Gwendolyn VanSant

Gwendolyn VanSant is an experienced organizational change consultant and coach who works at the intersection of equity and inclusion, positive psychology, and strategy development. She is the CEO and Founding Director of BRIDGE and the Equity and Inclusion Team Lead at Changemaker Strategies. A skilled community organizer, Gwendolyn is also a well-recognized thought leader on racial justice and reparations. Her cultural competence training, coaching, and capacity building consulting has been sought out across the country.

In spring 2020 for BRIDGE, Gwendolyn produced and curated New Pathways, a series of timely talks and action-focused labs with local and national leaders to create more equitable futures and support new forms of leadership and organizing. A longtime activist, Gwendolyn has founded several initiatives based on the principles of equity and justice, the inherent dignity and worth of individuals, and our interconnected web of humanity. A frequent speaker and panelist, Gwendolyn spoke most recently at the 38th Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of W. E. B. Du Bois at the Schumacher Center for New Economics, the 2019 Western Mass Health Equity Summit at UMASS Amherst, and PolicyLink’s Equity Summit in Chicago (2018). In 2019, Gwendolyn was named “Woman of the Year” by Berkshire Business and Professional Women. In 2018, she was selected by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women as one of the Commonwealth's “Unsung Heroines” and named a finalist in Executive Leadership in the 2018 Berkshire Nonprofit Awards.