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Home > Press Release > Chamber Announces Collaboration with City Awake, Adds Justin Kang as Director of Social Innovation
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          Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce

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          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.

          Read More
          Massachusetts Apprentice Network

          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.

          Read More
          Strategic Communication for Better Collaboration

          Level up your leadership and communication in this Boston Chamber workshop for professionals—gain essential skills in team alignment.

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          The Chamber Foundation invites the business community to engage with Boston Public Schools leaders and their students to help build the future workforce.

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Chamber Announces Collaboration with City Awake, Adds Justin Kang as Director of Social Innovation

January 18, 2017

Boston, MA – The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce a unique collaboration with City Awake, a two-year-old social enterprise organization rooted in the next generation of the business community. City Awake’s mission is to establish Boston as the best place for social innovation. One of its focuses is to generate new ideas and facilitate dialogue among millennials focused on how they can use innovation, entrepreneurship, and business acumen to solve pressing social issues and increase economic opportunity for all. City Awake convenes leaders to solve the toughest problems facing our region, hosts public events to build community across different issues and different sectors, and celebrates Boston as the best city to start a nonprofit and social enterprise.

In its first two years, City Awake hosted more than 90 events with more than 10,000 attendees; relocated one of the top conferences and award shows on social innovation, the Collaborative and Classy Awards, and its more than 1,200 attendees from San Diego to Boston; expanded the Unreasonable Institute, the premiere social enterprise accelerator, to Boston; founded the City Awake Festival, an annual festival celebrating the social impact community; and hosted two forums designed to engage millennials on the Boston 2024 initiative.

In this new strategic collaboration, City Awake will remain an independent brand and operate as a program of the Boston Chamber. Goals include increased exposure and opportunities for current and prospective Chamber members as it pertains to social impact and corporate social responsibility; more member engagement opportunities through new and diverse offerings for a younger Chamber member audience; and a stronger bond between the Chamber and the next generation of business leaders.

City Awake founder and director, Justin Kang, joined the Chamber in April as director of Social Innovation. He will work with Vice President of Innovation Leadership, David Brown.

Kang has been named as a Top 25 Emerging Leader of Color by Get Konnected!, and as one of The Next Generation of Powerful People in Boston by Boston Magazine. In addition he was recognized as One of Nine Nonprofit Leaders Obsessed with Making Boston Better by the Boston Globe, and was awarded a ONEin3 Award by the City of Boston as one of 13 young adult leaders doing outstanding work to improve the City of Boston for all residents.

One of our priorities for the Chamber is to continue building upon our thriving Young Professionals Network and to offer programming and forums centered on topics that matter to the next generation of Massachusetts business leaders, said James E. Rooney, president & CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber. Civic engagement and community building are crucial to the long term success of our region, so this new collaboration with Justin and City Awake is a strong step forward for both organizations. I look forward to many exciting new initiatives to be born from our work.

Civic engagement and community building are crucial to the long term success of our region, so this new collaboration with Justin and City Awake is a strong step forward for both organizations. – James E. Rooney

I am thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with Jim Rooney, someone who has spent his career advocating for and celebrating Boston’s role as a leading city for business, said Kang. Combining my network of engaged leaders from nonprofits, foundations, corporations, and government agencies with the Chamber’s strong reputation for excellent programming and advocacy is a great opportunity that I know will only help City Awake and our mission thrive.

For more about City Awake and upcoming programs visit www.CityAwake.org.

Katie Hauser

Vice President, Marketing & Communications

[email protected]
617-557-7354

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