LGBTQ Business/Professional/Community Leaders Networking (Pittsfield, MA)

Join Berkshire regional queer-owned business leaders, professionals, and community leaders in this social networking event at a queer-owned business once a month on the 3rd Wednesdays, 5:30-7:30pm (see schedule of locatins below).

This event is co-sponsored by Massachusetts LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, Berkshire Magazine LGBTQ+ Guide, & Q-MoB to help business, professional, and community leaders have a monthly space to get to know one another and briefly learn about one another's priorities and upcoming events. While this event is primarily for business, professional, & community leaders who identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community, allies who are publicly supportive of our community may attend.

3/19 Wander Berkshires: This kickoff event on 3/19 will also include a brief panel on the past, present, and future of LGBTQ businesses in the Berkshires with the following speakers:

PAST: Jason Vivori, Curator at the Berkshire Museum and one of the founders & long-time board members of Berkshire Stonewall Community Coalition, the oldest LGBTQ organization in the region, who will share some stories of amazing queer-owned businesses from the past.

PRESENT: Jay Santangelo, Owner of Wander Berkshires, a new coffee house and community-building space that has been at the center of a lot of recent innovation in the Berkshire LGBTQ community

FUTURE: Angie Montalvo-Greene, Membership Coordinator for the Massachusetts LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, who will talk about all the exciting and important activities and initiatives the chamber is kicking off all over the state and in the Berkshire region.

DIRECTIONS & PARKING: To find Wander Berkshires go into the alley that is off Depot St between McKay & North St. There is free parking in the lot shared with Tito's Mexican Restaurant - guests can park in any parking space after 4pm or in the public parking lot at the corner of Depot St & McKay St.

UPCOMING MONTHLY BUSINESS, PROFESSIONAL, & COMMUNITY LEADERS NETWORKNG EVENTS:

The LGBTQ Business, Professional, & Community Leaders Networking Event series will continue at these local LGBTQ-owned Berkshire businesses in upcoming months:

• 4/16/25, 5:30-7:30pm, at Brazzucas Market, 75 North St, Pittsfield, MA 01201, and on
• 5/21/25, 5:30-7:30 pm at Heart’s Pace Teahouse, 15 Eagle St, North Adams, MA 01247
• 6/18, 5:30-7:30pm, at Devonfield Inn, 85 Stockbridge Rd; Lee, MA 01238; Special Pride Gathering
  
  Please register for each individual networking event here on Eventbrite so our hosts will know how many people to expect. And if your Berkshire-based queer-owned business would like to host a monthly networking event this summer, please email Angie Montalvo-Greene at angie.montalvogreene@malgbtcc.ccsend.com or Bart Church at queermenoftheberkshires@gmail.com

CARPOOLING/RIDE-SHARE: If you need a ride or are open to carpooling, please indicate that when you are registering, & our ride coordinator will try to match you with people nearby who are interested in carpooling or offering rides.

CONFIDENTIALITY OF YOUR DATA: We use the data you provide to make statistical reports to Berkshire United Way, a non-profit foundation that funded part of the costs of getting these monthly networking events rolling. Your contact information will be kept strictly confidential and only shared with the 4 co-sponsoring organizations (Mass LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce, Berkshire Magazine Pride Guide, Q-MoB, and Wander Berkshire), and only to be used to promote participation in the on-going monthly networking events, and to invite participants to subscribe to the newsletter/email list of each of the sponsoring organizations (which is optional on the part of all participants). We may not sell your data to outside vendors, nor disclose it to outside organizations without a court order. While you can refuse to answer questions when you register, you may not provide false information, according to EventBrite & Q-MoB Community Guidelines. If you provide false information that misrepresents who you are, we reserve the right to cancel your registration, report you to Eventbrite security, and if you make any threats to people or property, we will promptly report you to local police.

CONTACTING US DAY OF EVENT: If on the day of the event you cannot join us or have trouble finding the event, please call or text the co-hosts Bart at 503-734-6508 or Jay at 347-891-0194