1Berkshire Adds Senior Marketing Specialist

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Elizabeth Nelson has joined 1Berkshires as the senior marketing specialist.

Nelson is working hand-in-hand with Lindsey Schmid, vice president of Tourism and Marketing for 1Berkshire, to continue to market the Berkshires as a great place to live, work and play. She will also work with the team on marketing the Berkshire Flyer and focus on a revamp of the website.

"We are thrilled to bring Elizabeth on board and add a new position to the marketing team," Schmid said. "We look forward to utilizing her considerable skills in marketing, as well as her expertise and connections with the creative economy to help promote the Berkshires - both regionally and nationally."

Nelson previously served as the marketing communications manager at Berkshire Humane Society, where she helmed the marketing strategy, redesigning the Humane Tales newsletter and helping to open a second Catwalk Boutique (the shelter's successful upscale resale shop) in Lenox. Before moving to the Berkshires, she worked for the national labor union Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, where she helped launch SDC Journal, a quarterly magazine celebrating the crafts of stage direction and choreography. She served as SDC Journal's inaugural Art Director for eight years.

Nelson is a playwright and multidisciplinary artist. Recently, her plays "Colors Inside the Body" (which she developed as a member of Berkshire Voices) and "The Golden Hour" received readings in New York City and Denver, respectively, and her 10-minute play "Fugue" has been produced worldwide. She is an outdoor enthusiast and animal welfare advocate, and lives in Pittsfield with her husband, three cats and a Puggle named Harper Lee.

Pittsfield City Council Weighs in on 'Crisis' in Public Schools

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
08:59PM / Monday, December 23, 2024

A half-dozen people addressed the City Council from the floor of Monday's meeting, including Valerie Anderson, right.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — After expressing anger and outrage and making numerous calls for accountability and transparency, the 11 members of the City Council on Monday voted to support the School Committee in seeking an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct by staff members at Pittsfield High School that have come to light in recent weeks.

 

At the close of a month that has seen three PHS administrators put on administrative leave, including one who was arrested on drug trafficking charges, the revelation that the district is facing a civil lawsuit over inappropriate conduct by a former teacher and that a staff member who left earlier in the year is also under investigation at his current workplace, the majority of the council felt compelled to speak up about the situation.

 

"While the City Council does not have jurisdiction over the schools … we have a duty to raise our voices and amplify your concerns and ensure this crisis is met with the urgency it demands," Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey said.

 

About two dozen community members attended the special meeting of the council, which had a single agenda item.

 

Four of the councilors precipitated the meeting with a motion that the council join the School Committee in its search for an investigation and that the council, "be included in the delivery of any disclosures, interim reports or findings submitted to the city."

 

Last week, the School Committee decided to launch that investigation. On Monday, City Council President Peter White said the School Committee has a meeting scheduled for Dec. 30 to authorize its chair to enter negotiations with the Springfield law firm of Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas to conduct that probe.

 

Ward 7 Councilor Rhonda Serre, the principal author of the motion of support, was one of several members who noted that the investigation process will take time, and she, like Kavey, acknowledged that the council has no power over the public schools beyond its approval of the annual district budget.