Mayor Walsh Signs Executive Order to Expand Opportunities for Women and Minority Owned Businesses

BOSTON - Wednesday, February 24, 2016 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh today signed an Executive Order to ensure that minority and women entrepreneurs are afforded fair and equitable opportunities when competing for City contracts. Mayor Walsh also released the City of Boston Economic Inclusion and Equity Agenda, which focuses on programs, policies and initiatives that have been initiated or carried out by the Walsh Administration to address racial and economic disparities in the City of Boston.  

"As Boston expands its footprint in the global economy, we are using the tools at our disposal to ensure that everyone in our city is included in this growth," said Mayor Walsh. "Ensuring equal access across all modes of local government is more than a moral imperative - it is just the right thing to do. We must address economic inequities and build for a stronger and healthier Boston - a City that provides the same ladder of opportunity for all."

This Executive Order sets spending goals for minority and women owned businesses competing for contracts in construction, architecture and engineering and professional services. Additionally, the City will provide training and assistance to minority and women owned enterprises to encourage successful bidding and performance on City contracts.

The first in a series of policies targeting procurement reform, this order also paves the way for a new disparity study to analyze racial, ethnic and gender bias in City procurement. The study is expected to launch by the end of this year and will lead to the further examination of policies and goals that encourage the use of minority and women owned businesses.

The "Equity and Inclusion Agenda" offers a public baseline for tracking and contextualizing work across multiple departments and serving multiple constituencies.

The Economic Inclusion and Equity Agenda outlines four major themes:

1. Income and employment
2. Wealth creation
3. Business development
4. Economic mobility

It serves as a roadmap of the many program offerings that are available to the public through City departments, ranging from education, to public safety and economic development.

Each theme in the Economic Inclusion and Equity Agenda is also supported by My Brother's Keeper (MBK) recommendations currently underway, as a follow up to the release of the 2015 MBK Boston Recommendations Report. President Barack Obama launched MBK nationally two years ago, and Mayor Walsh and the City of Boston was one of the first cities to take the MBK Community Challenge to improve life outcomes for Black and Latino boys and young men and all youth and young adults.

To access the agenda, visit: http://ow.ly/YHB6Z.