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          Don’t miss our upcoming Government Affairs Forum with Massachusetts State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg.

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Boston Chamber
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          Upcoming Events
          Engage & Learn

          Explore opportunities to connect and grow.

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        • FEATURED EVENT

          ...
          Series
          2025 Government Affairs Forum | State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg

          Don’t miss our upcoming Government Affairs Forum with Massachusetts State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg.

          12/09/2025

          9:45am - 11:00am

          Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce

          arrow-go
          Read More
        • EXPLORE OUR PROGRAMMING:

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          • Economic Inclusion
          • Small Business & Entrepreneurship
          • Digital Media & Marketing
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          • Young Professionals Network
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          City Awake

          City Awake empowers young professionals in a variety of ways that encourages these rising leaders to stay invested in the region’s future success.

          Read More
          Boston’s Future Leaders

          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.

          Read More
          Partnership with Boston Public Schools 

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

          Read More
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Business Community Leadership in Closing the Racial Wealth Gap 

 

The Chamber is a founding funder and partner with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, The Boston Foundation, Eastern Bank Foundation and Barr Foundation in relaunching multi-year research to discover economic, policy, and community solutions that will successfully address the barriers that hinder the creation of generational wealth for communities of color. The launch event of the Chamber’s Racial Wealth Gap series, “Where Do We Go From Here?”, included a solutions-oriented discussion that explored how the business community can lead in urgently closing the racial wealth gap.  

 

The collective research effort will build on the survey, data, and conclusions of the 2015 Color of Wealth in Boston Report. With this 2015 report, Boston learned that Black families’ median net worth was only $8 compared to almost $250,000 for white families. The new research, conducted over three years, will expand the survey across the Commonwealth to include gateway cities.  

 

The event panelists provided further details about the research goals that will help move Greater Boston to an equitable future. Here are the key takeaways – directly from our panelists- from the first convening of the Racial Wealth Gap series:  

 

  • Karilyn Crockett, Chamber Programs and Research Consultant, MIT Professor, and Boston’s former Chief of Equity, served as moderator during the virtual event. She reminded the audience, “This is not a conversation about individual decisions and individual actions, it is one about systemic outcomes and systemic solutions.” 
  • Lee Pelton, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation, explained that there is a responsibility for leaders throughout Massachusetts “to make the invisible visible so they know where to go to and how to access capital and support, advice, and mentorship.” 
  • Today, individuals and families continue to struggle with the soaring prices of food, gas, and rent – the daily challenges continue to rise with supply chain disruptions, rising inflation, and the war in Ukraine. Ana Patricia Muñoz of FARO asks, “How can you have a business and grow it if you have to worry about the basic survival of your family?” 
  • Prabal Chakrabarti, Executive Vice President and Community Affairs Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, noted that the research “will yield a deeper understanding of why the disparities exist and prioritize a more detailed measure of family wealth, and further highlight wealth differences between racial-ethnic groups.”
  • “Unlocking the barriers to building generational wealth is how we create a new chapter for Boston and the commonwealth, one that is rooted in achieving transformative equity within our free market economy,” said James E. Rooney, President and CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. “The racial wealth gap has hindered Boston reaching its greatest potential. This research as well as the critical solutions and policy recommendations will champion a future where every community can thrive.”

 

As the Chamber continues the Racial Wealth Gap series, we invite Chamber members – and the wider business community- to consider how their actions will directly influence closing the racial wealth gap. Tackling the region’s challenges with feasible solutions to economic prosperity for everyone is how Greater Boston will reach new heights and serve as a template for other states striving to close the racial wealth gap. 

 

Join the Chamber for upcoming events by visiting BostonChamber.com. 

 

Watch The Event Now

Racial wealth gap
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