Join us for our installment of the Pacesetters Doing Business series featuring Boston Planning and Development Agency on December 7, 2023.
12/07/2023
3:00pm - 4:00pm
Virtual
Jenny Holaday will share her journey into leadership as President of Encore Boston Harbor and first woman to run a casino in Massachusetts.
12/13/2023
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Encore Boston Harbor
Step into Winter Wonderland at our BIMA Holiday Gala. Gather your digital media and marketing peers for a night of networking and entertainment.
12/14/2023
6:30pm - 9:30pm
InterContinental Boston
Designed for mid-level managers and supervisors, this new certificate program addresses workplace well-being through unique, innovative, and actionable methods.
Join our Transformational DEI Certificate! Our comprehensive learning & development offerings are designed to connect and grow strong leaders who lead both inside and out of the office.
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.
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).
The Fierce Urgency of Now Festival brings Boston’s diverse young professionals together with business leaders, organizations and their peers to build connection, advance careers and ignite positive change.
09/12/2023 -
09/16/2023
Greater Boston
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 nearly 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.
We support small business through public policy initiatives, events designed to connect small businesses in Greater Boston to their peers and established business leaders, professional development offerings, and free small business advising.
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.
October 4, 2023
Dear Chair Garlick and Chair Lewis,
On behalf of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and our 1,200 members, I write to oppose bills H.495 and S.246 because they will damage the Commonwealth’s nation leading public education system and dismantle the state’s ability to hold districts accountable to students and their families. These bills will lower education standards and strip the state of necessary tools to intervene and support school districts so all children receive a high quality education.
In 1993 and again in 2019, the business community supported substantial increases in funding for our schools in conjunction with high standards for student achievement and a transparent system for measuring progress and results. In 2019, the Chamber supported changes to the state’s funding formula only if companion accountability measures were adopted. Importantly, the combination of funding and transparent accountability results in the highest quality education in the country, a key competitive advantage.
We therefore strongly oppose eliminating MCAS as a graduation requirement. Without regular assessments measuring student outcomes in key areas of learning, the state and districts alike will lose vital information about how to prioritize resources so all students have every opportunity to succeed in their education.
Allowing each district to decide what a diploma means will also result in lower expectations for far too many students who will then graduate without the knowledge and skills they need for college and career success. Instead of doing away with the graduation standard, a true commitment to equity requires we focus squarely on helping all students meet it.
MCAS also shines a light on racial and socio-economic achievement gaps that would otherwise remain hidden and identifies school districts that need improvement and intervention. The information that MCAS provides is integral to understanding if the state is meeting its constitutional obligation to provide every student in the Commonwealth with an excellent education. We do not support unnecessary efforts to spend time and resources on a special commission charged with developing an MCAS replacement.
Finally, to meet its constitutional responsibility to assure an excellent and equitable public education for all students, the state needs authority to intervene on behalf of students when schools and districts are chronically underperforming. We oppose provisions that strip the state of that ability.
The Chamber opposes H.495 and S.246 and urges the Committee to reject efforts that will negatively impact the state’s leadership position in providing high quality education for all students.
Sincerely,
James E. Rooney President and CEO
Download the letter
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