BOSTON — Mayor Jared Nicholson, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, and other mayors and local government officials signed the Commonwealth Development Compact on Monday afternoon. By signing, mayors from across the state committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) evaluation criteria in real-estate development projects.
“Minority and women-owned businesses have been hugely underrepresented in real estate development projects,” a press release provided for the event said.
The compact was created by the Civic Action Project, Boston Society for Architecture, Builders of Color Coalition, and Eastern Bank Foundation. Because of it, minority and women-owned real estate firms will have more economic opportunities, according to the press release.
“In the City of Lynn, we are starting to experience some real growth, which we’re really excited about,” Nicholson said in his remarks at the signing.
But, he said, that growth needs to benefit everyone in the community.
“It has to be meaningful, it has to feel like a win for the people that we serve,” Nicholson said.
Making sure diversity, equity, and inclusion are brought to the “forefront” of conversations about growth in the city is “critical,” he said.
“We try to think of development in the terms of who’s involved, who’s doing the work, who gets to live there, who gets to work there,” Nicholson said. “DEI is absolutely essential to be thinking about who is this benefiting, who is at the table?”
Right now, Nicholson said real estate development is not equitable. He said leaders in the Commonwealth have to do something about it, and that it is better to do it together.
“From my perspective, representing a diverse city, the more cities, the more agencies, the more companies that commit diversity in their work, it’s going to benefit my residents, and benefit companies and businesses that are starting in my city, that we’re supporting in our city,” Nicholson said.
In an interview after the signing, he said in Lynn there is a lot of “momentum” with development.
“I think the relationship with the City Council, with the city’s professional staff, and business and community groups to try to develop that vision for the future of the city is really in the long run the most important thing we can do,” Nicholson said. “Then, having some of these strategies to execute on those goals, I think, is gonna be really helpful.”
Along with Nicholson and Driscoll, the other mayors and officials signing were Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, Salem Acting Mayor Bob McCarthy, and Boston Chief of Planning Arthur Jemison, who signed on behalf of Mayor Michelle Wu.
