2025-03-21T13:22:27-04:00 2023-12-31 990EZ 2023-01-01 884260268 Berkshire Pride Inc % Cass Santos China BERK 4133293000 34 DEPOT ST SUITE 207 Pittsfield MA 012011467 Cass Santos China Executive Director 2025-03-23 false 2023 2025-03-06 01:10:19Z X X X X 112082 X 105796 2036 4250 4376 -126 0 0 0 107706 500 36719 5647 16880 3569 22139 85454 22252 0 0 22252 0 22252 0 22252 0 22252 To promote the visibility inclusion equity and safety of LGBTQ+ individuals and families in Berkshire County through community-building events education advocacy and year-round programming. Key accomplishments in 2023 include: Hosting our largest LGBTQ+ Pride Festival to date with over 3,000 attendees 7th annual festival 2nd Annual Parade Launching the first After Party after the festival. Developing and Providing a Safe Spaces training to over a dozen businesses and nonprofits. Leasing our first office space. Writing our first grant from Mass Humanities and and receiving $40,000 to hire two part-time staff. Collaborating with community partners on economic empowerment housing and gender-affirming care access. Berkshire Pride LGBTQ+ Festival- Our flagship annual event drew over 3,000 attendees in 2023 with participants traveling from across Massachusetts Vermont New York Connecticut and Rhode Island. The festival serves as a significant economic driver for Berkshire County by supporting small businesses artists and local downtown commerce. It provides a vital platform for LGBTQ+ visibility hiring dozens of LGBTQ+ performers and musicians and featuring 150+ resource vendors offering critical services and outreach. 31850 17515 LGBTQ+ Community Resource & Drop-in Center- In 2023 we established our first-ever physical office space in Pittsfield creating a safe welcoming location for community members to gather. This space includes classroom areas for youth programming drop-in and social hours and a free community clothing exchange with gender-affirming clothing and personal hygiene products for trans and gender-diverse individuals. It has become a hub for connection resources and support. 0 16757 Launching the Safe Spaces Project- This initiative delivers foundational LGBTQ+ education focused on terminology pronouns and the mental health needs of queer and trans youth particularly related to suicidality and the importance of affirming adults. In late 2023 we trained over 40 individuals including educators youth workers and the entire Berkshire District Attorneys Office 60+ staff scheduled their training for 2024 creating ripple effects of impact across our regions institutions and community settings. We also received grants to cover the cost of scholarships for individuals and educators throughout Berkshire County. 8000 1751 36023 X Emma Lenski Director of Education & Outreach 30 0 0 0 Cass Santos-China Executive Director 30 0 0 0 Michael Taylor Board President 2 0 0 0 Nazira Vargas Martinez Board Treasurer 2 0 0 0 Emma Lenksi Board Clerk 2 0 0 0 Jessie Fried Board Member 2 0 0 0 Casi Kristant Co-Chair 4 0 0 0 false false false false false false false false false Cass Santos-China 18 Waubeek Road Pittsfield MA Pittsfield MA 01201 4133293000 false false false false false false false false false false false NONE NONE true X 0 0 0 0 99948 99948 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 99948 99948 41002 58946 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 99948 0 X Part II - Line 1, Unusual Grant Lists | Name of the Contributor:, Date of Grant:, Year:, Amount:, Description:| Donor, 07 29 2023, "2023", $5848, 501c3 nonprofit community partner deposit from fiscal sponsorship remaining funds.| RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED Doing Business As Names Berkshire Pride Part I, line 10 | Activity:, Grantee Name:, Grantee Address:, Amount:, Relationship:| Donation for clothing, grantee, "Donation for clothing and shoes", $500.00, No Relationship| Part I, line 16 | Other Expenses:, Amount:| Programs Supplies, $10006.00| Program Advertising and Promotions, $2113.00| Conferences Conventions Meetings, $353.00| Dues & Subscriptions, $195.00| Employee Volunteer Incentives, $900.00| Insurance, $1433.00| Professional Development, $853.00| Event Expenses, $3866.00| Space Rental, $931.00| Travel Expense, $333.00| PayPal Fees, $355.00| Square Fees, $57.00| Training Program Expenses, $348.00| Mileage Reimbursements, $396.00| Part IV, List of Officers | Employee Name:, Description:| Emma Lenski, $25 per hr beginning in Sept 2023| Cass Santos-China, $25 per hour beginning in July 2023| Our organization was unable to file Form 990-EZ for the 2023 tax year by the original deadline due to delays in the IRSs internal systems that resulted in our EIN not being recognized when attempting to e-file. The system displayed a message indicating IRS database delays which also impacted donors who were unable to locate our organization in the IRS search tool. As a newly established nonprofit we were unaware that we could file Form 8868 for an extension and believed the system issue would be resolved. We now understand the process more clearly and are taking every step to ensure timely filing going forward. We respectfully request penalty abatement due to reasonable cause.