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.
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 […]
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 […]