Comerford to chair FY25 state budget hearing at GCC

GREENFIELD — Senate Ways and Means Assistant Vice Chair Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, and House Ways and Means member Andy Vargas, D-Haverhill, will chair an invitation-only budget hearing of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means on Gov. Maura Healey’s fiscal 2025 budget proposal.

The hearing will focus on the education and local aid sections of next year’s budget. This is the second in a series of eight budget hearings — two in the State House and six in regional locations across the commonwealth.

Friday’s hearing will begin at 11 a.m. in GCC’s Cohn Family Dining Commons, 1 College Drive, Greenfield. The meeting will be live streamed at: malegislature.gov/Events/Hearings/Detail/4863.

Professor who lost daughter Oct. 7 to speak at Jewish Community Center

SPRINGFIELD — Professor Ilan Troen will share his firsthand account of Israel’s Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, where his daughter and son-in-law were murdered, at a talk at the Springfield Jewish Community Center on Sunday, March 10, at 10:30 a.m., at 1160 Dickinson St., Springfield.

A distinguished historian of Israel and Jewish studies and resident of Beer-Sheva, Professor Troen will contextualize the complications in the aftermath of Oct. 7 for Jews in Israel and in North America.

Troen is professor emeritus of the Sam and Anna Lopin Chair of Modern History at Ben-Gurion University (BGU) of the Negev and of the Stoll Family Chair in Israel Studies at Brandeis University.

Troen has authored or edited numerous books on American, Jewish and Israeli history. He is the founding editor of Israel Studies (Indiana University Press), the leading journal in this new field to which more than 3,000 universities worldwide subscribe and 700 individuals contributed at least one essay. Troen was born in Boston, educated at the Latin School, Hebrew College, Brandeis and Hebrew University in Jerusalem before taking his PhD at the University of Chicago.

The event is free, but pre-registration is required at springfieldjcc.org. Building access is from the entrance off Converse Street, under the green awning.

Karuna Center for Peacebuilding brings on new board member

CONWAY — Karuna Center for Peacebuilding, a western Massachusetts-based non-governmental organization that works locally and globally to empower people divided by conflict to develop mutual understanding and create sustainable peace, has appointment of Jordan Ryan to its board of directors.

As the 12th member of the board, Ryan brings over 30 years of experience in conflict resolution, crisis management, and leadership mentoring, further strengthening Karuna Center’s capacity to transform violent conflicts and bridge deep divides.

Ryan, an accomplished former United Nations official and vice president of Peace Programs at The Carter Center who previously served as director of the UNDP Bureau of Crisis Prevention and Recovery, has dedicated his career to positive change in crisis and post-crisis settings.

His extensive background in mediation, peacekeeping operations, and organizational development perfectly aligns with Karuna Center’s mission to foster reconciliation, interrupt cycles of violence, and strengthen community resilience through long-term partnerships with local organizations.