BIC YouTube Videos

Amy Sosne, MD, educator, and Williams College alum, shares her deeply personal journey through trauma, medicine, teaching, and mindfulness, exploring what it means to become your own first responder in moments of crisis and change. In this episode of My Story Vault, Amy Sosne joins Dr. Dennis Rebelo to reflect on a life shaped by trauma, resilience, and an ongoing commitment to trauma-informed education. A medical doctor, author, and educator at Williams College, Amy traces her story from growing up in New Jersey through her academic path at Williams, Mount Sinai, and psychiatry residency, where her lived experiences began to profoundly reshape her understanding of mental health, care, and institutional systems. Amy discusses her early exposure to childhood trauma and how dissociation, hyper-efficiency, and achievement became survival strategies. She shares how these patterns followed her into medical training, culminating in burnout, misdiagnosis, and repeated hospitalizations that ultimately led her to step away from residency. One triggering encounter with a patient set her back to her traumatized self and caused her to question her ability to continue as a physician. This trigger led to a breakdown of her identity, which had long suppressed her traumatized younger self. No longer able to be a solid physician and resident, she became a patient. Over a series of psychiatric misdiagnoses—resulting from her inability to process and voice her trauma—and repeated hospitalizations, she ultimately decided to step away during her second year of her psychiatry residency. Through candid reflection, Amy describes how the healthcare system often failed to fully recognize trauma histories, both in patients and in clinicians themselves. The conversation explores Amy’s pivot toward education and her work teaching college students and supporting elementary school outreach programs in North Adams. Central to her approach is the concept of a “mindfulness toolkit,” which she frames as learning to be one’s own first responder. Using the metaphor of an “inner tree,” Amy explains how roots, trunk, and branches represent life circumstances, core stability, and chosen pathways, including how loss, injury, or disruption does not destroy the whole self. Amy also reflects on writing her memoir, A World Turned Upside Down; A Memoir of Healing, and her mindfulness guide, Your Inner Tree; Building a Mindfulness Toolkit - Yourself as First Responder, describing the emotional impact of authorship, the limits of resilience narratives, and the need for radical acceptance. She speaks openly about ongoing institutional challenges, professional evaluation systems, and the importance of setting boundaries to protect one’s mental health. Throughout the episode, Amy emphasizes the necessity of trauma-informed lenses in education, healthcare, and organizational life, grounding her insights firmly in lived experience rather than abstraction. Links: Amy Sosne – Your Inner Tree Amy Sosne – A World Turned Upside Down Amy Sosne Consulting (site has links to buy books, blog, and info) https://amysosne.com/ Berkshire Innovation Center: www.berkshireinnovationcenter.com Narrative Research Group: narrativeresearchgroup.org For more information or to share a question or insight, please email Shannon [at] narrativeresearchgroup [dot] org Contributors: Dr. Amy Sosne, Dr. Dennis Rebelo, Nate Christy, Shannon Rebelo #TraumaInformed, #MindfulnessToolkit, #Resilience, #MentalHealth, #Education, #Wellness, #PersonalNarrative, #Teaching, #StudentSupport, #MentalHealthAwareness, #MyStoryVault

Future Innovators is a hands-on program at the Berkshire Innovation Center that empowers rising high school students to explore creativity, build real prototypes, and learn how to solve meaningful, real-world problems. Through human skills training, design thinking, and the DMAIC innovation framework, students work in teams to turn ideas into working solutions. Addressing challenges related to health, sustainability, access, and community well-being. Along the way, students engage with local manufacturers, engineers, and entrepreneurs, gaining firsthand exposure to how innovation happens in the real world and how ideas move from concept to impact. More than a summer program, Future Innovators helps students build confidence, collaboration skills, and a clearer sense of what they’re capable of—often reshaping how they see their academic and professional futures. Future Innovators is hosted by the Berkshire Innovation Center, a catalyst for innovation, advanced manufacturing, and workforce development in the Berkshires. Learn more about the program and the work happening at the Berkshire Innovation Center: 👉https://www.berkshireinnovationcenter.com/futureinnovators

Dr. Joshua Mendel, Chief of Staff at MCLA, shares his journey from growing up in the Berkshires to guiding students, partnerships, and community engagement across the region. He reflects on service work, leadership development, and the experiences that anchor his approach to higher education and family life. In this episode, Dr. Joshua Mendel, Chief of Staff at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), joins Dr. Dennis Rebelo to trace a life shaped by service, community commitment, and long-standing ties to the Berkshires. Josh begins by revisiting his early childhood in Adams, where outdoor exploration, a tight-knit community, and supportive parents helped form the foundations of curiosity and relationship-building that continue to guide his work today. He shares memories of growing up alongside friends who later became surgeons, professors, and creators—early indicators of the environment that shaped his values. Josh describes his pathway from college student to leader in higher education, beginning with pivotal experiences at Assumption University. A key turning point emerged through his involvement with campus ministry and the Mexico Mission program, where immersion in service work and life within an Otomí community offered lessons in humility, reflection, and the power of shared responsibility. These experiences became anchor memories that still guide his decision-making, reminding him to slow down, observe, and lead with awareness. After earning undergraduate and graduate degrees at Assumption and working in student affairs at Endicott College, Josh returned to the Berkshires to join MCLA. His roles evolved across admissions, transfer support, advancement, and program development, including helping re-establish the college’s MBA program. He explains how his work blends student success, faculty support, regional partnerships, and community connections—an approach rooted in understanding people, aligning values, and ensuring that outside organizations contribute positively to student experience. Josh also recounts his first collaboration with the Berkshire Innovation Center and how trust, follow-through, and careful relationship-building shaped his involvement. Throughout the episode, he reflects on MCLA’s mission as a public liberal arts institution and its national recognition for social mobility, emphasizing the college’s ability to support students who are determined to create better futures for themselves and their families. In the final portion of the conversation, Josh speaks about fatherhood, describing how he and his wife nurture the interests of their twins through exploration, learning, and shared experiences. For Josh, service extends from his professional life into his parenting, and he wants to be known most for being a good dad. Links MCLA: https://www.mcla.edu/ Berkshire Innovation Center Accelerator Program: https://www.berkshireinnovationcenter.com/accelerator-program Narrative Research Group: https://narrativeresearchgroup.org/ For questions or insights: Shannon [at] narrativeresearchgroup [dot] org Contributors Dr. Joshua Mendel, Dr. Dennis Rebelo, Nate Christy, Shannon Rebelo, PJ Moynihan, Jordan Callahan #MCLA, #HigherEducation, #SocialMobility, #Admissions, #CommunityEngagement, #ServiceWork, #MexicoMission, #LeadershipDevelopment, #BerkshireCounty, #StudentSuccess, #Partnerships, #FacultySupport, #Parenting, #CareerPath, #PublicLiberalArts

Video testimonial featuring STAT (System Thinking for the Application of Technologies) Program alumni. #ManufacturingAcademy #STATProgram #HumanSkills #SystemsThinking #CareerGrowth #BerkshireInnovationCenter

Video testimonial featuring STAT (System Thinking for the Application of Technologies) Program alumni. #ManufacturingAcademy #STATProgram #HumanSkills #SystemsThinking #CareerGrowth #BerkshireInnovationCenter

Video testimonial featuring STAT (System Thinking for the Application of Technologies) Program alumni. #ManufacturingAcademy #STATProgram #HumanSkills #SystemsThinking #CareerGrowth #BerkshireInnovationCenter

This is Part 3 of the Berkshire Clean Energy 2025 event held at the Berkshire Innovation Center on September 17, 2025. In this session, Sarah Cullinan, Senior Program Director for the Net Zero Grid Program at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), presents an in-depth overview of Massachusetts’ transition to the future electric grid. Sarah explains how statewide decarbonization goals, aging infrastructure, and rapid adoption of heat pumps, EVs, renewables, and energy storage are driving unprecedented grid transformation. She outlines the purpose and structure of the state’s new Electric Sector Modernization Plans (ESMPs) and the role of the Grid Modernization Advisory Council (GMAC). Topics covered include: • The factors pushing Massachusetts toward a modernized, two-way, data-rich grid • How electrification and DER growth impact peak demand and infrastructure needs • Why utilities must shift from reactive to proactive long-term planning • The ESMP process, five-year cycles, regulatory requirements, and GMAC oversight • Barriers to innovation, reliability constraints, and affordability challenges • Opportunities in AI, advanced grid technologies, and distributed energy solutions • Grid tech case studies funded by MassCEC (smart circuit breakers, AI planning tools, transmission congestion solutions) • The need for statewide energy literacy, municipal engagement, and stronger customer feedback channels • Q&A on workforce development, grid planning participation, procurement, regulatory barriers, and the future of distributed systems This session also includes discussion from CELG members, Williams College, climate-tech startups, and regional business leaders on what comes next for clean energy in the Berkshires.

This session of the Berkshire Clean Energy 2025 event features Tanja Srebotnjak (Executive Director, Zilkha Center for the Environment) and Jason Moran (Assistant Director for Energy & Utilities) from Williams College, presenting an in-depth look at the college’s ongoing decarbonization journey. They outline Williams’ goal of reducing stationary Scope 1 and all Scope 2 emissions by at least 80%, their Energy & Carbon Master Plan, and the technical, geological, and regulatory barriers they’ve encountered. The session covers: - Williams’ path from carbon neutrality (since 2020) to deep operational decarbonization - Evaluation of replacement energy sources: biomass, renewable natural gas, hydrogen, electrification, heat pumps, and small modular reactors - Why heat pump–based electrification became the preferred strategy - Failed geothermal test wells and geological constraints - National Grid limitations on peak load growth - Required upgrades to campus electric distribution infrastructure - Challenges aligning decarbonization with major capital projects (athletics, housing, dining, accessibility) - Opportunities in thermal energy storage, battery storage, and load management - Permitting, tariff, contractor availability, and regulatory hurdles - Lessons learned about site-specific solutions, stakeholder alignment, and campus-wide construction impacts This session follows the CELG’s microgrid presentation and is Part 2 of the day’s programming.

Dr. Dennis Rebelo reflects on the purpose of My Story Vault and why surfacing personal work-life narratives impacts individuals, families, students, and communities. In this solo episode, he explains the narrative process, decision points, and the conditions that allow stories to reveal meaning. In this special solo episode of My Story Vault, Dr. Dennis Rebelo steps out from behind the interviewer’s chair to reflect on the purpose and impact of the podcast series. He explains why he and the team dedicate extensive time and resources to uncovering compelling narratives—stories that guests often don’t realize hold deep professional and personal meaning. Drawing from examples such as Rich Peters, a truck driver who became a chief scientist at SABIC, Dr. Rebelo reveals how the podcast has helped community members, coworkers, and families see individuals in new ways. Throughout the episode, he highlights how students, teachers, and guidance counselors have responded to these stories, noting that the podcast’s accessible narratives can ignite inspiration during moments of uncertainty. Dr. Rebelo describes the technical and human elements involved in the story-unpacking process, from creating generative dialogue to setting conditions that help guests articulate formative experiences he calls “blue dots.” He discusses resistance, creativity, adaptability, and self-leadership—central concepts that arise in the narratives shared in the Vault. He also outlines the recurring questions he asks each guest: What were you raised for? What do you want to be known for? What are you doing about it now? These closing questions help link past experiences to present identity and future direction. Dr. Rebelo reflects on decision points, the role of receptivity, and the positive “viral effect” of narrative coherence as guests integrate their stories into their lives. He closes by encouraging listeners, educators, and career centers to use these stories as tools for learning and reflection, emphasizing that every story matters and can help illuminate a path toward understanding and possibility. Links Berkshire Innovation Center Accelerator Program: https://www.berkshireinnovationcenter.com/accelerator-program Narrative Research Group: https://narrativeresearchgroup.org/ For more information or to share a question or insight, please email Shannon [at] narrativeresearchgroup [dot] org