OLLI’s Mona Sherman Memorial Lecture presents: Dana Bash

RESERVE

FREE, General Admission

Reservations required 

OLLI Registration (directly through OLLI):

Wednesday, April 15 at 9am

One ticket per member, first-come, first-served

Mahaiwe Member Registration: 

Wednesday, April 29 at noon 

Public Registration (if tickets remain): 

Wednesday, May 6 at noon 

OLLI, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College, is honored to present Dana Bash as its 2026 Mona Sherman Memorial speaker. Bash will be interviewed by Lisa Sharkey. 

Dana Bash is CNN's chief political correspondent, anchor of Inside Politics with Dana Bash and co-anchor of State of the Union with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, the network's Sunday morning newsmaker show. Bash is an award-winning journalist who plays a key role in the network's political coverage, conducting high-profile interviews with candidates, serving as an anchor for CNN's Election Night in America special coverage and frequently moderating presidential debates and town hall specials. 

Bash's first book America's Deadliest Election, which she co-authored with David Fisher, details the 1872 Louisiana gubernatorial election. It debuted on The New York Times bestseller list. In 2021, Bash launched her CNN series, Being…, which features in-depth conversations with individuals affecting American policy, politics, and culture, giving viewers an understanding of the human being behind the public face. Her digital CNN series, Badass Women of Washington, profiles women from various backgrounds and generations to show how they have shattered glass ceilings on their way up the ranks. Her CNN Special Report Rising Hate: Antisemitism in America is an in-depth look at how antisemitism, once the hate of extremists, became mainstream and explores ways to curb it. 

Bash won the Radio and Television Correspondents Association's Joan S. Barone Award for her original reporting on a STOCK Act loophole that led Congress to pass legislation to close it. She is also a winner of the National Press Foundation's Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism and a three-time recipient of the Foundation's Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress. 

Bash graduated cum laude with her bachelor's degree in political communications from The George Washington University. 

Lisa Sharkey is senior vice president and publisher of Harper Influence, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Sharkey has overseen the acquisition and publication of more than one hundred New York Times Bestsellers, including multiple at number one.

Lisa is a veteran interviewer, moderator, and speaker on various topics from book publishing to transferable skills in the media landscape and has written for top magazines such as Redbook, and Parents.

Prior to her publishing career Sharkey was President of Al Roker Entertainment, Senior Producer of Good Morning America and worked at various network news organizations from CBS to PBS and KingWorld.

A two-time Emmy Award winner, Sharkey is also the recipient of Peabody and Dupont Awards for her work as part of the ABC News team during 9/11.