Volunteers Needed for ValleyCreates Advisory Committee at Community Foundation

The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts (CFWM)

CFWM seeks to enrich the quality of life of the people of our region by encouraging philanthropy; developing a perpetual, flexible endowment; assessing and responding to emerging and changing needs; serving as a resource, catalyst, and coordinator for charitable activities; promoting efficiency in the management of charitable funds.

Strategic Vision: We are committed to increasing equity and opportunity so that all residents of Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire counties have access to a satisfying quality of life.

CFWM volunteers support our community by serving as reviewers, committee members, Advisors and Trustee/Directors who are invested in our community, have a commitment for advancing equity in our region, interest and/or experience in community or educational engagement, fundraising, investments, financial audits and budgeting, and/or nonprofit work.

Intersectional equity is a cornerstone of the Foundation's work. We are committed to aligning our staff and volunteers through our shared organizational values including community wisdom, collaboration, equity, integrity, and justice.

In alignment with CFWM’s strategic priority to advance equity in Western Massachusetts, the Foundation seeks volunteers who collectively reflect the diversity of the region—across gender, age, race, ethnicity, disability, and geographic representation from Hampden, Franklin, and Hampshire counties.

Position Overview

The ValleyCreates Advisory Committee shapes and guides CFWM’s Arts and Creativity work by providing valuable feedback and insight on the evolving needs of the sector, ensuring our work is best responding to identified needs, and is forward-thinking in how to sustain the initiative.

The ValleyCreates Advisory Committee members work closely with CFWM staff to ensure that grantmaking processes are inclusive and equitable, and that outreach is as expansive as possible, amplifies the networks of previous grantees, and intentionally strives to reach populations traditionally underserved by grant funding. Members act as trusted ambassadors of CFWM programs and bring valuable community knowledge, insight, and expertise to the Foundation’s decision making.

Key Responsibilities

• Assist with grant planning and development, including proposal language, submission requirements;
• Serve as a reviewer for grant proposals as appropriate (and where conflicts of interest do not intervene);
• Occasionally take part in feedback calls to applicants;
• Identify clear action steps that can be implemented in response to the needs of the Valley’s diverse community of artists and arts organizations;
• Assist in curating gatherings for the arts sector;
• Assist with implementation of a grassroots outreach plan to expand the applicant pool;
• Provide advice and feedback on ways to be more inclusive with our programming, and ways to reach an applicant pool that is more diverse;
• Identify potential new partnerships with communities of color and other traditionally underserved communities;
• Assist in identifying stories/work that should be shared in the media;
• Participate in bi-monthly Advisory Group meetings.

Time Commitment

• Terms are three years, with a maximum of nine years of service.
• The Advisory Committee has standing meetings 6 times per year in a mix of in‑person and virtual formats for approximately nine hours total. In addition, some members of the group meet more often during grant review cycles and when planning a convening. Grant reviews can take 4-6 hours of review time, plus an additional 3-hour review meeting. Convening planning can take up to an additional 10 hours.

Total Commitment: About 20-30 hours per year.

Experience and Skills

The ValleyCreates Advisory Committee is made up of folks with a knowledge of the arts sector in the three counties of western MA. Experience can vary from artists of all disciplines, arts administrators, culture bearers, educators, venue managers, community-based arts leaders, advocates, etc. Members should express a desire to work collaboratively and come to the table with a curiosity and willingness to consider varied experiences and thoughts on how to support the arts sector.

Advisory members are:

• Curious and open to learning
• Collaborative and community‑minded
• Committed to equitable, mission‑driven work
• Willing to engage in thoughtful dialogue with fellow volunteers and stakeholders

Additional information and timeline

CFWM is currently recruiting volunteers who will serve on the ValleyCreates Advisory Committee beginning in Fall 2027. We will need 6-8 members, preferably from across all three counties. We hope to confirm volunteers in time to learn more about our work by participating in our annual scholarship review process in Spring 2027 for earlier engagement.

For more information and submit a request to volunteer please visit: https://communityfoundation.org/contact/volunteer-with-your-community-foundation/

If you need help completing the form in the link above please contact Briana Wales-Thaxton at bwales@communityfoundation.org