Berkshire Conference of Women Historians

Strategic Plan, 2025–2030

I. Introduction

Founded in 1930, the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians is a Maryland-incorporated nonprofit dedicated to advancing scholarship and supporting women in the historical profession. Over the decades, the Berks has become a leading voice in the study of women, gender, and sexuality while remaining a vital source of community and professional support for historians of all fields.

With a global membership, a growing endowment, and a long-standing commitment to mentorship and scholarly excellence, the Berks promotes the visibility and careers of scholars of gender and sexuality. Our Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, Genders and Sexualities—the “Big Berks”—is the world’s largest gathering of women’s and gender historians and is complemented by the “Little Berks.” The “Little Berks” is the organization’s annual business meeting and retreat. Additionally, the Berks awards four annual prizes to recognize outstanding historical scholarship by women or gender-marginalized historians based in North America.

Looking ahead, the Berks remains committed to strengthening its programs, broadening its reach, and ensuring a vibrant, inclusive future for both the organization and the fields it serves. We are also dedicated to supporting scholars and actively encouraging networking and collaboration during a time when the field faces challenges, as well as defending public history, K–12, and higher education.

II. Mission and Vision

Mission

We are a diverse and international community of scholars committed to advancing intersectional, justice-driven research. We are committed to illuminating the histories of women, genders, and sexualities while embracing the full breadth of historical scholarship that seeks to deepen and expand our collective understanding of the past. We are dedicated to disseminating and promoting this work across academic and public arenas and to the professional development of scholars in these fields. Through collaboration and mentorship, we work to transform historical knowledge, strengthen the discipline, and improve the conditions under which scholarship is produced, taught, and shared.

Vision

We envision fostering a global feminist historical community where those who study the past—across specialities, identities, and geographies—are valued, where equity is foundational, and where scholarship on women, genders, and sexualities realizes its full transformative potential. Grounded in a spirit of fellowship and mutual support, we honor the past while empowering future generations of feminist historians and cultivating a more just and inclusive landscape for scholars and their work worldwide.

III. Strategic Priorities (2025–2030)

Priority 1

Organizational Governance and Leadership Stability

Strengthen structures that sustain a transparent, democratic, and efficient organization.

Goals

  • Work with a professional facilitation team for external evaluation of the Berks and possible directions for realignment, refinement of mission, and organizational repair and redirection.
  • Implement revised bylaws and policy documentation that clarify officer roles, responsibilities, and succession.
  • Implement revised mission and vision in alignment with organizational initiatives and renewed focus on anti-racism and inclusivity at all levels.
  • Adopt a refined President-Elect and leadership development model to ensure continuity.
  • Modify term lengths to a more sustainable duration.
  • Regularize board and committee operations through consistent communication, annual reviews, and clear documentation.
  • Establish onboarding materials for all officers, committee chairs, and trustees.
  • Improve institutional memory via centralized archives, shared drives, and formalized record-keeping practices.
  • Develop a multi-pronged code of conduct to support collegial engagement across all vectors of the organization.

Priority 2

Financial Sustainability and Growth

Build long-term financial health through responsible budgeting, strategic fundraising, and improved event planning.

Goals

  • Conduct annual financial audits and adopt transparent financial reporting.
  • Create a five-year budget model aligned with mission-driven priorities.
  • Reimagine the Little Berks (LB) to prevent recurring losses.
  • Plan the Big Berks (BB) with affordability, inclusivity, and financial viability in mind.
  • Launch targeted fundraising strategies, including a capital campaign, lifetime memberships, and donor cultivation.

Priority 3

Reimagining Conferences and Member Engagement

Modernize conferences to better reflect today’s scholars’ needs, increase access, and promote interdisciplinarity.

Goals

  • Decouple Big Berks oversight from the presidency and move the conference from university settings to hotel-based locations to ensure greater stability and sustainability.
  • Strengthen the BB by introducing new session formats and enhancing public-facing engagement.
  • Update the BB cadence to every other year to ensure membership engagement, field support, and organizational sustainability.
  • Restructure the LB, moving it away from its traditional retreat format into a convening focused on strategic planning and scholarly collaboration (e.g., providing opportunities for members to workshop their scholarship).
  • Transform the LB into a more inclusive, financially sustainable convening incorporating virtual components, reduce costs for participants, expanding opportunities for participants to present their work in ways that support securing institutional funding, and rotating host venues and locations (e.g., hosting on university and college campuses or small conference and learning centers, adopt a rotating geographic model while intentionally increasing our organizational presence in the Midwest, West, and South).
  • Reaffirm and strengthen the tradition of senior scholars bringing junior colleagues and graduate students to the LB while also pursuing new avenues to recruit and engage members—especially junior scholars, community historians, activists, and historians off the tenure track.
  • Develop year-round programming, including virtual workshops and mentorship events.
  • Create a unified membership portal and job board.
  • Develop a robust communications strategy across social media, the Berks website, and membership list servs to increase transparency of organizational initiatives and actively engage with membership.

Priority 4

Equity, Inclusion and Professional Support

Ensure the Berks leads in advocating for equity and supporting scholars facing precarity.

Goals

  • Expand mentoring and professional development for early-career and contingent scholars, including building up our early-career scholar group.
  • Engage in strategic conversations around ongoing organizational repair with clear markers for structural implementation and accountability.
  • Support scholars of color, LGBTQ+ scholars, and others at risk of marginalization.
  • Develop and implement a coordinated recruitment strategy to attract and support History majors amid national declines, including increasing our visibility across universities and colleges.
  • Partner with allied organizations to defend academic freedom.
  • Enhance the article and book award processes to broaden representation and increase the visibility of diverse scholars and fields.
  • Increase access to fellowships and grants through partnerships and fundraising.

Priority 5

Scholarly Innovation and Public Engagement

Position the Berks at the forefront of emerging scholarly conversations.

Goals

  • Launch a Berks podcast, featuring key conversations shaping the field.
  • Promote public-facing history and partnerships with museums and educators.
  • Develop thematic initiatives that tie across programming.
  • Increase collaboration with other disciplinary partners.
  • Increase visibility of Berks-sponsored panels at national conferences.
  • Develop a consistent social media, communications, and website platform.
  • Support digital humanities projects.
  • Actively respond to attacks on the field and support new directions in scholarship, public history, and K–12 education to protect.

Implementation Timeline

  • 2025 Consolidate governance reforms; revise mission and vision; finalize LB and BB structural realignments; implement membership portal, update website, develop a social media campaign.
  • 2026 Launch capital campaign; execute planning for 2027 Big Berks; refine membership engagement through new portal and virtual events and Little Berks 2026; revisit strategic plan quarterly with Board.
  • 2027 Host Big Berks using redesigned model; collect feedback and evaluate outcomes for 2029 conference; revisit strategic plan quarterly with Board.
  • 2028 Roll out new LB model; launch digital initiatives; begin major fundraising campaign; revisit strategic plan quarterly with the Board.
  • 2029 Host Big Berks implementing recommendations and feedback from 2027 event; revisit and redevelop strategic plan for next cycle of officers.
  • 2028–2030 Strengthen partnerships, expand programming, and build long-term financial stability.

Conclusion

The Berks stands at a pivotal moment. With deliberate planning, transparent governance, and a commitment to inclusion, we can build an organization that is more resilient, innovative, and aligned with feminist scholarly values. This plan provides a roadmap for the next five years and beyond.