PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Board and staff of the Berkshire Immigrant Center (BIC) welcomed Melissa Canavan as our new Executive Director. 

 

Canavan joins BIC on May 16.

 

"I'm incredibly excited for this opportunity and I look forward to shepherding BIC through its next phase in serving the immigrant community in the Berkshires," said Canavan.

 

According to a press release:

 

Growing up in southern California as the child of immigrants from Mexico, she has firsthand experience of the challenges faced by newcomers to the US. She pursued her love of dance as an undergraduate at California State University, Long Beach and first came to the Berkshires in 2015 to intern at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival.

 

After staying on to work at the Pillow, Canavan earned her Masters of Science in Arts Administration from Boston University. Since 2020 she has worked at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, most recently as the Advancement Manager and manager of the Spanish-language Community Advisory Network (SCAN), which has broadened the diversity of the theater's cultural offerings and

audiences.

 

Canavan supports the immigrant community as an active volunteer with Latinas413, a group committed to empowering and helping develop the growth of Latina women in Berkshire County. She has maintained her connections to her love of dance as founder and artistic director of her own project-based dance company, the Melissa Martinez Project.

 

Canavan replaces Michelle Lopez, who left after helming the Center for more than three years to move to her hometown in upstate New York. BIC Board Member Dariana Castro, who chaired the Search Committee, said: "We sought out to find someone with deep commitment to the immigrant community, who is also a masterful storyteller."