OLLI Town Hall with State Senator Adam Hinds

OLLI TOWN HALL
WITH STATE SENATOR ADAM HINDS
Monday, March 25th 2:30pm-4pm

K-111 Lecture Hall at Berkshire Community College
1350 West Street, Pittsfield, Mass. 01201

Free & open to all!

While national politics may be dominating the headlines these days, state and local politics and policy are vital to our daily lives and our communities. Join us for a very special Town Hall for OLLI at BCC members with State Senator Adam Hinds on Monday, March 25th at Berkshire Community College. Senator Hinds will share his legislative agenda for the coming year and how it will affect our region.

Senator Hinds (D-Pittsfield) was elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 2016 and re-elected in 2018.  He represents the largest geographic territory in the Legislature, including all of Berkshire County. He serves as the Senate chair of the Joint Committee of Revenue and the vice chair of the Senate Committee on Redistricting. He is a member of the powerful Senate Committee on Ways & Means as well as several other policy committees with jurisdiction over matters of importance throughout western Mass: Health Care Financing; Education, Tourism, Arts & Cultural Development and Senate Rules.

Senator Hinds also serves as the Senate co-chair of the Rural Caucus, the Senate vice-chair of the Cultural Caucus and is an active member of the Gateway Cities, Regional Schools, Regional Transit Authority, Criminal Justice Reform, Clean Energy and Food Systems Caucuses.

Before becoming State Senator, he taught two classes for OLLI at BCC: one on contemporary Middle East history and politics and the other on youth at risk.

Senator Hinds attended Wesleyan University and then studied international law and negotiation at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He is a Truman National Security Fellow.

Senator Hinds is the founding director of the Pittsfield Community Connection, a program designed to proactively engage at-risk youth before exposure to and engagement in violence and crime, and the former Executive Director of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, based in North Adams.

Senator Hinds previously worked for the United Nations and spent nearly ten years focused on the Middle East. He spent three-and-a-half years in Iraq, and was based in Jerusalem for two years as chief regional advisor to the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. He worked with Kofi Annan to attempt to broker a ceasefire in Syria and was part of a team that worked to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons program. Early in his career Senator Hinds worked for former Congressman John Olver and as a regional director for John Kerry for President, where he served under Susan Rice, the former US National Security Advisor.

Join us on March 25th to learn more about important policy challenges in our region and state, and share your concerns and ideas with Senator Hinds.  OLLI at BCC President Peter Bluhm will introduce Senator Hinds.

Space is limited and RSVPs are required. We hope to see you there!