News & Insights
We’re on the move! Stay up-to-date on everything we’re doing to eradicate longstanding, systemic barriers to economic opportunity for Black and Brown communities in the Commonwealth and beyond.
Black and Brown Business Leaders Want to Drive a Movement to End Racial Inequities.
In this moment of racial awakening and anguish, the question on many minds is: “What can I do?” For 19 Black and brown business leaders in Boston, it was the question, too. They felt compelled to respond, and they’ve come up with a big idea: the creation of the New Commonwealth Racial Equity and Social Justice Fund. If […]
Racial equity fund delivers $3M to local organizations, entrepreneurs
The New Commonwealth Racial Equity and Social Justice Fund, a funding and support resource for Black, Latinx and Indigenous nonprofits, will allocate $3 million to 54 members in its inaugural cohort of nonprofit partners — all of which are Black and Brown-led. https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2022/07/08/new-commonwealth-racial-equity-and-social-justice.html
How Harvard Could Spend that 100 Million to Unwind its legacies of slavery
Ask Black leaders how they would spend $100 million to address the legacies of slavery and you might get 100 different answers. Harvard University is committing that sum toward reparations after releasing a report detailing the institution’s ties to slavery — from presidents and faculty who enslaved Black people to pivotal donors who built their fortunes as […]
The Newsette, Nashira Baril
She’s got babies on the brain. Nashira Baril is the founder and project director of Boston’s Neighborhood Birth Center. In her work as a maternal health researcher, she’s seen how “traditional” methods have led to alarming stats like Black women having a 3x greater maternal mortality rate than their white peers. That’s why she’s partnered with the New Commonwealth […]
What corporate philanthropy got wrong after George Floyd’s murder?
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, many corporations made pledges intended to advance racial justice. For example, Google committed to donating $50 million to historically Black colleges and universities, while JPMorgan Chase allocated $30 billion in housing and business loans, and other supports, to Black and Latino communities. But […]
MGB NCF Maternal Health Equity Partnership
Boston, MA, Jan. 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Mass General Brigham, Massachusetts’ largest health care system, and The New Commonwealth Racial Equity and Social Justice Fund (NCF), a ground-breaking fund created by a group of Black and Brown corporate executives in Massachusetts to eliminate systemic racism throughout the state, today announced a strategic five-year maternal health partnership. The […]