Join us for our installment of the Pacesetters Doing Business series featuring Mass General Brigham on August 7, 2025.
08/07/2025
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Virtual
The BIMA Summer Sizzler is a chance to network with your digital media industry peers from the agency, publisher, and adtech community!
08/14/2025
6:00pm - 9:00pm
Fenway Park
Join Boston’s leading educators and industry experts to explore career-aligned high school programs, in-demand workplace skills, and innovative school partnerships driving student success
07/17/2025
9:00am - 11:00am
Omni Boston Hotel Seaport
This program is in redevelopment. Click this page for DEI resources.
Our Women’s Leadership Program enables you to take your leadership to the next level by arming you with the most in-demand leadership toolkit.
Our Boston’s Future Leaders (BFL) program provides emerging leaders with a socially conscious and civically engaged leadership toolkit, as well as the opportunity to apply their knowledge through experiential assignments.
In this highly interactive workshop with Strategic Career & Leadership Coach Carole-Ann Penney, you’ll define your professional identity and develop strategies to confidently navigate workplace dynamics.
City Awake empowers young professionals in a variety of ways that encourages these rising leaders to stay invested in the region’s future success.
We are developing an ecosystem of corporations and partners with the influence and buying power to transform economic inclusion for minority business enterprises (MBEs).
Small businesses are the backbone of the Boston economy. Learn more about the resources available through the Chamber.
BIMA (the Boston Interactive Media Association) serves a vibrant community of like-minded professionals from agencies, brands, publishers, and ad-tech companies with business interests in the New England market.
For over 30 years, the Chamber’s Women’s Network has connected female professionals of all background and career levels. Today, our Women’s Network is the largest in New England, strengthening the professional networks of women each year.
The Massachusetts Apprentice Network convenes employers, training providers, and talent sources interested in developing and implementing apprenticeship programs in occupations across industries and statewide in fields such as tech, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, and more.
Explore our mission and values to better understand how we are leading the business community forward.
Our member directory is your resource to discover, connect, and engage with Boston’s businesses from every industry and sector.
The last week of June, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s Pacesetters Program hosted its inaugural Pacesetters Awards, a celebration of the successes and learnings from the network’s recent supplier diversity efforts and accomplishments. Guests attended from across the ecosystem of corporate buyers, minority business enterprises (MBEs), business support organizations and funders, with a panel discussion delivered by 2022’s Pacesetters award winners:
Champion of the Year – Meredith Whalen, Chief Purchasing Agent, Gilbane Building Company Company of the Year – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Deal of the Year – Gilbane Building Company and Janey Construction
Meredith Whalen, Chief Purchasing Agent at Gilbane Building Company, Daylana Ervin-Parker, Director of Budget and Supplier Diversity at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, and Eurick Dorsett, Project Executive at Janey Construction, discussed some of the changes they’ve seen in vendor diversity over the careers and how to address some of the challenges that they still face. The Pacesetters award honorees all agreed that it takes a team effort to increase vendor diversity. While it’s critical to have top-down support from leadership, it’s also important that everyone in the company is bought in and understand the purpose of having diverse suppliers.
“Leadership understands and leadership gets it. And then the process goes down to the selection committee. And then we realize we don’t win. So what we’ve realized is that many times that message doesn’t make it down to the selection committee. It’s one thing for management and ownership to buy into it, it’s another things to have that message come down through the process that allows fair and equitable discharge of the ask.” – Eurick Dorsett
Building relationships between the Pacesetters and MBEs are just as important as building relationships within a company. Panelists reiterated that patience and having a strong relationships will lead to partnerships and contracts in the long term.
“A lot of it has to do with patience on both sides. You don’t get your first job right off the bat and you don’t win your first contract or buy from procurement. So it’s a matter of continuing the process and believing in the process. And even when you’re faced with all of the adversities, don’t give up. It’s the law of averages. Eventually something will happen.” – Eurick Dorsett
The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce would like to thank our Pacesetters sponsor, Eastern Bank, for their continued support. We would also like to thank our event vendors,
Darryl’s Kitchen and Corner Bar catered the Awards ceremony. Darryl’s, a restaurant in Boston’s South End, is owned by Nia Grace, a Chamber Pinnacle honoree. Nicole Chan Photography, founded and owned by Nicole Chan, captured on-site photographs of the program and audience. Good Life Productions, owned by Julia Cruz, recorded the event and will be creating the video replay. The Urban Grape, co-owned by TJ Douglas and Hadley Douglas, provided wine for the event. The Centerpiece Flower Shop arranged flowers for the event. Ángel Diaz is the owner and principal floral designer. Minuteman Press Natick, owned by Pramita Chowrira, created new, engraved awards for the Pacesetters honorees.
To learn more about the Pacesetters Program, email Tom Browne and Amber Haskell and sign up for our monthly newsletter!
Popular Resources