Berkshire Community Land Trust Names Beth Carlson Executive Director

GREAT BARRINGTON — Berkshire Community Land Trust announced the promotion of Operations Director Beth Carlson to the newly created position of executive director.

The Community Land Trust movement was founded in 1969 by civil rights activists Bob Swann, Slater King, and others to return land and prosperity to Black communities in the South. In 1980, Swann and Susan Witt moved to the Berkshires to found what is now the Schumacher Center for New Economics. They simultaneously established the Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires (CLTSB). In 2015, CLTSB founded a sister organization, Berkshire Community Land Trust (BCLT), to expand its capacity to hold multiple types of land.

Today, CLTSB/BCLT holds more than 130 acres in community trust, providing homeownership opportunities to 23 families and two local nonprofits with residential and office facilities. Nearly 100 acres of that land are productive farmland supporting two thriving agricultural businesses that strengthen our local food system and economy.

“We are thrilled that Beth has stepped into the role as our first executive director,” board member Sarah Downie said. “She brings experience, enthusiasm, great communication skills, and optimism to our organization. We feel very lucky that she moved into this new role and look forward to a successful and invigorating future with her at the helm.”

Carlson, a partner in Silo Media, initially got involved with BCLT and the Farmsteads for Farmers initiative through events, video, and graphics projects. She became campaign manager for Farmsteads for Farmers in 2023 and became director of Operations in 2024. On Nov. 1, she began full-time in the new executive director role.

No stranger to the nonprofit world, Carlson served as president of the Dewey Memorial Hall board until recently and is credited with leading the team that brought the organization through COVID and a significant revival. She is a founding board member of the W.E.B. Du Bois Center for Freedom and Democracy. Her Silo Media projects were mostly for nonprofits and involved fundraising campaigns, social media, and consulting.

Witt, executive director of the Schumacher Center for New Economics and founder and board member emeritus of Berkshire Community Land Trust, worked closely with Carlson and encouraged her continued involvement and role expansion with BCLT.

“Thanks to the commitment of a volunteer board and the help of great part-time assistants, BCLT and its sister organization, CLTSB, has achieved much in its 46-year history,” Witt said. “But it is now time for a full-time executive director to build the organizations to their full potential. Grounded in the Berkshires with skills honed in the nonprofit community, Beth Carlson is the right person at the right time for this task.

Added Carlson, “affordable access to land is critical to the health of our local communities. Land speculation had concentrated ownership in fewer and fewer hands. Placing land into a community land trust and making it available in perpetuity for workforce housing, farming, local retail, and light manufacturing can revitalize the local economy.”

A reception celebrating the recent acquisition of River Run Farm and welcoming Carlson to her new role will be held this spring. The event will also honor David Fix, director of Operations at the Schumacher Center, for his years of work assisting the board of directors and maintaining governance and supporting operations for both organizations.