Gwendolyn VanSant is co-founder of BRIDGE (2007) with Bob Norris and Marthe Bourdon… a grassroots organization dedicated to promoting cultural competence and integration of diverse groups in Western Massachusetts. Graduating from Bard College at Simon’s Rock in 1992, Gwendolyn began her life here in the Berkshires. Powered by her own life experiences as well as formal education, certifications and training, she advocates fervently and shares her personal and professional experiences with the community at large having met the challenges presented as an African-American woman, professional and mother. Her diverse family includes her own experience within her cultural identities and those of her children representing various dimensions of diversity (e.g. Type 1 Diabetes, Autism, LGBTQ, & biracial.)Gwendolyn VanSant, diversity leader and trainer, bilingual certified interpreter, and community activist/organizer, designs curriculum for workplace language classes as well as highly customizable cultural competency, literacy & proficiency training & multicultural education curriculum for groups of all ages and professional, educational and socioeconomic backgrounds. Designing community forums and facilitating tough systemic conversations, Gwendolyn has established herself as an expert in diversity leadership and cultural competence. She has worked with corporations, schools, colleges & universities, law enforcement, hospitals, teaching and leadership institutes and more. Originating in Berkshire County, her social justice work has been sought out locally, in other Western Massachusetts counties, bordering towns of NY and CT and as far as Boston for cultural competence training, curriculum consulting, keynote speaker and as an expert to initiate both a Workplace Spanish for Law Enforcement, an incentivized year- long program for BCC in 2010 and the first Women of Color in the Workplace Retreat at Amherst College in 2013 for graduating seniors and alumnae. Gwendolyn VanSant has also served on the Great Barrington Citizen’s Panel for Police Officer and Sergeant Selection.
