BOSTON — Eastern Bank and State Street’s initial $10 million pledge to a new racial equity fund will pay for work to make urban streets and neighborhoods safer and better places to live, said Boston executive Emerson Foster.
Foster, vice president for human resources North America and global strategic accounts for the international food services and facilities firm SODEXO, knows key players in the New Commonwealth Racial Equity’s formation, including Quincy Miller, Vice Chair and President of Eastern Bank.
“I want to emphasize my respect and admiration for what they have done,” he said on Thursday.
Its website description states that the fund “… was founded by a coalition of Massachusetts Black and Brown executives for the sole purpose of leveraging our individual and collective power to work together with community organizations to make transformative societal changes by addressing systemic racism and racial inequity in Massachusetts.”
Eastern Bank in a press release Wednesday stated that Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation and the State Street Foundation have each pledged $5 million over five years, $10 million in total, to the Fund.
“So many people have asked: ‘What can I do? How can we make real change?'” Miller is quoted as saying in the release, “This is one of the ways we believe we can truly be transformative. We have to do our part in helping dismantle systemic racism and make Massachusetts a more welcoming state for Black and Brown professionals, and we believe this effort will set the bar and encourage other Massachusetts companies to join us.”
The combined contributions provide essential support and resources to uncovering and dismantling racial inequities in Boston and across Massachusetts. In addition, each organization will match 2:1 their employees’ contributions to the Fund.
“We are living in an extraordinary time where issues of systemic racism must be addressed if our Commonwealth is to thrive, and inaction is not an option. We recognize today’s combined philanthropic financial contribution is merely a start,” stated Eastern Bank Chair and CEO Robert F. Rivers.
“Consider that if each of the largest 100 companies in Massachusetts makes at least a $1 million commitment over four years to the Fund, a historic amount will be raised to tackle systemic racism in Boston and across our Commonwealth. We urge businesses and CEOs to unite with us on this issue.”
According to the release, the Fund will initially focus on investing in initiatives and nonprofit organizations that support communities of color, including policing and criminal justice reform; health care equity; economic empowerment; and youth education, empowerment and civic engagement.
“Philanthropic and corporate giving has the power to help mitigate racial inequities by funding Black- and Brown-led nonprofits,” stated Ronald O’Hanley, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of State Street Corporation.
Foster, a 1985 Lynn Classical High School graduate and 1990 University of Rhode Island graduate, who played football for both schools before forging a business career, said small and mid-sized not-for-profit organizations stand to benefit from the Fund.
He said many of these organizations don’t benefit from large-scale fundraising campaigns that raise money for larger not-for-profit organizations.
They need money, Foster said, to support initiatives like youth gang conflict mediation and family support work.
“They’re doing work on the ground in the neighborhoods. The Fund can support their growth,” Foster said.
The core leadership of the Fund includes Black and Brown executives from Bain Capital, BCBS of Massachusetts, Berkshire Bank, Boston Scientific, Converse, DentaQuest, Eastern Bank, Fidelity Investments, General Electric, Latham & Watkins, Liberty Mutual, MassMutual, Rapid7, Red Sox Foundation, State Street, Suffolk Construction, Thermo Fischer Scientific, Valmo Ventures, and Vertex.
The executive list includes Damian W. Wilmot, SVP, Chief Risk & Compliance Officer, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated; Dominic Blue, Head of Strategic Planning & Delivery, MassMutual; Mo Cowan, President, Global Government Affairs and Policy, General Electric; Pamela Everhart, SVP, Head of Regional Public Affairs & Community Relations, Fidelity Investments and Linda Dorcena Forry, VP of Diversity, Inclusion & Community Relations, Suffolk Construction.