Bridging opportunities for diverse professionals in Massachusetts
(L to R) O’Dane White, Paul Britton, Juanita Howard, Chiderah Okoye, Chief Deputy Jabes Rojas, Hodari Cail, Michael Burt
A major tenant of Governor Baker’s administration is looking at the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ ability to diversify its pipeline from an employee and supplier perspective. As part of this initiative the Commonwealth’s Office of Access and Opportunity, led by Chief Deputy Jabes Rojas, has reached out to NSBE Boston to collaborate on making sure that we bring our membership to the forefront of this initiative and the opportunities will be coming downstream.
So what exactly does this partnership mean for NSBE Boston professionals and business owners?
Employment Opportunities
The team from the commonwealth’s office has already begun reaching out to us to promote internal opportunities that span from early career engineer opportunities through positions for experienced professional hires.
Boards & Commissions positions
The Commonwealth has a number of boards and commissions positions that are in frequent need of non-governmental representation. The focus areas for these boards span from education, to real estate, to energy, and the list goes on. As the commonwealth looks to access diverse representation we will be sharing these opportunities with our membership for consideration.
Supplier marketplace
Our local municipalities all the way up to our state government are being put to task to make sure that they are receiving bids from and considering women and minority owned businesses for projects and products.
In support of this initiative they have put together a series of workshops to train underrepresented groups on how to access these opportunities. These sessions will have an informational component followed by a networking session with the actual procurement arms of these municipalities. It’s a program we’re hoping ALL of our entrepreneurs take advantage of. You can find the detailed information here for the upcoming sessions:
- October 27: Lawrence, MA
- November 3: Worcester, MA
- November 5: Roxbury, MA
- November 13: New Bedford, MA
- November 18: Springfield, MA
