The 2026 Mona Sherman Memorial Lecture: Dana Bash

2026 Mona Sherman Memorial Lecture
featuring

Dana Bash
Saturday, May 23, 5:00 p.m. 
at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center 

OLLI, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College, is honored to present Dana Bash as our 2026 Mona Sherman Memorial speaker.  Bash will be interviewed by Lisa Sharkey.

Ticket information:

OLLI Members have early access to free tickets to this lecture.

Tickets for members are first-come, first-served, and will be available on this page beginning at 9 a.m. on April 15, through April 28.

One ticket per member. General admission seating.

If tickets are still available, registration open to the public on 
Wednesday, May 6 at noon. 

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Dana Bash is CNN’s chief political correspondent, anchor of Inside Politics with Dana Bash and co-anchor of State of the Union with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, the network’s Sunday morning newsmaker show. Bash is an award-winning journalist who plays a key role in the network’s political coverage, conducting high-profile interviews with candidates, serving as an anchor for CNN’s Election Night in America special coverage and frequently moderating presidential debates and town hall specials.

Bash’s first book America’s Deadliest Election, which she co-authored with David Fisher, details the 1872 Louisiana gubernatorial election. It debuted on the New York Times bestseller list. In 2021, Bash launched her CNN series, Being…, which features in-depth conversations with individuals affecting American policy, politics, and culture, giving viewers an understanding of the human being behind the public face. Her digital CNN series, Badass Women of Washington, profiles women from various backgrounds and generations to show how they have shattered glass ceilings on their way up the ranks. Her CNN Special Report Rising Hate: Antisemitism in America is an in-depth look at how antisemitism, once the hate of extremists, became mainstream and explores ways to curb it.

Bash won the Radio and Television Correspondents Association’s Joan S. Barone Award for her original reporting on a STOCK Act loophole that led Congress to pass legislation to close it. She is also a winner of the National Press Foundation’s Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism and a three-time recipient of the Foundation’s Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress.

Bash graduated cum laude with her bachelor’s degree in political communications from The George Washington University.

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A creative pioneer across multiple media platforms, Lisa Sharkey has overseen the acquisition and publication of more than one hundred New York Times Bestsellers, including multiple at number one.

She is senior vice president and publisher of Harper Influence, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Authors she’s published include Former Israeli Hostage Eli Sharabi, journalist Jim Acosta, former NFL football player Tim Tebow, Congressman Jamie Raskin, skier Lindsey Vonn, former Yankee Jorge Posada, gymnast Jordan Chiles, supermodel Christie Brinkley, journalist Chris Whipple and His Majesty King Charles.

At HarperCollins Sharkey created a robust video and livestreaming division with tens of millions of views of book-related content.

Lisa is also a veteran interviewer, moderator, and speaker on various topics from book publishing to transferable skills in the media landscape and has written for top magazines such as Redbook, and Parents.

Prior to her publishing career Sharkey was President of Al Roker Entertainment, Senior Producer of Good Morning America and worked at various network news organizations from CBS to PBS and KingWorld.

A two-time Emmy Award winner Sharkey is also the recipient of Peabody and Dupont Awards for her work as part of the ABC News team during 9/11.

Sharkey co-authored, with her late husband, architect Paul Gleicher, the book Dreaming Green: Eco-Fabulous Homes Designed to Inspire published in 2008 by Clarkson Potter.

In 2024, Sharkey, received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the School of Arts and Sciences at her alma mater Washington University in St. Louis.

Sharkey also spearheads the annual Mona Sherman Memorial Lecture in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in honor of her late mother, which brings high profile speakers to the Berkshires at no cost to the community each Memorial Day weekend. 

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This lecture will be recorded and available on the OLLI at BCC YouTube channel in early June. 

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About Mona Sherman

The annual Mona Sherman Memorial Lecture was established to honor the memory of the late Mona Sherman, a dynamic businesswoman and volunteer leader who played a transformative role in the growth and expansion of OLLI at BCC. The lecture series, established through the generosity of her family and friends, honors both her love of the Berkshires community and of lifelong learning.

For over a decade, the Mona Sherman Memorial Lecture series has featured extraordinary nationally known writers and commentators: past speakers have included Chris Whipple, Congressman Jamie Raskin, Ari Melber, Cokie Roberts, Jim Acosta, Mika Brzezinski, Joe Klein, Katy Tur and others. The lectures have always been free and open to the public.

OLLI, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College, provides educational, social, and volunteer opportunities designed especially by and for people fifty years old and better, online and in-person throughout the Berkshires and beyond.

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We are grateful to the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center for being our co-presenter, to Berkshire Gas for being our lead sponsor, Berkshire Health Systems for their sponsorship of OLLI at BCC, and to the many friends and family of Mona Sherman for their continuing support.