The candidate described a strategy that will promote the interests of women and people of color in business.
City councilor and mayoral candidate Andrea Campbell released a statement on the lack of diversity in City contracts on February 8. A new study demonstrated that only 1.2% of the City’s $2.1 billion spent on municipal contracts over a five year period went to Black and Latinx owned businesses. Campbell said that it will be a priority of hers to have achieve goals of 7%, 14%, and 10% in WMBE contracts over the next three years.
“To close the profound racial wealth gap and eradicate inequities that make Boston one of the most unequal cities in the country, the City of Boston must lead by example in how we do business,” wrote Campbell, in a press release. “It is a failure of this Administration to not have made more progress toward equity in City contracts when we’ve been talking about it for years.”
On February 3, Campbell released an economic policy plan geared towards supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs of color, while closing Boston’s racial wealth gap. The plan outlines strategies that include creating conditions for businesses to bounce back better than before, maximizing the impact of the City’s own budget, and fighting for the rights of workers, calling for pay equity, paid family leave, and livable wages.
“As Mayor, I will work tirelessly to solve these inequities by calling for greater transparency in our data, holding agencies and officials accountable to hit these targets and disrupt cycles of inequity in our city operations. I will ensure businesses owned by people of color and women have access to the resources and opportunities they need not just to survive but to grow and expand their reach across the city, including access to capital, technical assistance, coaching and mentoring, entrepreneurial networks,” wrote Campbell.
Shira Laucharoen is a reporter based in Boston. She currently serves as the assistant director of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. In the past she has written for Sampan newspaper, The Somerville Times, Scout Magazine, Boston Magazine, and WBUR.
