WAM Theatre Appoints Five Members to Board of Trustees

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LENOX, Mass. — WAM Theatre welcomed five new members to its Board of Directors.
 
Each appointee is a recognized leader within the Berkshire community and beyond, bringing expertise, lived experience, and a shared commitment to advancing opportunities for women and girls.
 
"We are thrilled to celebrate both our returning board members and those newly joining WAM Theatre's Board of Directors," said Deb Brothers, WAM Board Co-President. "Each member brings valuable expertise, lived experience, and fresh perspective that strengthens our collective leadership and deepens our impact. WAM's dedicated Board positions WAM to lead with vision, accountability, and care as we advance our mission for women and girls."
 
At the end of 2025, WAM welcomed Shela Levante (Executive Director of Institutional Advancement, State Commissioner for the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women), and Bryan Binder (Leads the firm's M&A Advisory practice at Jetty Rock Capital), At the start of 2026 WAM welcomed Peggy Malumphy (HR Professional and Board Chair of The Boston House), Diana L. Knaebe (Executive Officer of The Brien Center), and Elizabeth Nelson (Multidisciplinary Artist and Communications & Content Producer at Greylock). 
 
Carolyn Butler (Community Philanthropist and fundraiser) returned to the Board for her third term.
 
"This is a pivotal and energizing moment for WAM Theatre," added Managing Director Molly Merrihew. "With a growing and deeply engaged Board of Directors, we are strengthening our governance, expanding our community impact, and building shared investment in WAM's long-term sustainability. As we grow, we are increasing our capacity to leverage philanthropic support, cultivate meaningful cross-sector partnerships, and steward resources in ways that boldly advance our mission. Together—with our staff, board, artists and community—we are expanding opportunities for women and girls across the Berkshires while contributing to the national movement for gender equity."
 
"I'm very excited to collaborate with each of our board members this year," noted WAM Board Co-President Nicole Young-Martin. "Each person has such a deep love and admiration for WAM Theatre, making the work very enjoyable and rewarding. And, we have a diverse range of expertise including human resources, finance, equity and justice, fundraising, community outreach, marketing, and theatre producing that we can tap into, allowing us to help build organizational capacity as we work with WAM Theatre staff and leadership to usher in this next chapter. I thank everyone in advance for all the hard work and dedication that they'll contribute this year."
 
Those with expertise to share and are interested in speaking to WAM about volunteer opportunities including participation in a WAM Theatre Committee working alongside our Team and Board please contact WAM via email at info@wamtheatre.com.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Pittsfield Council Takes Up $243M Fiscal 2027 Budget

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Mayor Peter Marchetti detailed the city's $243 million spending plan during the first budget hearing of the season on Tuesday. 

The proposed operating budget for Pittsfield in fiscal year 2027 is $232,782,090, a 2.9 percent increase from this year. Marchetti compared that to hikes in fixed costs: a 9 percent increase in health insurance, a 7 percent increase in debt service, and more than a 5 percent increase in retirement contributions. 

"We needed to make reductions in other places," he explained. 

The total proposed budget is $243,234,868. It breaks down into $145,927,029 for the municipal operating budget, $86,855,061 for the schools, and $10,452,778 for proposed state assessments and overlay. 

To balance the budget, the administration will not fill several vacant positions, is funding police social workers and co-responders through opioid settlement funds, and reduces the library's Thursday hours. 

"Probably one of our most painful cuts that we have produced: The overall [Department of Public Services] budget has been reduced by $738,000 from fiscal year 26 to 27, with a reduction of five positions that are currently vacant, have been vacant for some time, and we believe the reason that those positions are vacant is based on our salaries," Marchetti explained. 

"So once we are able to successfully negotiate a contract with the teamsters, we will be back looking to be able to fund these positions from a later appropriation. It is not our intent to let them go vacant all year, but it's impossible to budget when we know we can't fill them, and we don't know what salary at this current stage to use." 

The budget includes $2 million in free cash to offset the tax rate, $19,791,219 from water & sewer enterprise funds, $81,959,322 from state aid ($68,855,061 in Chapter 70 School Aid), and $15,388,750 in local receipts. 

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