After 10 years leading the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires, which she founded in 2016, Sandisfield’s Liana Toscanini stepped down as the Center’s executive director this spring.

Although she’s officially “retired,” Liana hasn’t stopped working.

Back now in her own home town, she has agreed to serve as a Corporator of Lee Bank and on the board of the nonprofit Saint James Place in Great Barrington. And here in Town, she has joined the board of the recently created Friends of Sandisfield Fire Department and is serving as secretary.

After moving to Sandisfield from New York City in 1996, Liana was very active with the community’s nonprofits. She helped with the creation of the Sandisfield Arts Center and contributed her talents to the development of Yanner Park and the Sandisfield Newsletter. In 2010, she was part of the group that founded The Sandisfield Times. In 2012 she moved to nearby New Marlborough, returning to Sandisfield in 2019, buying a home in Sandisfield Center.

Liana developed her organizational skills “on the job,” working in marketing positions at organizations like Guerlain and Newsweek Magazine. She spent a decade in Home Textiles where her Ugly Couch Contest received national attention. She operated a retail store called LT Home for several years before moving to the nonprofit side, taking a job at Community Access to the Arts (CATA) in 2007.

Nearly a decade later she founded the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires (NPC), a county-wide capacity building and support organization for the Berkshires’ 1200 nonprofits. A fact she often points out: One out of four jobs in Berkshire County is in the nonprofit sector.

NPC evolved into a robust provider of two dozen programs and services including workshops, networking events, volunteer fairs, publications, and a philanthropy curriculum for students. More recently, Liana laid the foundation for her succession, building NPC’s infrastructure, hiring staff, raising operating reserves, and completing a succession plan. Of that experience, Liana said, “It’s a bit like sending a child off to college.”

Liana feels one of the least visible but most powerful impacts of NPC is as a connector organization. The ripple effects cannot be easily measured – but are deeply felt. She mentioned a local case: Sandisfield resident, Melissa Bye, volunteered at the recent Berkshire Nonprofit Awards event alongside a volunteer from Berkshire Pride. Melissa mentioned her work with Friends of Sandisfield Fire Department and was told of a woman who serves on the Berkshire Pride board who wanted to become a firefighter but could not find a welcoming department. A few days later, the woman joined the Sandisfield Fire Department.

Liana said she looks forward to relaxing at home where she gardens, reads, enjoys cooking, and is slowly whittling away on a long list of personal projects. Two of those projects are writing a book and organizing photos. But also, she said, I enjoy working with a group of neighbors to make good things happen in our community.”