On October 1, 2025, I had the honor of speaking to the soon to be graduating nursing class at Berkshire Community College (BCC). It has been an honor for me to be invited to speak to our future nurses over the last 3 years. It is an opportunity to give back to an institution that opened the doors of opportunity for me thirty years ago. When I speak to the second-year class my topic of focus is organizational culture and dignity. I share the philosophy of the Dignity Model created by Dr. Donna Hicks PhD and relate it to building a strong culture and creating strong relationships. I work to make conversations interactive while I share personal stories. I share my vulnerabilities, my successes, and my failures. I feel that it is important when you are having these conversations that you are honest and that you haven’t always been a person who lived his life honoring dignity.
When I have these conversations, I learn a lot about myself. I do these presentations at least twice a year and each time it is a reminder to me to always make sure that I put elevating dignity at the forefront of everything I do. Trust me it isn’t easy, but I understand that I must be a living example and to “Practice what I preach.”
In my role as the Diversity Officer for Berkshire Health Systems (BHS) I understand when I am out in the community, I represent the 4000+ employees that I have the honor of working with. My actions and the things I say can affect how people see the organization. It is why all day and every day I work to uphold not only dignity but the C.A.R.E values of this organization. Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Excellence are not just words. They are at the heart of everything we do here at BHS. I do my best to honor those values and honor the people who do the hard work every day to help care for our community.
It can be challenging sometimes to always hold true to those values. Life gets in the way. Circumstances challenge us and sometimes we will not be at our best. Maybe at work we can be pulled in many different directions, or we are having struggles at home. These events can affect our mood which could lead to taking those frustrations out on others. We are all guilty of that at some point. It becomes important to right that wrong, appologize and hopefully move forward.
The greatest joy for me in having these conversations is that I get to speak with the future pioneers of nursing. My hope is that my converastions will help guide them through the joys and challenges they will face. I hope it will start them on their own dignity journey. There is nothing greater than having a positive impact on someone’s life. As nurses we get that opportunity every day. Every year I get to share with those students at BCC has been an opportunity for me to continue to grow and understand the value of the human connect and how we treat each other.
Charles Redd RN
Dignity Freedom Fighter
Dignity Freedom Fighter 