PITTSFIELD, MA -- John Bissell, CEO of Greylock Federal Credit Union; Peter Taylor, president of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation; and Gwendolyn VanSant, CEO of BRIDGE, issued a public written statement commiting to addressing systemic inequalities in our county head-on as they aim for equity of access and opportunity.
"As three leaders in Berkshire County, we recognize the unjust and uneven balance of power and privilege right here in our communities. Racial inequality has been built into our country's most influential and interconnected institutions—educational and economic, legal, philanthropic and, yes, cultural. We are writing to publicly commit to addressing systemic inequalities in our county head-on as we aim for equity of access and opportunity. This is why Greylock and Berkshire Taconic helped sponsor, and BRIDGE helped curate, the recent Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Conference in the Berkshires at Massachusetts College Of Liberal Arts (MCLA). It energized over 50 community members through a process that surfaced some of the most persistent systemic indicators and root causes of bias and discrimination."