For 11 years running, Berkshire Magazine has recognized individuals who work to make a better Berkshires. This year, two local LGBTQ+ leaders — Berkshire Pride Executive Director Cass Santos-China and VJ Hampton-VanSant, content creator and operations managers at Multicultural BRIDGE — are among the magazine’s Berkshire 25 2024 honorees:
With a profound commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community, Cass Santos-China, executive director of Berkshire Pride, has been instrumental in establishing Berkshire Pride as its own nonprofit. She has propelled the Berkshire Pride Festival from a small event with a few hundred attendees in 2018 to a major annual celebration drawing over 3,500 in 2024. Her dedication to creating safe spaces and fostering inclusion has significantly enhanced the community. Santos-China also serves on the board of the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires, co-ordinates The Rainbow Seniors of Berkshire County, and is a former board member of the Berkshire Stonewall Community Coalition. “She contributes so much to the Berkshires, working hard to ensure safe, fun activities for LGBTQIA+ individuals of all ages,” says Emma Lenski, director of education and outreach at Berkshire Pride.
JV Hampton-VanSant is content creator and operations manager at Multicultural BRIDGE. They are a Black nonbinary transfemme person, drag performer, seamstress, voice actor, children’s book author, and outspoken advocate for the queer and trans community in the Berk-shires, working with grace and positivity. Their gender-inclusive sewing class, Sew Runway Ready, is always full. They co-designed BRIDGE’S youth education program Happiness Toolbox. JV is a reader with Drag Story Hour Berkshire. They work with Berkshire Pride, having performed at their 2024 Festival. They served as board president of Berkshire Stonewall Community Coalition and have worked with Berkshire Coalition Suicide Prevention. “JV has been a model for youth on their journey. They live by their values, and poured their heart into their home community,” says Gwendolyn VanSant, CEO and founding director of Multicultural BRIDGE.
This year’s Berkshire 25 reception will be held on Monday, September 30, at 5:30 p.m. at Barrington Stage Company’s Boyd-Quinson Stage, located at 30 Union St. in Pittsfield. Click here for more.
— from a Berkshire Pride press release
More: berkshirepride.org; berkshiremag.com
Not a subscriber? Sign up today for a free subscription to Boston Spirit magazine, New England’s premier LGBT magazine. We will send you a copy of Boston Spirit 6 times per year and we never sell/rent our subscriber information. Click HERE to sign up!
