The IMCC provides resources, programming and professional development to sustain a culture of inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility.

The GCC community depends on cooperation, shared purpose, and the understanding that every voice and experience adds value to the whole. Guided by our core values: inclusion, transparency, creativity, integrity, innovation, and sustainability, we strive to foster a caring and inclusive learning environment where belonging is nurtured, dialogue is encouraged and our shared responsibility to one another is honored.

IMCC initiatives like the BEElonging Student Ambassadors program strengthen community and empower students to embody GCC’s values and build leadership skills. Other opportunities center on professional development, campus dialogue, inclusive practices and institutional accountability. We lead compliance and education efforts related to Title IX, affirmative action, equal opportunity employment, LGBTQ+ inclusion and restorative justice. Through programs, partnerships, and shared leadership, the office helps ensure that GCC remains a place where people can learn, work, and grow together, guided by compassion, mutual respect and continuous communication.

Strategic Plan

Greenfield Community College has a strong history of striving to be an inclusive institution that prides itself in providing equitable access to an excellent education. As our student population changes, as our region changes, and as our nation changes, the college must also transform and become even more intentional about the way we enact our values.

We have identified four values core to the college’s diversity, equity and inclusion work:

  • Incorporate and enact evidence-based practices
  • Embrace an ethos of learning
  • Strive for continual improvement
  • Share practices freely

We have also identified three strategic priorities:

  1. Support Student Success
  2. Diversify Faculty and Staff
  3. Increase Cultural Dexterity

Within each of the strategic priorities are specific goals with key indicators, implementation guidelines, and responsible people listed. While this is a living document that will evolve with the college, the hope is that each of the people identified will be accountable for some aspect of their work strengthening diversity, equity, and inclusion at the college.

We also call on all administrators to incorporate diversity outcomes that support the three strategic priorities as part of their regular responsibility and accountability.

Together, we will help shape an institution that is ready for 2042 (the year the United States will become a minority majority nation) and is prepared to lead the region as a model for embracing diverse populations, equitable access to all the opportunities a strong education entails, and inclusive practices that ensure all students, faculty, staff, and community members can call GCC their college.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Awards
NominationsPrevious Honorees

The deadline for nominations for 2026 awards was, Friday, November 21, 2025. Awards will be presented at a GCC all college meeting in spring 2026.

Greenfield Community College invites nominations for two annual awards honoring the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Living the Dream and Bright Lights awards will go to individuals or organizations in our region that have carried on the ideals of MLK in their school or community.

  1. The Bright Lights Award is for young people. Nominations for any individual or group of individuals up to the age of 22 are welcome for this award.
  2. The Living the Dream Award is for people over 22 years of age. Nominations for any individual or group of individuals are welcome for this award.

Candidates will be individuals or organizations either based or engaged in work in the greater Western Massachusetts area and will:

  • Demonstrate outstanding commitment and service to the ideals of diversity, equity, and inclusion or demonstrate emerging or sustained commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts proportionate to their capacity to do so
  • Show visible and continuing leadership in one or more of the following areas: civil rights, community, and/or civic services
  • Raise awareness of social injustice, speak on behalf of justice, celebrate diversity, and impel action in building a better future for all. Outcomes should include clear expression of deliverables or clear achievements in community service with an emphasis on actions leading to long-term benefits to recipients and a community at large
  • Show service and advocacy for the human rights of those marginalized because of poverty, race or ethnicity, national origin, gender, age, or any other reason
  • Innovate for change with work that demonstrates innovation and creativity in addressing issues related to social justice.
  • Exemplify MLK’s nonviolent philosophy and the nonviolent philosophies of other activists in the quest for improved human relations and civil rights.
Year Bright Lights Award Living the Dream Award
2025 Nate Woodard Alyssa Arnell
Michael Hannigan
2024 Amherst Regional High School reporters for The Graphic Amy McMahan
Nathaniel Whitaker
2023 The Academy at Charlemont’s Social Justice Council Gloria Matlock
2022 Solange Loomis
Rio Santos		 Kelandra Hurd
2021 Angela Rivero
Yosola Camille		 Leo Hwang
Jacob Milton
2020 Acadia Black Penny Ricketts
2019 Monte Belmonte
Sitabile Maodzwa
2018 Marina Osit Kenny Chartrand
2017 Julia Fedoruk Dovi Afesi
2016 Carys Lamberg and Hannah (Willow) Lyon-Wildman Julia Moore
2013 Amanda Mundt Abbie Jenks
2012 Juliana Aprileo Herb Hentz
2011 Bailey W. Jackson III and Timothy Bullock
2010 Laura Aierstuck Tammy Campbell
2009 Court Dorsey
2008 8th grade students at Hilltop Montessori School in Brattleboro, VT Sunny Miller
2007 Anthony Ford, Kayla Ford, Devin Gaynor, Kyle Jackson, Andrew Marte, Samantha Marte, and Jeremy Ortiz Maria Tarajano Rodman
2006 Alice L. Urban Mistinguette Smith
2005 Jaymee Conway, Tasha Gaston, Adriana Lara, Ashley Wheeler, and Ashley Bruno Juanita Nelson and Robert “Chip” Wood
2004 Lawanza F. Brewington, Dwayne L. Brewington, and the Honorable Stanley C. Rosenberg

Institutional Statement on Inclusion

As an inclusive community, Greenfield Community College engages in intentional and ongoing reflection of diversity as we seek to create a culture that values, encourages and embraces a wide range of individual and group differences.

Resolution of GCC Assembly, passed on December 7, 2009