All Hands on Deck - A Climate Story Summit

All Hands on deck: a climate story summit

Mass Humanities is bringing one of our signature convenings to New Bedford, with a focus on storytelling as a way to confront climate change.

New Bedford & Climate Change

The Board of Directors of Mass Humanities and Executive Director Brian Boyles invite you to celebrate the essential role of community storytelling at our inaugural Story Summit gathering.

This new event series will kick off in New Bedford, with a focus on storytelling as a means of combating climate change. We have the pleasure of presenting the Massachusetts Storyteller Award to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe represented by David Weeden.

Event details

mass humanities is equipping
the next wave of climate change storytellers

$ 0 K

in climate change grants awarded (2024)

ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORTED (2024)

massachusetts storyteller award

Ken Casey

Ken Casey co-founded the Dropkick Murphys in Quincy in 1996. Named after John “Dropkick” Murphy, a local professional wrestler who operated a rehabilitation facility, the band forged a signature sound that combines punk rock, Irish traditional music, and a uniquely Boston-centric view of the world. In 2004, the band’s song “Tessie” became an anthem for the World Champion Red Sox, and the Dropkicks’ ties to the team continue to bring their music to a wider audience. Casey wrote the 2005 platinum single, “I’m Shipping Up to Boston,” after delving into the archives of American folk singer Woody Guthrie. The band released two albums based on Guthrie material, This Machine Still Kills Fascists (2022) and Okemah Rising (2023), reimagining the folk singer’s work songs as urgent calls for justice today. The band’s Claddagh Fund has raised more than $20M since its inception and supports community-based non-profits, with a focus on programs that support children, veterans’ organizations and alcohol and drug rehabilitation.

sponsorship opportunities

All sponsors are recognized on the Mass Humanities website and social media, and in displays and announcements during the event.

Mass Humanities is dedicated to building meaningful relationships with our sponsors, and we offer employee engagement and other opportunities to collaborate throughout the year.

Contact Jill Brevik, Director of Development
jbrevik@masshumanities.org | 413-406-6870

Presenting - $50,000

Featured headline ad in online event program
20 tickets to the New Bedford event
Promotional booth and/or branded materials at tables
Included in all press releases, print and radio ads
Opportunity for company representative to speak during the program
Company name and logo featured alongside event name in all materials and communications
10 social media posts
Shout outs by event speakers from the podium
Recognition at the next Story Summit event in September 2025 in Boston

Presenting sponsors receive recognition as funders of Mass Humanities’ 2026 Climate Stories grantmaking.

Visionary - $20,000

Name and logo featured prominently in all materials and communications
Included in all press releases
Shout out by event speakers from the podium
10 tickets to the New Bedford event
7 social media posts
Featured ad in online event program
Recognition at the next Story Summit event in September 2025 in Boston

Luminary - $10,000

Name and logo featured in all materials and communications
5 tickets to the New Bedford event
5 social media posts
Ad in online event program
Recognition at the next Story Summit event in September 2025 in Boston

Narrator - $5,000

Name and logo featured in all materials and communications
5 tickets to the New Bedford event
3 social media posts
Ad in online event program
Recognition at the next Story Summit event in September 2025 in Boston

Patron - $2,500

Name featured in all materials and communications
3 tickets to the New Bedford event
1 social media post
Name listed in online event program
Recognition at the next Story Summit event in September 2025 in Boston

program

5pm

Social hour

6pm

Speaking program and awards presentation

7pm

Reception with grantee performances

keynote

Visionary Storyteller award presentation, keynote speech, and panel discussion

"Any effort to fight climate change depends on people. From dried out lawns to scorching sidewalks, the daily consequences of a warming planet continue to redefine our lives...and call on us to renew our responsibility to our neighbors and our businesses."

Brian Boyles, Executive Director, Mass Humanities

Program schedule

10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Grantee workshops and tours of New Bedford

5:00 pm
Social hour

6:00 pm
Speaking program and award presentations

7:00 pm
Reception

Continuing
the work

Our programs invite people across Massachusetts to explore the humanities through thought-provoking courses and events that inspire reflection, discovery and conversation.

The Clemente Course in the Humanities

Clemente Course

The Clemente Course champions opportunities for Massachusetts residents from historically and systemically excluded communities to engage with, discuss and author stories and ideas about our democracy.

Learn More

Reading Frederick Douglass Together

Reading Frederick Douglass

Each year, Mass Humanities organizes and funds free public events where communities gather together to read and talk about Frederick Douglass’ influential address, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”

Learn More

Smithsonian Museum on Main Street

Smithsonian Museum

We partner with small towns to bring the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street (MoMs) to Massachusetts, with the goal of engaging small town audiences and revitalizing attention to rural communities.

Learn More

Mass Moments

Mass Moments explores significant moments in Massachusetts’ history. Researched and written by historians, this daily dose of history offers fresh angles on well-known events and uncovers details that may be new to you.

Learn More

Register

New Bedford is the frontline for coastal
energy in Massachusetts. It’s also a humanities city with diverse cultures, institutions, and stories, making
it the ideal place to connect the people in libraries, museums, and cultural spaces across the state with people in the climate sector to galvanize support for this challenge.

We look forward to seeing you in June for our inaugural Story Summit.

stay
connected

Previous honorees

Join us in acknowledging this impressive list of individuals whose work in the humanities continue to inspire us.

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, we can continue our work in making the humanities more accessible to all residents of Massachusetts. If you want to help continue this work, consider becoming a sponsor.Í

2024 sponsors

VISIONARY

luminary

Champion

John Burgess and Nancy Adams
James and Laura Burke
Ron and Colleen Hertel
Stephen and Darcy Immerman
K|B Private Wealth Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors
Meet Boston
Stephen Rosenfeld and Margot Botsford
Seyfarth Shaw LLC and Kristin McGurn

Benefactor

Clearbrook Fund at the Greater Worcester Community Foundation
Five Colleges, Inc.
John and Marie Dacey
Al and Sally Griggs
Jackie Jenkins-Scott
University of Massachusetts Amherst
New England Public Media
Vacovec, Mayotte and Singer LLP
Write the World

SUPPORTER

BlueHub Capital
Margaret Burnham
Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello
Ellen Dunlap
Embrace Boston
GBH
Bruce and Judy Grinnell
Lawrence R. Hott, Florentine Films/Hott Productions, Inc.
John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
Polly Longsworth
Oscar Malcolm
Imari Paris Jeffries
Proverb Agency
Marita Rivero
Yves Salomon-Fernández
David Tebaldi
Perry Wu and Grace Kao