Julia Bowen

Even as a child, Julia Bowen never underestimated the power of education.

"I've always understood education as the best investment we can make in people. My parents instilled that in me," says Julia, who comes from a long line of educators. Her father was the chair of her school committee, her mother was a teacher, and her grandmother was a teacher." Once given, education can't be taken away. It's an evergreen investment in a person."

That mindset has served her well in her career. A passionate educator, she served for more than 20 years in public K-12 education and was the founding executive director at Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School (BART) in Adams. Today, she is an executive leadership coach and consultant at Prospect Leadership Group in Williamstown and chair of the Berkshire Community College Board of Trustees. Her background is a colorful mixture of education and consulting.

After college, Julia went into strategy consulting, but she quickly realized that the corporate world didn't hold the meaning or purpose she wanted in her life. She followed her then-boyfriend (now husband) Brad Svrluga to Williamstown as he sought to pursue his own professional passions. It was then she started teaching at Mount Greylock High School, a job that proved more challenging than she'd imagined.

"It was like drinking from a fire hose," Julia says with a wry laugh. "I realized deeply, firsthand, how hard it is to be a teacher. I had tutored inmates in jail, I had been a Big Sister, I had worked with all kinds of populations, but being in a classroom and having 80 or 100 kids a day was really hard."

And yet, she says, she felt more passionate about her work than ever before. She loved it. But in just her second year, there was a reduction in staff, and Julia was laid off. Undeterred, she turned to a group of people who wanted to start a charter school, which would eventually become BART.

"The timing was good. My strategy consulting background, business background and education was a good mix to bring to the role of founding executive director," Julia says. "It was an unbelievable whirlwind of growth and understanding and exposure to the challenges that people face in getting the education they deserve. I was working with families that wanted their kids to have the same opportunities that my parents had given me, but had so many barriers in the way."

Julia began to learn about societal inequities, especially as they relate to education. Most of her students were going to be the first in their families to go to college, but the majority didn't have the financial means to do so. Julia helped build a dual enrollment program into the BART curriculum, requiring all seniors to take a college course in person. Berkshire Community College was the logical choice.

It was important for our students to start to feel and experience being a college student. Obviously, BCC was a huge partner for us. For many of our students, it transformed the way they thought about themselves and what they thought was possible for the future.

Julia's experiences with the BART-BCC partnership gave her an up-close perspective on how those possibilities could turn into reality.

"I heard from our students about the exciting classes they took at BCC. I got to have a front-row seat to the impact that BCC had on them that honestly most people don't get to see," Julia says."BCC is changing and transforming lives, often multiple generations at a time. And it's local — we can see that impact in our community. That's why I became a donor. If I have a dollar to give, I want to give it to an organization that can use it well."

That's why, when BCC President Ellen Kennedy reached out to Julia in 2016 and asked her to join the board, Julia didn't hesitate. In 2017, she joined the board with her typical passion and fit in immediately, becoming president in 2021.

"I found BCC to be a place where I could continue to nurse this passion for creating opportunities for people through education," she says.

In the early years on the board, she began to fully understand not only the role that BCC plays in education, but also in the role the College plays in workforce development and community partnerships.

"I've been able to see such amazing entrepreneurial work on the board. I'm so amazed by everyone's passion for their work and their ingenuity to make it happen," she says."It's a powerful culture in the College."

Julia's work involves assisting mainly charter school leaders through their transition into their roles and the first three years of their jobs. That work, coupled with her BCC board seat, has given her a different perspective on leadership.

At the end of the day, it's about intentionality. All humans have the ability to succeed, and it's our job — as school leaders, as board members, as staff — to eliminate the barriers and make it possible. That's what we're here for. At BCC, this is a community that gets it.

Julia's commitment to supporting students is far-reaching, and she works to make others understand the importance of such support.
While free tuition is a great start, she says, there is so much more students need to complete the picture.

"Being affordable makes BCC open doors that might otherwise not be possible, and it provides a quality education that is sometimes underrated. But there are many costs to attend college. The BCC Foundation supports students way beyond tuition," Julia says.

"If there is going to be a school that can shift the perception of community colleges being 'less than,' it's BCC. There's this undercurrent, with the push for college, that four-year colleges have left people with a lot of debt — and a degree that doesn't necessarily advance their career enough to justify that debt," she says. But BCC allows students to"try before they buy" and see if they want to continue on to a four-year school, or simply gain the skills they need to further their careers. Students can tailor their academic path to fit their life and work commitments.

"Students are at the center of everything at BCC. And when students are at the center, it becomes clear what needs to happen," Julia says."That's what I see and experience and feel when I'm on campus. It's uplifting."