Multicultural BRIDGE
{{Short description|Organization}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Multicultural BRIDGE
| logo = Multicultural BRIDGE Logo.jpg
| logo_size = 200px
| type =
| founded_date = September 2007
| founder = Gwendolyn Hampton-VanSant, Director and CEO
| location = Lee, Massachusetts
| origins =
| key_people =
| area_served = Berkshire County, Massachusetts
| product =
| focus = Diversity Education
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| homepage = [http://www.multiculturalbridge.org/ www.multiculturalbridge.org]
| dissolved =
| footnotes =
}}
Multicultural BRIDGE (Berkshire Resources for the Integration of Diverse Groups and Education, or BRIDGE Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Lee, Massachusetts. Co-founded by Gwendolyn Hampton VanSant and Marthe Bourdon, BRIDGE serves diverse groups in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Boston, and other regions in Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York City."BRIDGE work: Organization's co-founder discusses diversity and demographics." Berkshire Trade & Commerce Monthly. February 2012. Services include workforce cultural literacyDouillet, Georgia. "Bridging Communities: Cultural brokering for mutual understanding." The Women's Times. (Northampton, MA). April 2010. and cultural competency training, youth leadership and multicultural education,Smith, Jenn. "Students building a BRIDGE to tolerance." The Berkshire Eagle. (Pittsfield, MA). February 18, 2010. community-based civil rights and social justice forums and conferences, and multicultural advocacy.Dupont, Nichole. "Bridging The Cultural Gap for Berkshire Immigrants." iBerkshires.com (North Adams, MA.) July 29, 2011. http://www.pittsfield.com/story/39115/Bridging-the-Cultural-Gap-for-Berkshire-Immigrants.html. Retrieved May 26, 2015. In 2015, BRIDGE received the Berkshire Trendsetter Award for Nonprofit Impact from 1Berkshire.Dobrowski, Tony. "Business community fetes Berkshire Trendsetter Award winners." "The Berkshire Eagle". (Pittsfield, MA). September 12, 2015. http://www.berkshireeagle.com/local/ci_28801464/business-community-fetes-berkshire-trendsetter-award-winners. Retrieved October 16, 2015. BRIDGE is a minority and women-run nonprofit and is certified by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Program Provider.http://www.multiculturalbridge.org/programs/advocacy. "State Vendor/SDO (Formerly SOMWBA)". Retrieved April 14, 2015.
Programs
=Cultural competency training=
BRIDGE conducted cultural competence training with municipal employees in Great BarringtonDuPont, Nichole. "Local group promotes diversity across Berkshire County." AdvocateWeekly.com. (North Adams, MA.) April 15, 2010. and Pittsfield, MassachusettsSmith, Jenn. "Learning from differences: Finding a path to common ground." "Berkshire Eagle." (Pittsfield, MA). August 1, 2015. http://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/ci_28571735/learning-from-differences and staff at the Berkshire Eagle, King Arthur Flour, and Fairview Hospital.Dupont, Nichole. "Area Hospitals, Schools Learning Diversity, Sensitivity." iBerkshires.com (North Adams, MA.) April 11, 2011. http://www.iberkshires.com/story/38264/Area-Hospitals-Schools-Learning-Diversity-Sensitivity.html. Retrieved May 20, 2015. During a 2010 cultural competency celebration held at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick recognized BRIDGE for facilitating public and private sector group work.Jones, Trevor. "Governor visits cultural competency celebration." The Berkshire Eagle. (Pittsfield, MA.) July 6, 2010. http://www.berkshireeagle.com/local/ci_15453156. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
=Youth education=
The organization works with Lenox Memorial High School, Miss Hall's School, Monument Mountain Regional High School, Pittsfield High School, Berkshire Farm Center and Services for Youth, and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts to facilitate multicultural youth programsScribner, David. "BRIDGE offers ambassadors for cultural tolerance and diversity." Berkshire Record. (Great Barrington, MA.) December 25–31, 2009.Willard, Lucas. "Pittsfield Students Learn from African-American Role Models in their Community." "WAMC Northeast Public Radio." (Pittsfield, MA). February 15, 2013. http://wamc.org/post/pittsfield-students-learn-african-american-role-models-their-community. Retrieved May 26, 2015. and educational film screenings.Smith, Jenn. "MCLA gets living civil rights lesson." The Berkshire Eagle. (Pittsfield, MA.) May 5, 2011. http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_17544067. Retrieved May 26, 2015. BRIDGE has also worked as a partner with Berkshire Hills Regional School District on parent education and family engagement through a grant from the US Department of Education since 2012.Smith, Jenn. "Making the Grade 2014: Working together for the future." "The Berkshire Eagle." (Pittsfield, MA.) February 27, 2014. http://www.berkshireeagle.com/learning/ci_25237266/making-grade-2014-working-together-future
=Public forums=
The organization founded the Berkshire County Race Task Force, whose first town hall meeting was held at Shakespeare & Company in collaboration with the Community Relations Service of the U.S. Department of JusticeStafford, Scott. "Learning to bridge racism." The Berkshire Eagle. (Pittsfield, MA). October 24, 2009. http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_13636701. Retrieved May 26, 2015. and hosted the Berkshire County Civil Rights Conference with support from Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz as keynote speaker and Massachusetts State Representative William "Smitty" Pignatelli, State Legislator Tricia Farley-Bouvier, and Pittsfield Mayor Daniel Bianchi."Mass. U.S. Attorney Ortiz Delivers Keynote Address At Civil Rights Discussion." WAMC Northeast Public Radio. November 19, 2014. http://wamc.org/post/mass-us-attorney-ortiz-delivers-keynote-address-civil-rights-discussion. Retrieved April 15, 2015. In 2014, BRIDGE was recognized for the efficacy of its cultural competence programs by Carolyn Turpin-Petrosino of Bridgewater State University in Understanding Hate Crimes: Acts, Motives, Offenders, Victims, and Justicehttp://www.routledgementalhealth.com/books/details/9780415484015/. "Understanding Hate Crimes: Acts, Motives, Offenders, Victims, and Justice (Paperback) - Routledge Mental Health." Routledge Mental Health. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
=Multicultural advocacy=
BRIDGE profiles multicultural leadership in the Berkshires through a monthly blog distributed through The Berkshire Eagle.Abbott, Kate. "We begin 'On the Bridge'." The Berkshire Eagle. (Pittsfield, MA). February 23, 2012. http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_20024930. Retrieved May 26, 2015. These editorials were collected into an anthology crowdfunded through IndieGogo in late 2014 and published in 2015 as Berkshire Mosaic: A Multicultural BRIDGE Living History Project.Townes, John. "Multicultural BRIDGE gets behind book on diversity." Berkshire Trade and Commerce p. 3. December 2014. http://www.btaconline.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/December-2014-BTAC.pdf. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
See also
External links
- [http://www.multiculturalbridge.org/ Multicultural BRIDGE official site]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150327201122/http://www.berkshireeagleblogs.com/onthebridge/ On The Bridge]
- [http://www.berkshiremosaic.com/ The Berkshire Mosaic]