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
Initiatives
- Arts Build Community
- Board Leadership Development
- Bridging Divides, Healing Communities
Arts Build Community
Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation 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.
Over 18,000
Residents Reached
67
Grantee Organizations
$1.8 million
Granted
$250,000
in gifts from donors
Learn More About Arts Build Community
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
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