Developing Spirit
"HCC provides crucial, accessible ways to continue education. Education opens doors, and not just employment doors, but intellectual doors." – Kathy Bronner '77
Editor's Note: This is one of a continuing series of interviews with HCC alumni called "Alumni Voices."
Years after graduating from HCC with an associate degree in administration, Kathleen (Monat) Bronner ’77 finished her education as a Francis Perkins scholar at Mount Holyoke College, where she earned a bachelor's degree in American Studies.
During her 25-year career at Mount Holyoke College, Bronner held multiple roles. Beginning in development research, she also served as assistant secretary of the college and director of annual giving. Bronner started a brief stint as the director of development at HCC before being recruited to work for the Cape Cod Healthcare Foundation, where she spent eight years fundraising for the hospital system, with a focus on major and principal gifts.
The long weekend commutes eventually led her back to western Massachusetts, where she joined the Baystate Health Foundation to build its major giving and planned giving programs. Now retired, Bronner works as a consultant specializing in strategic and campaign planning for small nonprofits, recently volunteering on behalf of Heritage Museum and Gardens in Sandwich. She stays active in community service, including a 20-year tenure on Granby's Zoning Board of Appeals, and also volunteers as an election worker.
From her time at HCC to her current consulting work, Bronner shared her thoughtful perspectives on career, community, and life.
What did you learn at HCC that still benefits you today?
The importance of continuing our education. And I think HCC provides crucial, accessible ways to continue our education. Education opens doors, and not just employment doors, but intellectual doors.
What's your most vivid HCC memory?
The big walk from the parking lot in the freezing cold. At that time, I had a broken-down car, and with fingers crossed, I hoped it would start at the end of the day. But I also remember there was a sense of community, and I had the opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds. I grew up in a small town (Granby, Mass.), a very rural farming community. And meeting people from different areas and cultures, whether from Holyoke, Springfield or elsewhere, left a meaningful impression.
What surprising job have you had in the past?
At HCC, I went into the secretarial program, where you have to have internships as part of the program. And I worked at Forestdale Cemetery, in the office. It began as an internship, but I ended up staying on part time for another year. It was cataloging burials and ceremonies, filling requests for people. That's the oddest job I've ever held.
What was the last book you finished?
I just reread Madeleine Blais’s Uphill Walkers. She now lives locally. When growing up, I knew her family. They were originally from Granby, and I recently came across the book in my library, which I hadn't read in a while. It's a very good book, and it captures the Pioneer Valley. It also thoughtfully dealt with an older sibling, who had serious mental health issues. And it highlighted the lack of services for mental health. But it gives you a wonderful snapshot of our region and small-town life in the 1950s and 1960s.
What's either the best or worst piece of advice you've received?
I was privileged to work with someone at Mount Holyoke who was a very good fundraiser, and one of the things he had shared when I was first starting off was to always be present. People love to tell their stories. And you should not only be knowledgeable about the mission you're representing, but you should be well-read, engaged in the community, engaged in the world. When you are engaging with someone, they're half of that conversation, if not more. And you need to be able to carry on conversations on local miscellaneous topics.
What do you love that everyone else hates?
I love classic movies and silent films, and I'm not sure there's a big audience for that anymore. One of the classes I took at Mount Holyoke was film appreciation. We had a great professor who spurred my interest in silent films. I always like classic films from the 30s and 40s and breaking them down. I find that interesting.
What person, dead or alive, would you most like to meet?
John and Abigail Adams. Their collection of letters is at the UMass library. It was a unique partnership of equality. When you read their letters, John Adams’ respect for Abigail is clear at a time when women were not viewed as intellectual equals. And Adams was fearless. He took on challenges, and he also believed in the need for a federal government. But I loved Abigail equally. She was indeed his intellectual equal, and she was the steward of the Quincy farm and their family for years without him.
PHOTO: Kathy Bronner '77, during a recent visit to HCC
