Agency recognized for innovative programs promoting diversity, mentoring and inclusion
BOSTON – May 16, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — MassHousing has been named a finalist for two Rosoff Awards presented by The Ad Club to companies with meaningful diversity, mentoring and inclusion programs.
MassHousing was recognized for programs that foster the use of minority and women-owned businesses and for a school mentoring program in Boston.
The Agency was honored May 14 at the 17th Annual Rosoff Awards at the State Room in Boston. The awards are named after Arnold Worldwide founder Arnold Z. Rosoff, who made it his mission to increase the focus on workplace diversity after he founded his company in 1946.
“We were thrilled to be a finalist among other prestigious companies and institutions such as Google and Babson College,” said MassHousing Executive Director Thomas R. Gleason. “We have had a decades-long commitment to promoting diversity and economic opportunity, and our mentoring in a Boston public school is a very special way to help kids and give back to the community.”
MassHousing was a finalist, along with Google and Babson College, in the External Diversity Initiative award category for the Agency’s Minority-owned Business Enterprise (MBE) and Women-owned Business Enterprise (WBE) utilization program that gives minority and women-owned firms the opportunity to benefit from MassHousing-generated business opportunities. Babson College was named the winner in this category.
MassHousing works with real estate developers and general contractors during construction of multifamily developments to establish MBE/WBE contracting opportunities and minority and women worker goals. In fiscal year 2012, MassHousing had 18 projects under construction, representing $250 million in total awards. Of this amount, $53.6 million or 21.4% were awarded to MBEs and $37 million or 14.8% were awarded to WBEs.
MassHousing also works with property managers in housing developments financed by MassHousing to provide business opportunities for MBE/WBE goods and services. Of the more than 500 developments in MassHousing’s rental housing portfolio in fiscal 2012, a total of $187 million was expended for supplies, equipment and services across Massachusetts. Of this amount, $37 million or 19.6% were attributed to MBE expenditures and $23 million or 12% to WBE expenditures.
MassHousing was also a finalist for a Rosoff Mentor Award for the Agency’s S.T.A.R.R. (Striving Toward Academic Recognition and Respect) Mentor Program, which is a unique 23-year partnership between MassHousing and the Quincy Dickerman Elementary School – a K-5 public school located in Dorchester. The program originated in response to a school administrator’s call for role models and volunteers for the students, many of whom live in or near MassHousing-financed developments in the neighborhood. In 2009, the S.T.A.R.R. Mentor Program moved to the Martin Luther King Middle School, which merged with the Dickerman School. MassHousing staff mentor students beginning in the third grade until they reach the fifth grade.
MassHousing Named Finalist for Two Rosoff Awards from The Ad Club
Since its inception, more than 300 students have participated in the S.T.A.R.R. Mentor program and MassHousing mentors come from all levels and departments in the Agency’s organization. Each school year, eight to 10 mentors volunteer to work one day a week with students in the classroom to raise their levels of aspiration and academic achievement. An additional eight to 10 MassHousing mentors also volunteer on weekends to take students on field trips and provide special learning projects to augment students’ learning and social skills.
About The Ad Club
The Ad Club is the trade association for the New England marketing & communications industry. Focused on networking, education, professional development, advocacy, and diversity, The Ad Club presents over 30 events and programs every year.
About MassHousing
MassHousing (The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency) is an independent, quasi-public agency created in 1966 and charged with providing financing for affordable housing in Massachusetts. The Agency raises capital by selling bonds and lends the proceeds to low- and moderate-income homebuyers and homeowners, and to developers who build or preserve affordable and/or mixed-income rental housing. MassHousing does not use taxpayer dollars to sustain its operations, although it administers some publicly funded programs on behalf of the Commonwealth. Since its inception, MassHousing has provided nearly $14 billion for affordable housing. For more information, visit the MassHousing website at www.masshousing.com, follow us on Twitter @MassHousing, subscribe to our blog and Like us on Facebook.
Media Contacts
Eric Gedstad: 617.854.1079 | egedstad (at) masshousing (dot) com
Tom Farmer: 617.854.1843 | tfarmer (at) masshousing (dot) com
