seek to spur innovation among organizations as they launch new projects, expand existing ones and collaborate for impact.

Capacity Building: A group of arts and culture nonprofit organizations has participated in two intensive, yearlong training programs. The first addressed barriers to participation in the arts and how to experiment with new approaches, and the second was a cross-sector group of 30 county leaders from organizations committed to equity and inclusion.

Arts Education: Berkshire Taconic, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission joined forces to create a shared vision and blueprint for arts education that will ensure equitable access to cultural resources for all students and increase the use of arts-based strategies in student learning.

Donor Engagement: Like-minded donors are learning about our ABC work and exploring ways to strengthen the vitality and relevance of cultural organizations for diverse audiences.

10,000

Full-time residents from historically underserved populations engaged in programming

60

Organizations working to expand knowledge and strategies for serving diverse communities

$850,000

Grants and other support to organizations

$200,000

Gifts from donors to support this work

A group of residents conducted the research that launched Arts Build Community. They continue to participate in the initiative as part of the team reviewing all grant proposals.

62 Center for Theatre and Dance at Williams College
Arts in Recovery for Youth
Barrington Stage Company
Berkshire Department of Children and Families
Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative
Berkshire Food Project
Berkshire Immigrant Center
Berkshire Museum
Berkshire Natural Resources Council
Berkshire Opera
Berkshire Pulse
Berkshire South Regional Community Center
Center for Peace through Culture
Chesterwood
City as Living Laboratory
Community Access to the Arts
Crosby Elementary School
Dalton Community Recreation Association
Downtown Pittsfield Inc.
Flying Cloud Institute
Goodwill of the Berkshires and Southern Vermont
Gould Farm
Hancock Shaker Village
I AM: International Foundation
IS183 Art School of the Berkshires
Jacob's Pillow
Living the Change
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center
MASS MoCA
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Multicultural BRIDGE
Norman Rockwell Museum
North Adams Public Schools
Railroad Street Youth Project
Rites of Passage and Empowerment (ROPE)
Roots Rising
Shakespeare & Company
Tamarack Hollow Nature & Cultural Center
The Christian Center of Pittsfield
The Mastheads
The Mount, Edith Wharton’s Home
Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area
Volunteers in Medicine Berkshires
WAM Theatre
Westside Legends
Williamstown Theatre Festival
Word X Word
Youth Alive

Board Leadership Development

As a form of community engagement, nonprofit leadership is about community service and giving back, as well as making good decisions, tracking performance and ensuring accountability.

Berkshire Taconic has created a range of new opportunities for nonprofit leaders to learn, connect and find inspiration from experts and one another, building on our decades of strengthening nonprofit leadership.

We believe community engagement through board leadership can increase if nonprofit boards are high functioning and welcoming to new members, and residents have the awareness, training and support they need to meaningfully participate in board service.

Strategy

Training & Networking: In 2018, we launched a daylong, multi-track Board Leadership Forum for the region’s nonprofit board members and executive directors. This event expanded as a statewide, virtual event in 2021 and 2022, in partnership with Essex County Community Foundation and other community foundations. We also offer a series of half-day seminars on critical topics such as a board’s role in effective fundraising and creating more diverse and inclusive boards.

Through our evaluation efforts, participants report they are putting the knowledge gained to use in their board work and feeling more effective and productive in their roles as leaders.

550

Board members and executive directors attended conferences and trainings

140

Organizations represented

Events like the Board Leadership Forum and Institute for Trustees bring board leaders together for learning and networking.

^{Art Omi}

^{Art School of Columbia County}

^{Basilica Hudson}

^{Berkshire Art Association}

^{Berkshire Athenaeum}

^{Berkshire Botanical Garden}

^{Berkshire Business & Professional Women}

^{Berkshire Children's Chorus}

^{Berkshire Community College}

^{Berkshire Family & Individual Resources (BFAIR)}

^{Berkshire Grown}

^{Berkshire Immigrant Center}

^{Berkshire Music School}

^{Berkshire Nursing Families}

^{Berkshire Pulse}

^{Berkshire South Regional Community Center}

^{Berkshire Theatre Group}

^{Bindlestiff Family Variety Arts}

^BRIDGE

^{Cadmus Lifesharing Association}

^{Camphill Village USA}

^{Canaan Child Care Center}

^{Catholic Charities Community Services of Dutchess County}

^{Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity}

^{Chatham Area Business Alliance}

^Chesterwood

^{Child Care of the Berkshires}

^{Churchtown Fire Company}

^{Clinton Church Restoration}

^{Clinton Community Library}

^{Columbia County Chamber of Commerce}

^{Columbia County Historical Society}

^{Columbia Land Conservancy}

^{Columbia-Greene Community College}

^{Community Access to the Arts}

^{Community Action Partnership for Dutchess County}

^{Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire}

^{Community Health Programs}

^Construct

^{Cornell Cooperative Extension Columbia and Greene Counties}

^{Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County}

^{Cornwall Conservation Trust}

^{Covenant to Care for Children}

^{Dalton Community Recreation Association (Dalton CRA)}

^{Dutchess Community College}

^{Dutchess County Pride Center}

^{Dutchess Outreach}

^{Elsie K. Powell House}

^{Everyday Democracy}

^{Falls Village Community Development Corporation}

^{Falls Village Housing Trust}

^{Foundation for Community Health}

^{Foundation for Norfolk Living}

^{Friends of Hudson Youth}

^{Friends of Oakdale Lake}

^{Friends of Wethersfield}

^{Gary Schiro & Associates}

^{Geer Village Senior Community}

^{Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center}

^{Grace Immigrant Outreach}

^{Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood}

^{Greene County Council on the Arts}

^{Greenwoods Counseling & Referrals}

^{Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Connecticut}

^{Hands In Outreach}

^{Hawthorne Valley Association}

^Hazon

^{Hoosic River Revival}

^{Hotchkiss Library of Sharon}

^{Housatonic Youth Service Bureau}

^{Hudson Area Association Library}

^{Hudson Parks Conservancy}

^{Jacob Leisler Institute}

^{Jacob's Pillow}

^{Jewish Federation of Dutchess County}

^Jobpath

^{Kent Land Trust}

^{Kite’s Nest}

^{Laurel Hill Association}

^{Leadership Greater Hartford}

^{Lenox Public Schools}

^{Litchfield Montessori School}

^{Litchfield Performing Arts/Litchfield Jazz}

^{Louison House}

^{Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center}

^{Mass Audubon Berkshire Wildlife Sanctuaries}

^{McCall Center for Behavioral Health}

^{Millerton Cinema Arts and Cultural Center}

^{National Alliance on Mental Illness Berkshire County}

^{New Beginnings of Northwest Hills Litchfield County}

^{New England Air Museum}

^{New Lebanon Library}

^{Noble Horizons}

^{Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires}

^{Norman Rockwell Museum}

^{North East Community Center}

^{Northeast-Millerton Library}

^{Northwest Community Bank}

^{Northwest Connecticut Arts Council}

^{Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation}

^{NY Zen Center}

^{Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College}

^{Perfect Ten After School}

^{Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity}

^{Railroad Street Youth Project}

^{Roeliff Jansen Community Library}

^{Roots Rising}

^{ROOTS Teen Center}

^{Salisbury Association}

^{Salisbury Forum}

^{Salisbury Visiting Nurse Association}

^{Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance Service}

^{Salisbury Winter Sports Association}

^{Samuel Harrison Society}

^{Scoville Memorial Library}

^{Shaker Museum}

^{Sharon Historical Society}

^{Sharon Playhouse}

^{Sisters for Peace}

^{SOAR School Enrichment Program}

^{South Williamstown Community Association}

^{Spencertown Academy Arts Center}

^{Stanton Home}

^{Stockbridge Library, Museum & Archives}

^{Tapestry Health}

^{The Artist Book Foundation}

^{The Berkshire Museum}

^{The Bidwell House Museum}

^{The Chore Service}

^{The Hotchkiss Library of Sharon}

^{The Laurel Hill Association of Stockbridge}

^{The Literacy Network of South Berkshire}

^{The Mount, Edith Wharton's House}

^{The Moviehouse}

^{The Olana Partnership}

^{The Poetry Foundation}

^Townscape

^{United Cerebral Palsy Association of Berkshire County}

^{Volunteers in Medicine Berkshires}

^{WAM Theatre}

^{Williamstown Theatre Festival}

^{Women's Support Services}

Bridging Divides, Healing Communities

In response to heightened political polarization and a pandemic that has magnified persistent racial and economic inequities, Berkshire Taconic is using grantmaking, convening and public events to help residents join together to build trust, strengthen relationships and pursue opportunities for healing.

Strategies

Grants Program: A grants program is supporting community-building efforts that can bridge differences and drive positive change at the local level. We fund organizations and groups to build and strengthen relationships among residents, especially people who hold different views or come from different backgrounds. The aim is to create opportunities for productive engagement and building trust and reconciliation.

Speaker Series: A five-part speaker series has explored some of the forces and trends creating disparities and division, and how to take action locally to build common ground and solve problems together. It has brought noted speakers and local residents together to discuss topics of race, social cohesion, the media’s role in polarized times and promising engagement efforts underway locally.

Youth Film Challenge: In a partnership with the Civic Life Project and the Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative, our youth film challenge encouraged young people ages 14 to 24 to submit a 6-minute film highlighting divisions and inequities in society, and how to tackle them in their families, schools and communities. The winning films tackled topics such as affordable housing, learning disabilities and food insecurity, and were screened at local venues.

$83,000

Grants to organizations and collaborations

35

Projects funded around the region since 2020

1,000

Viewers of our public speaker series to date

12

Semifinalists produced student films on challenging topics

Spotlight: What We're Learning

Read a reflection on key lessons to date from our investments in community engagement
Arts Build Community initiative: Overview and Summary of Initial Learning
Arts Build Community initiative: Overview, Case Study and Evaluation Highlights
Board Service and Leadership: Overview and Survey Highlights

Site Search

Community Engagement

Overview

Why it Matters

Desired Outcomes

Arts Build Community

Strategies

10,000

60

$850,000

$200,000

Board Leadership Development

Strategy

550

140

Bridging Divides, Healing Communities

Strategies

$83,000

35

1,000

12

Spotlight: What We're Learning