The Greater Boston Civil Rights Coalition presents "The
Commonwealth Compact: Purpose, Progress & Plans" Save the Date!
Friday, July 11, 9:30am @ JALSA, 18 Tremont St., 3rd floor

Signers of the Commonwealth Compact are taking concrete
steps to establish Greater Boston as a welcoming, diverse place to live
and work for all people and a desired destination for people of color,
immigrants and women (more details on the Commonwealth Compact are
copied below).

Featured Guests: - Bob Turner - Director, The
Commonwealth Compact - Colleen Richards Powell - Deputy Director, The
Commonwealth Compact

When: Friday, July 11, 2008, 9:30-11:00am Where: JALSA
(Jewish Alliance for Law & Social Action), 18 Tremont St., 3rd.
Floor, a short walk from several T stations: Gov't Center (Blue and
Green lines), Park Street (Red and Green Lines) and State Street
(Orange and Blue Lines) BYOC: Bring Your Own Coffee!

Greater Boston Civil Rights Coalition - Fighting the
Good Fight Since 1979? Founded in 1979, the Greater Boston Civil Rights
Coalition (GBCRC) is Greater Boston?s oldest coalition of community
leaders working together to safeguard and promote civil rights.  The
Coalition works to mobilize advocates for public policies that protect
and enhance civil rights at local, state and national levels.
Co-Chairs: - Barbara Dougan, Families Against Mandatory Minimums - Jeff
Stone, City-Wide Dialogues on Boston's Ethnic & Racial Diversity

About the Commonwealth Compact... We are collectively
committed to recruitment, hiring, management and governance practices
that: Increase the representation of people of color and women
throughout our organizations, especially in management, senior
management and board governance positions; Retain and promote people of
color and women; Encourage our organizations to reflect, and connect
with, the diversity of the communities and customers we serve. http://www.commonwealthcompact.umb.edu/index.php Boston Globe article: http://www.commonwealthcompact.umb.edu/docs/WorkplaceDiversityGlobeop-ed5-19-08.pdf

Local leaders are taking on an ambitious goal: to make
Greater Boston a desired destination for people of color, immigrants,
and women, in the belief that their contributions will be vital to the
region's social and economic future. Commonwealth Compact, a project
organized and supported by dozens of Boston's civic and business
leaders, is committed to concrete steps aimed at reversing Boston's
reputation for intolerance developed during the busing era so that
Boston is seen as a welcoming, diverse place to live and work for all
people. The project has already conducted a statewide survey on racial
and ethnic attitudes and experiences, and the results demonstrate
clearly the need for this initiative. Similarly, the project conducted
a survey of local boards of directors, finding a preponderance of white
males on corporate boards and non-profits alike a preponderance
profoundly unrepresentative of the make-up of our community.
Commonwealth Compact has expanded this survey into a variety of
benchmarks http://www.commonwealthcompact.umb.edu/benchmarks.php
which organizations can use to measure and promote progress toward
their diversity goals. In addition, the Compact will establish a
databank of minority job-seekers, and is creating a clearinghouse to
improve the coordination and development of various existing programs
dealing with diversity. The project will also seek to smooth the path
for immigrants and other English language learners; to promote public
discussion; and to tell the story of the new majority minority Boston,
particularly what the region's increasing diversity means for the
future. It is an ambitious agenda, befitting an ambitious goal. At the
public launch of the Commonwealth Compact at UMass on May 23, 2008,
over 300 people heard remarks from Governor Deval Patrick, Mayor Thomas
Menino and Commonwealth Compact convener Steve Crosby, dean of the
McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies at the UMass-Boston. Over
100 employers have now signed the Compact, committing themselves to
taking concrete steps forward on the Compact's benchmarks: http://www.commonwealthcompact.umb.edu/docs/Founding%20Signers%20of%20the%20Commonwealth%20Compact-List.doc

Commonwealth Compact has adopted the following Mission
Statement: To establish Massachusetts as a uniquely inclusive, honest
and supportive community of -- and for -- diverse people. To
acknowledge our mixed history in this effort, and to face squarely the
challenges that still need to be overcome, understanding that the rich
promise of the region's growing diversity must be tapped fully if
Boston and Massachusetts are to achieve their economic, civic and
social potential.

As citizens, service providers, employers and
competitors  for business and talent we are collectively committed
to recruitment, hiring, management and governance practices that: -
Increase the representation of people of color and women throughout our
organizations, especially in management, senior management and board
governance positions. - Retain and promote people of color and women. -
Encourage our organizations to reflect, and connect with, the diversity
of the communities and customers we serve. Our organizations profit
when we attract and retain people from a multitude of backgrounds. By
harnessing their skills, aptitudes, experience and approaches to
problem-solving, our workplaces, communities and Commonwealth will be
richer, our marketplaces will be broader, and out ability to attract
employees, clients and businesses locally, nationally and globally
will be more effective. We therefore embrace the goals of Commonwealth
Compact and pledge to measure our progress toward them over time, using
the Commonwealth Compact benchmarks.