Walsh and Polito Open Interise 2020 With Pledges on Minority Business and Workforce Access

Uncategorized 2026-07-22 clip6234 · Meeting of July 22, 2026

BOSTON — Interise 2020 opens in Boston with keynote calls to close the racial wealth gap. Mayor Martin Walsh and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito addressed hundreds of practitioners and entrepreneurs at the Interise 2020 conference Tuesday, with Walsh acknowledging that fewer than 5 percent of the city's roughly $680 million in annual contracts go to women and people of color — "our numbers are dismal," he told the crowd — while describing a procurement overhaul, a new city-run housing voucher program, and more than $500 million in affordable housing investment announced at his recent State of the City address. Walsh also noted that Boston would open its first recreational marijuana shop, in Dorchester, within hours of the conference, owned by Black Bostonians Kobe Evans and Kevin Hart under a licensing process the city designed to prioritize communities affected by drug enforcement.

Polito highlighted a $240 million economic development bill pending before the state legislature and a $78 million classroom investment in vocational schools, while citing data showing 76 percent of Massachusetts's STEM workforce is white and women hold only 26 percent of computer science and math jobs in the state.

In the full story:

• Background and stakes
• The question before the body
• Substantive content
• Deliberation
• Procedural steps and outcome
• Implications and what is next
• The complete report — 2,393 words

Source: the Uncategorized 2026-07-22 clip6234 meeting of July 22, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.