1Berkshire Welcomes New Economic Recovery Corps Fellow
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — 1Berkshire announced the arrival of its new Economic Recovery Corps fellow, Lani Willmar.
The ERC Fellowship is a national program run by the International Economic Development Council thanks to funding from the United States Economic Development Administration. For the next year, Lani will be working with the Economic Development team at 1Berkshire, in partnership with the Berkshire Innovation Center, to assist existing and new efforts focused on supporting the region's innovation economy. 1Berkshire is one of only 64 host organizations across the country selected to host an ERC fellow, making it an exciting and rare chance to leverage highly skilled professional capacity for regional good.
The ERC Fellowship role in the Berkshires is focused on four primary areas, including:
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Bridging opportunities for youth to engage significantly in entrepreneurial activities within small and innovative businesses in the region.
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Helping to build additional connective tissue across partners and qualified referral resource providers across the four counties of Western Massachusetts.
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Identifying and pursuing new funding and technical assistance opportunities to bring into the region to support current and future business success.
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Sharing the authentic narrative of existing innovative businesses, entrepreneurs, and powerful stories being written across the region's diverse economic landscape.
Willmar is a Vietnamese American entrepreneur who began her journey in the Berkshires as a QuestBridge Scholar for low-income, first-generation students at Williams College. As the founder of Ethos Pathways and Ethos Admissions, she leads two youth-centered social impact organizations focused on education access, climate justice, and workforce development.
Drawing on both lived and professional experience, Willmar strives to bridge gaps in educational and economic mobility for students. She brings a decade of expertise building cross-sector youth development programs along with private tech-sector experience in early stage talent acquisition and scaled hiring. Willmar's work draws from both a global and local lens, including her time as a Fulbright Scholar in rural Slovakia working with beekeepers and at an agriculture trade school, and most recently as a member of the Berkshire Innovation Center's Stage 2 Accelerator.
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