Two Members Join Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation Board
SHEFFIELD, Mass. — David Offensend of Wassaic, N.Y., and Eleanore Velez of Lee, Mass., have joined the board of directors of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.
Offensend is president and CEO of Waltham-based Education Development Center, a global nonprofit focused on improving education, promoting health and expanding economic opportunity. Before that, he was chief operating officer for America Achieves and the New York Public Library.
Prior to his work in the nonprofit sector, Offensend cofounded Evercore Partners, an independent investment banking advisory firm, and held leadership roles at the investment organization of Robert M. Bass and Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking Partnership. He has served on the boards of Princeton University, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation.
Velez is an admissions counselor and coordinator of the Multicultural Center at Berkshire Community College, where she serves students from ethnically and culturally diverse backgrounds. She has received the 2019 Latinx Excellence on the Hill award from the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, as well as the Literacy Network of South Berkshire Founders of America Award, the Berkshire Immigrant Center's Jane Addams Spirit Award and the Multicultural Competence Award from Multicultural Bridge.
She is currently a board member of Barrington Stage Company and a member of the Four Freedoms Coalition.
Offensend and Velez join a regional board of 21 members. With assets of $160 million, Berkshire Taconic is a major funder of nonprofit organizations in its four-county region, working in partnership with donors and nonprofits to meet the needs of communities.
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