Berkshire Interfaith Organizing Appoints New Director

Berkshire Interfaith Organizing, a coalition of 19 congregations, other groups, and individual members working to advance justice throughout the county, has appointed Dondei Dean as its director and lead organizer.

She succeeds Wendy Krom, the group’s founding lead organizer, who has gone on to serve as an independent trainer and consultant.

We appreciate Wendy’s leadership and dedication over the years, which has included the mentoring of Dondei, who has developed a fresh, strong voice of the kind that we need in our community… She’s now poised to help BIO and the community move toward making justice real, and the Berkshires a welcome home, for everyone. ~ BIO President Martha Congdon

Dean has been a community organizer at BIO, involved in all aspects of the group’s work. She has been particularly focused on organizing residents harmed by issues of racial injustice and immigrant injustice. For example, her efforts helped lead to the recruitment and training of more than 70 volunteers who are now prepared to accompany local immigrants to ICE appointments and appearances in immigrant court and to better outreach from schools to families of the children hardest hit by the move to remote learning.

I’m excited to develop the work that Wendy and BIO leaders have done to build a network of residents throughout the county who are eager to work together on real life issues faced by the most vulnerable among us,” Dean said, “particularly in the urgent areas of racial justice and immigrant justice. Together we’ve made progress on these fronts, but there’s still so much more that we can and must do. ~ New BIO Director and Lead Organizer, Dondei Dean

Dean is a graduate of Dartmouth College, where she majored in studio art and minored in government and Spanish, in which she is fluent.