City Council - Arts, Culture, Entertainment, Tourism, & Special Events Committee Hearing on Dockets #1443

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Good morning. My name is Ed Flynn, City Councilor. I am the Chair of the Boston City Council Committee on Arts, Culture, Entertainment, Tourism, Special Events. Today is October 10th, 2025. The exact time is 10.05. This hearing is being recorded. It is being live streamed at boston.gov, citycouncil-tv, broadcast on Xfinity, Channel 8, RCN, Channel 82, Fios, Channel 964. Written comments may be sent to the committee email at ccc.ac at boston.gov and will be made part of the record and available to all city councilors. Public testimony will be taken at the end of the hearing. Individuals will be called in order in which they signed up and will have two minutes to testify. If you are interested in testifying in person, please add your name to the sign-up sheet near the entrance of the chamber in the back there. If you are looking to testify virtually, please email our City Council staff liaison, Megan Cavanaugh, at megan.cavanaugh, K-A-V-A-N-A-G-H, at boston.gov. for the link and your name will be added to the list. Today's hearing is on docket 1443. Order for a hearing. on Equitable Contracting and Business Opportunities for Major Civic and Sporting Events in Boston. This matter was sponsored by City Council President, Mutsu Ijen, refer to the committee on August 8th. I'm sorry, August 6th, 2025. And docket 1444, order for a hearing for equitable investment strategies and tourism funds in Boston. This matter was sponsored by Councilor Louijeune, Councilor Brian Worrell, Councilor Julie Mejia. Refer to the committee on August 6th, 2025. Today I'm joined by City Council Colleagues in Order of Arrival, City Council President Ruzi Louis-Jean, City Councilor Aaron Murphy, and when other City Councilors come in, I will recognize them. At this time, I would like to give an opportunity for any City Councilor to give an opening statement. And let me start with City Councilor Louijeune. Councilor Louijeune, you have the floor.

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair, and I want to thank you for your flexibility. We just last minute switched the order of the panels, and I think that will hopefully add significantly to this conversation. I'm happy to everyone who is here today. This is a filing on two dockets, one about tourism and ensuring that we are equitably investing in tourism opportunities here in the city of Boston, given the work of this council in approving the TDMD just in 2021. There have been success stories, but there's always an opportunity for us to grow and to do better. So I look forward to that conversation, this conversation today. We are also combining it with another docket. So sometimes hearings happen just on one docket, but we decided, because I filed two similar dockets, to have this hearing on both dockets. One that is really forward looking and looking at next year. It's going to be, we are in a defining decade for the city of Boston and we are in a remarkable moment between Boston 250 and 2026. The 400th anniversary of our city in 2030, the return of SAIL Boston, and hosting FIFA World Cup matches, we will welcome millions of people here to our city and billions of dollars in activity. How we plan for these events will shape our city's economic legacy for generations. Equity is a core value in what we do here in the city of Boston as we continue to Push forward on progress. Each of these celebrations are not just about pageantry. It's also about participation and making and putting Boston on a global map and showing people what the true Boston and what it looks like when we equitably invest in our communities. Equity must be baked into contracts, partnerships, and investments that fuel our tourism sector. How we ensure Boston's economic story reflects on all of us. And it means, sometimes, creativity to ensure that we're including everyone and helping people scale up in the ways that we traditionally define and look at tourism and investments. The city has made strong commitments through executive orders on equitable procurement and supplier diversity Chief Idewu is here with us. I see Bishop Borders. I mean, not Bishop Borders, sorry. Director Borders. I go to his dad's church, so it's, anyways. With us here who's been doing really great work here for the city of Boston and making sure we're highlighting a part of Boston, black Boston, that is too often left out. And so thank you for your leadership and your stewardship in this important work. Today's discussion is about aligning our principles as a city with the private and quasi public partners who make our major events possible. How do we ensure that opportunities flow beyond downtown to Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, East Boston, and every neighborhood? This isn't just about the events that are coming. It's about building a structure in Boston where it is not an afterthought or we're doing this because we have to do the work of equity. It's part of who we are in our authentic identity as a city. and it's about how we leave behind a more inclusive tourism ecosystem, how we make sure that people, when they come and visit Boston, they see all of Boston, not just certain sectors, not just certain communities. and how we're doing what's outlined in the marketing plan for the TDMD is making sure that we are supporting and building for all of our neighborhoods, both in the job sector and in contracting opportunities. So thank you. For everyone who is here today, I think that this is going to be a very good conversation with work for us to build on. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Madam President. Councilor Murphy, you're next.

Thank you. Thank you Mr. Chair and thank you for everyone joining us here today on these two important dockets. As Boston prepares for a historic decade of major events, from the Boston 250 commemoration and Tall Ship's return, To the World Cup matches in 2026, we have a responsibility to make sure that the opportunities created by these events are shared equitably across all Boston's neighborhoods. These are billion-dollar moments for our region, and if done right, they can help close wealth gaps, grow local businesses, and build long-term community benefits that last far beyond a single celebration. That same principle applies to how we invest our tourism dollars. The tourism destination market district, the TDMD, now generates tens of millions each year. We should be asking, are those funds reaching all of Boston? Are we lifting up the small businesses, cultural organizations, and workers who make our city Such a special place to live and visit. Today's hearing is about accountability and inclusion, making sure that supply diversity, equitable contracting, in fair investment are built into every large-scale event in tourism initiatives. I look forward to hearing from Meet Boston, the Supply Diversity Office, local chambers, small business owners, and community leaders about how we can make these opportunities work for everyone. So thank you everyone for being here. A star-studded pack panelist and so looking forward to this conversation and seeing how we can make sure we do this right. Thank you, Chair.

And thank you, Council Murphy. I will give a brief opening statement. Again, I want to welcome everyone to the Ionella Chamber for this important discussion. Tourism plays a critical role in the City of Boston, supporting our city, supporting our Commonwealth, We encourage tourism. We have so many exciting events taking place from now over the next year as well, especially. What I like about tourism is when I see tourists and residents visiting the neighborhoods, whether it's in Chinatown, whether it's in the south end of Roxbury, I know there's wonderful sporting events and a sailing event coming up and I'd like to participate or go and see them but what's more important for me is are there kids from Boston that are also able to Are there kids from Chinatown that are able to get on a boat maybe for a little bit of a ride on a sailboat and experience what the oceans are all about? when I started eight years ago as a city councilor representing Chinatown, Roxbury area, public housing in South Boston. A lot of my constituents have never been to the Boston Harbor. They've never been to the Harbor Islands. I want to hear from city officials and from businesses how are we going to ensure that our young people in this city are also able to participate in these exceptional I want to say thank you and we're going to go into the first panel. And I'd like to introduce them and ask them if they'd like to come on down as well. So the first panel would include Sheena Collier. If you'd like to come to the, take a seat at the front here. Colin Knipe. Nicole Obie. and Alicia Benofiu-Ramos. If I mispronounce it, I apologize. Okay. And at this time, I would like to give every person here the opportunity to introduce yourself, what organization you're with, and also provide an opening statement if you'd like. Maybe Sheena, would you like to start? Sure.

Good morning, Council President Louijeune, Chair Flynn, Councilor Murphy, Thank you for inviting me to testify on these two important documents. My name is Sheena Collier. I'm the founder and CEO of Boston Law Black. We're a membership and cultural platform. that connects thousands of black professionals and residents through our digital community and signature events. I'm also the founder of Collier Connections, so we're an event strategy and design firm that works with civic institutions and companies to create experiences. Together through both of my businesses, a lot of our work is focused on community and culture, but importantly, economic opportunity, I think in relation to this conversation. We've been able to really create spaces that not only highlight Boston's diversity, but create measurable economic impact. Over the last five years, Boston All Black in particular has grown from this small network to A platform where we just hosted a 20,000 person festival at the Lawn on D in South Boston for the fifth year. We've welcomed over 55,000 people over the last couple of years, and every year we're engaging more than 50. Local vendors with 80% of them being black and women owned businesses. And so, you know, I consider us a huge contributor to the economic development in this region. We've been grateful to receive funding from Meet Boston through TDMD for the past three years, which has helped us grow sustainably. But I'm hoping that one of the things that can be raised in this conversation that are both true is first, Baltimore Black has grown by participating in the visitor and events economy here, particularly through that support. But second, our participation is still a very tiny slice of a very large pie. Access for us or even a handful of firms is not access for a wider ecosystem of black and brown owned businesses who should be benefiting when Boston wins. So I have many more thoughts, but I'll kind of stop there for now. And hoping and have some actual recommendations I'd love to share about particularly With what is on the DACA for 2026, how we can be more actionable about these commitments.

Thank you, Sheena. Call on night.

Good morning. Good morning. I'm really happy to be here today. And I want to thank Madam President Lucie Louijeune also City Councilor Ed Flynn for the opportunity to be here today. My name is Colin Knight and I'm the founder and CEO of Live Like a Local Tourist Boston and we give people a chance to experience food history and culture of neighborhoods like Roxbury. Dorchester, and Jamaica Plain. And I think it's imperative for us over this next couple of years as we have the 250th and our 400th year anniversary to make sure that all neighborhoods are visited and that dollars are being circulated within communities other than downtown Boston, Chinatown and the North End. which are all great neighborhoods, but I do feel like other neighborhoods need to be explored. And this is really an effort for me to circulate dollars within businesses of color within these neighborhoods and also looking for procurement dollars to expand and scale my business so that Then I can hire more tour guides and we can tour more neighborhoods and circulate even more dollars. Right now I'm a very, very small micro business. One person and a couple of social media people, but I truly believe with the opportunity for more funding and more marketing dollars that I could really expand and make a true mark in tourism in the city of Boston.

Thank you, Colin. Nicole?

Good morning and thank you for having us here today. I am Nicole Obie. I'm the President and CEO of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts. We are a member-based statewide organization. with a mission to build black wealth. We do that through our advocacy and our programming. Our programming is geared towards helping to create more black employer firms. We know that they are and many more. We are able to be ten times wealthier than their peers and the way that we help them grow is primarily through procurement and so our members are black owned firms but we also have ally organizations that are members of of BACMA that are doing the work towards achieving more inclusive procurement and helping to build wealth across the Commonwealth. Several of our members are here today, and we're excited to have a conversation about The importance of inclusive procurement. I also have the pleasure of serving on the board of directors of Meet Boston, as well as other boards.

Thank you, Nicole. Alisa, good morning.

Good morning, Mr. Chair. My name is Alyssa Benelphi Ramos, and I'm the Chief of Policy at the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, or BECMA for short. What I want folks to know at this time is the work we do from an advocacy perspective is mainly about supporting small and micro businesses. Micro businesses being businesses that are fewer than 10 employees and have less than $250,000 in annual revenue. We do supplier diversity and inclusive procurement supplier development advocacy both here and at the state level. We believe in economic justice and economic mobility. So advocating for programs that do both of those things. We also think about the transition to a clean economy. and however we can support our businesses to be able to make that transition as well as environmental justice for all of our communities. And lastly, housing is a foundation for building wealth. We believe in closing the racial wealth gap and we're here to talk about how having equitable procurement and contracting for docket 1443 is a wonderful way to help grow and scale small and diverse businesses across the city of Boston when we have such like a once in a generation opportunity with these upcoming major civic and sporting events. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for all of you for being here. At this time, I'm going to go to my city council colleagues to ask questions. I usually put the timer on for six minutes, but since there's only three councilors here, I do want to give every councilor as much time as they would like during this docket So I'm going to start with City Council President Louijeune, and then I'll go to Council Murphy, and then I'll go after.

Yeah, okay.

Before we do that, I do want to read something into the record. It's a written testimony to the City Council by Aninda Roman of We Are Alex. Alex. Thank you. City Council President Louijeune, Councilor Worrell, Councilor Mejia for your leadership on this important issue. Anandaya Rahman, President and CEO of We Are Alex, a statewide network of more than 4,000 Latino leaders, entrepreneurs, advocates advancing equitable economic opportunity. I'm here to testify on behalf of DOC at 1443 focused on equitable contracting and business opportunities for major civic and sporting events in Boston. and 1444 concerning equitable investment strategies and tourism funds. Boston is known for its historic landmarks, top universities, There's a great opportunity to attract more visitors, ensure that benefits of tourism reach a wide range of businesses and communities across the city, especially those historically unrepresented. including Latino, Black, women-owned businesses. Achieving this requires involving a wider range of partners in the city's travel and tourism contracting. Today I want to speak as an advocate for micro businesses. Micro businesses are small, often home-based, individually operated enterprises that can play a vital role in promoting Boston, attracting visitors, expanding economic benefits into more neighborhoods. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy 2025 report, in Massachusetts there are approximately 756,000 Small businesses, making up 99% of all businesses in the state. Around 126,000 of these have been between one and 19 employees, which typically fits within the micro business range. These small businesses employ about 1.5 million people representing nearly 45% of the state's workforce. This data highlights the critical role in micro and small businesses play in Massachusetts economy and workforce. To support these businesses effectively, the city must recognize their value, encourage their participation, and reduce barriers to entry and RFP Processes. For that, I want to offer three recommendations to make the city's RFP process more inclusive for micro businesses. All requests for proposals should be clearly defined should clearly define micro businesses and encourage respondents including larger organizations to incorporate micro businesses as subcontractor. This definition should appear alongside existing language supporting women in minority-owned businesses, enterprises to reinforce inclusion goals. Number two is recognizing that many RFPs have complex technical requirements that can be barriers for micro businesses. The city should consider adjusting submission criteria or creating a dedicated resource hub. This hub will provide guidance and support to micro businesses owners navigating the application process. Number three, the city should promote RFP opportunities widely. ensuring postings are freely accessible on the City website or other open platforms to maximize visibility and access for business owners. Additionally, the city should track and publicly report inclusion metrics and RFP to ensure micro businesses are actively engaged and consider structuring contracts to allow smaller Manageable portions that micro businesses can realistically bid on. By implementing these measures, Boston can strengthen its tourism economy in a more inclusive and equitable way, ensuring a wider distribution of the economic benefits across the city. Thank you again for the opportunity to testify and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. respectfully submitted by Anandar Roman, President and CEO. Now, at this time, I would like to start the I'm going to start with City Council President Louijeune and again I'm going to not use the timer on this docket and give my colleagues the time that they feel is necessary. to ask their questions. Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for reading that letter from Anita of Amplify Latinx, who was very excited to come, but last minute was not feeling well. I want to thank her for her advocacy. I also want to thank everyone for being here and moving so fast to try to have these dockets and to solve problems. I didn't realize how powerful it would be to have so many of the people who are doing the work of putting on great events for our city of doing the work of making sure, putting on great events and doing so in a way that lifts up the diversity of Boston, how powerful it would be to have you all in this shared space. So thank you to everyone for being here. I want to acknowledge our former state senator, Linda DeSantafori, for being with us. I really appreciate it. My first question is actually going to be for Colin. My first job here actually was as a walking tour guide of Boston's neighborhoods. I'm remiss that I have not been on one of your tours. And so before the end of this year, Go on a tour, but if you could talk to us as a micro business owner, what challenges you may have faced in getting access to opportunities both from the city or otherwise to help expand and showcase a more diverse Boston.

I think first is just the lack of being able to navigate the procurement process, being a micro business and not having a strong team around you. That is well versed in those areas to get to what you need I think has been a true barrier for me. I'd like to call myself a visionary. I got the big ideas on what I think this tour company can do in the city of Boston, not just here in Boston, but really across the country and the world. But being a visionary and big ideas don't always get things done. And so I'm really looking forward to some support in trying to get procurement dollars and looking for support in how to be able to navigate that. And so I can be ready for a lot of these really great events that are going to be happening over the next couple of years. and also what does it look like for me to be able to hire young people and college students from these neighborhoods and these areas to be able to do tours, to be able to scale and expand. and so I've been in business for about five to six years and I'm realizing now that I'm not going to be able to do this by myself so it would really be great to get some support from the city and support from others to make that happen.

Thank you and And I hope that there are, hopefully, we've been investing a lot in technical assistance for the city. So technical assistance to help you throughout the process of being able to apply for opportunities to help grow and expand your business. So we'll talk more about that. I want to turn to Sheena. You talked about the growth of Boston While Black over the years. Can you talk a little bit about the growth that you've seen and what's also happened with the funding? Have you seen the similar level of growth in funding from sponsors and from supporters

Yeah, as I mentioned, so Baltimore Black is five. Our business has a couple of different elements, including a subscription model, but we really were able to scale because of our events model. and having these large scale events that we do in the city, the reunion that I mentioned, our summit and other events throughout the year that though not as big are just as important because we are utilizing, We've been doing business with a lot of local businesses in all neighborhoods of Boston. Particularly around our largest growth, which is our reunion and some of the bigger events, we have been able to Three of the five years get support through TDMD to be able to kind of be an anchor sponsor of that event. We, in this past year, this past July, also brought in the City of Boston as a sponsor as well through the tourism, sports and entertainment, economic opportunity inclusion, arts and culture and the mayor's office. And so those have been huge. I mean, we, without a doubt, would not have been able to continue to not only sustain but grow those events If we didn't have particularly access to tourism funding and really helping, I think, Meat Boss and others to see even events that are local, locally grown, We do now bring in people to hotels, but that wasn't always, you know, from the beginning. It really was drawn from local neighborhoods. But I believe that those events are just as important and really and a number of other places that are driving tourism in the city. What we've found is that the residents, people from here, bring in people from out of town. So what's happened with Reunion, a number of people now bring their actual family We're seeing people coming from all over the country to reunion every year. Some of that is showing up in hotel rooms, but we also know for communities of color as well that people stay at people's houses. And so we've tried to do as much tracking as we can about how much we're bringing people into the city Through AI and other types of tools, we have been able to measure our economic impact. So again, the event has been for the past five years at the Lawn on D. So on the seaport this year, we also expanded to another space in the seaport. We've been able to show even in by year three that we were driving almost a million dollars in economic impact in the neighborhood on that day because people not only come to that event, they also then leave and go eat somewhere. We're also able, through cell phone data, to see what other neighborhoods they go to. So Chinatown was actually a big place that people go. I think people are going out to eat after events We're able to see heads in beds. We're even able to see the demographic breakdown of who's there. And so it's been, I'm really proud of how we've been able to drive and be a part of, in the summer, driving economic impact. it corporate sponsorships has always also been a big part of it and as we know we've had a climate this year that's been very anti-DEI which is where companies tend to put us in our in their DEI department and so you know from mid-January to beginning of April we quickly lost about half a million in corporate support and so that support really powers those events as well as kind of the operating model of Boston Wild Black. And so one of the things that I think it highlighted for me, though that obviously was a big hit to our business In a city like Boston, a state like Massachusetts that has this robust visitor and tourism economy, we almost shut our doors this year. And I think that it highlights even for Thank you. Thank you. a key player in the city even as a small business and having to get to the point where we were even considering that and still in a somewhat precarious financial place with knowing that, you know, There's this $2.3 billion tourism industry and taxes in the state. I really think that we need to figure out, because we're just an example of other businesses that that happened for this year. of how we really close the gap and not have to have so much reliance on corporate dollars, which can be very sentiment driven when we have a very strong economy here that could be powering our business and others.

Thank you. And the three of you and Anita who's from Amplify Latinx are just four of the organizations that we brought here. But there could have been, as you talked about earlier, Ms. Collier, there could have been so many other organizations and businesses that are in this industry, but struggle to get the support to really thrive and to really show a true Boston. So I want to thank you for that. You also mentioned, and this is a question for you, and I actually want to ask this question to everyone. You said that you had recommendations as we look forward to 2026 and the possibilities and the major events that are going to, again, bring in billions in revenue, millions in visitors. What are those recommendations and what ideas do you have for people who are in this room, for the next panel, but also for us as elected officials and how we do the work of making sure contracting and opportunities really flow to our black and brown businesses and to our communities and neighborhoods as well.

Yeah, absolutely. It's been said many times, but I think just to echo again the extraordinary scale of opportunity that is coming to Boston in the next year. And we're here because we know that a lot of those dollars continue to circulate within some of the same limited network of firms. So a couple of recommendations if I think we're really serious about closing the racial wealth gap in this area. before even getting through procurement, because I think the inclusion has to exist not just in contracting, but the host committees, the planning groups, the decision makers that are making decisions around These events have to reflect the diversity of the city as well. More concretely, one, I think publishing and equity in events Thank you. Thank you very much. Related to FIFA and Boston 250, launching a supplier cohort of local firms who are prioritized for training, pre-qualified for contracting, and Jess are really able to move through the process. Colin brought up, and we have the same, the administrative challenges of being able to move through these processes. For me, I'm someone who considers myself well in the know, and there's still a lot I don't know about FIFA coming to Boston or about how to participate in these things. I do events, so I can imagine Not just the main events that we're talking about but the auxiliary things that are going to need to happen in the city and I think that there just needs to be more of an effort to educate people on that but also to move them through the process. Specifically for TDMD, I've researched TDMD as we've applied for it every year. I've even looked at it in other cities. So I do understand that there is a focus on hotels. and focus on bringing visitors into hotel rooms. We've bumped up against it when we've tried to increase funding just because, again, though we are pulling people from across the country, we have mostly a local flavor. However, I staunchly believe that part of any city's tourism strategy or state's tourism strategy has to be about the people that live there as well because we are the greatest ambassadors of that place and are going to bring other people in. So specifically, I don't know if this is done in other TDMDs, I think Boston can be a leader as we'd like to be, but creating a neighborhood and culture fund track for a multi-year working capital to support culturally rooted events. Yes, while there is this focus on the events that bring in hotel visitors, really having a slice of that that is focused on neighborhood level cultural events. Last two, just four. You know, having a citywide equity and events liaison, this is You know, could be someone or someones or somebody that connects all of these host committees, all of these firms. You know, there's a number of people that I know are Staples, and events in this city that I don't know. And there's really no way for us to interact with each other. And so I think that because there could be subcontracting opportunities or partnership opportunities that people just don't know about because we aren't connected to each other, And then lastly, this is just, you know, years ago there was a campaign, I think it was a partnership between the city and Meet Boston, just around all-inclusive Boston, and expanding on things like that, to not only invest on the marketing side, but really events and how do we bring, if we're trying to create a different message about Boston, What are we doing tangibly to bring that to life as well? And how do we make sure that as we are saying that we're different, that we are actually giving people a different experience? And so I don't know where that stands specifically, but In those type of efforts, how are we making sure that there is a co-branded storytelling and events campaign that goes along with the marketing. I imagine in this next year, we are gonna be marketing Boston a lot and Massachusetts a lot. I just wanna make sure that the actual story we're telling, that there's some actual There's things that are actually happened to make sure that that story is real.

Yeah, Beckman would like to jump in and share. We are, as I said, a member-based organization. Many of our members are here today, and much like Anita Roman and we are ALX, we are an organization who our mission is really to drive the economic equity and prosperity across the Commonwealth. I would say that we're here today to urge the city to adopt a 25% inclusive procurement goal from minority and women-owned businesses for the major civic and sports events coming to Boston. These events are projected to generate up to billions of dollars and a 25% benchmark would direct $125 to $275 million to women and minority-owned firms. And that's an unprecedented opportunity for wealth creation. These contracts span food services, tours, events, marketing, hospitality, transportation, printing, and setting this goal would level the playing field so black and diverse firms can access the same opportunities as others and avoiding missing a participation in a boom as has been the case in .com, and Life Sciences, and ironically, cannabis. So in 2021, alongside two Latino organizations, Amplify Latinx, Beckma filed a lawsuit against the city of Boston for its lack of equitable contracting outcomes. At that time, Boston spent less than half of 1%. of its contracting dollars with Black-owned firms over a five-year period. At Beckman's Mass Black Expo last week, Mayor Michelle Wu announced that over the last four years, however, that the city has had more than $450 million in contracts have gone to businesses owned by people of color. including several BECMA members. That progress shows what's possible when there's intentionality and accountability around making commitments to go from half of 1% to 14% in just a few years. That's not good intentions. That is actually setting goals and following through.

I'd like to add to that. And thank you for the question, Madam President. You know, these results prove that inequities can be dismantled when there is focus, leadership, accountability, and intentionality. So we see that next step for the city to have this 25% inclusive procurement goal for these upcoming events because we don't want, like I said earlier, MWBEs to miss out on this once-in-a-generation opportunity. We did submit lengthy written testimony, so I'm not going to say too much, but I just want to add a couple more points. This inclusive procurement goal of 25% is more than just an economic argument. I think we've heard a lot about economics here so far, but it's also something that I believe we have a strong moral argument around. Boston is a majority minority city, and yet so many entrepreneurs and businesses of color still struggle to access opportunity. And we know that we're living in a sociopolitical moment where there is a chilling effect that Sheena spoke to and how it's impacted her business. How it's impacting all of our businesses and communities of color in our neighborhoods. We know that this is national but it's having a local effect as well. We know that there are businesses and customers who are being impacted by We know that they're impacted by tariffs and supply chain challenges. And so in this really difficult moment, I think it's important that Boston continues to step up and stand with our communities of color stand with our businesses of color and show that inclusion continues to be a strength here in Boston. And we know that this could be successful. We've seen benchmarks be set or goals be set in different projects and have success. We know that right now Nicole is serving on the White Stadium Supplier Diversity Group, and so far 44% of contracts have gone to businesses owned by women or people of color. I sit with her. We do work together. She's the chairwoman on the State Supplier Diversity Advisory Board. And she already mentioned what she does for Meet Boston. So we're constantly having these conversations. with public entities, private entities, quasi public entities. And I will just say, we know that it works because we work with businesses. That's what Beckman does on a regular basis. Last year, we supported 260 businesses. through our back office support services program. We also have a program that does supplier development. And we surveyed those businesses, those 260 businesses. They reported out 50 million in contracts and 70 new jobs created. and that's just for 2024. We also, just a quarter of those businesses responded to the survey and just a quarter of those 260 businesses reported out 50 million in contracts and 70 new jobs created. We also have Beckma Community Investments. We provided $650,000 in loans to small businesses who had contracts in hand. I think that's critical. They had contracts in hand. And we were able to unlock $6 million in total contracts 18 full-time jobs and double firm revenue. for all of those businesses. So this is what happens when small and diverse businesses get a chance. Right now, Nicole likes to say we're under utilizing one of Boston's fastest growing economic assets being small and micro businesses. I just want to double down on saying why we need this goal. A 2022 Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation study found that eliminated racial disparities could grow the state's economy by $25 billion over the next five years. That's $25 billion with a B. Inclusive procurement is a direct path to that growth. At the city, its entrepreneurs, its neighborhoods, everyone would benefit from having this 25% inclusive procurement goal. And thank you for the opportunity to just give a recommendation. We're happy to answer questions. And we did submit written testimony. Thank you.

And thank you so much to for being here. I know you had to move around your schedule. And it really means a lot to have you have done that and for you to be here. You also highlighted a lot of what the city has been doing from the sheltered market program, the scale program. all of which have increased significantly the amount of the city's contracting that is going to black and brown-owned businesses. So I think that is incredible. One thing that I'd like to just put a pin on You stated that, at least for the White Stadium contracting, that 44% of contracts are going to... Black and Women-Owned Businesses, Black and Brown and Women-Owned Businesses.

People of Color and Women-Owned Businesses, yes.

People of Color and Women-Owned Businesses, great. One of the things, and this is for a later discussion, is what does that represent us from the proportion of the total dollar amount of contracting because it could be 44%, but also black and brown businesses may have a smaller share of the overall because do those tend to be the smaller businesses. And that's something that I want us to be attuned to, whether we're talking about contracts with the city whether we're talking about contracts next year, the numbers, bringing up the number or the percentage of overall contracts, but also what is the total pie and what is the percentage of the total pie that those businesses are getting. In the beginning, I think it's probably because of the reality of how things work for maybe to be 44% of the contracts but maybe 22% of the overall revenue. But hopefully over time those two percentages will start to meet because you're getting larger scale black and brown women owned businesses that can compete with some of the larger revenue contracts. The last thing that I have to, and he might be regretting not starting the timer, but the last question that I have for you, Beckman, for this panel, and then I'll allow my colleagues to ask, move on to them, is do you have, you mentioned the 25% target. We have the events next year. Do you have specific recommendations or ideas for these large events next year and how they can do a better job of ensuring that these goals are baked into their processes rather than like, okay, well, the city's saying that we have to do this. What are the recommendations that you have for it to be baked in the process?

Sure, absolutely. I mean, one is setting goals and making sure that the goals are Translated not just at the highest level but through prime contractors and having it flow all the way through. Also don't wait till the end of the project to see how you're doing. Have transparency throughout the project and accountability is very important to ensure that you actually achieve your goals and not just set goals. I also think that organizations that are not really sure how They're going to successfully complete those goals that they partner with organizations that can have a track record and can help them to identify the businesses that are ready, willing, and able to support them in fulfilling and executing these amazing events that are coming to town. So those are some of the things that I would say that are really important. It can't be an afterthought. Can't add equity at the end. It has to be something that is designed from the very beginning and being very intentional about seeking support in doing all the steps that are really necessary to accomplish these goals.

Yeah, we'd also love to see a data dashboard. I think anytime we can have a live dashboard or one that's updated on a biweekly or monthly basis. We talk a lot about transparency and similar to the point you made a few moments ago, what's the breakdown of that spend, the breakdown of the 44%? One way that there can be corrections on an ongoing basis Oh, we're realizing maybe one group is an outsized part of a 44%, for example. This dashboard allows I'd also say I don't want to underscore the importance of or leaders, whether it's the city council, the city, the city's economic opportunity office to continue promulgating that we want this 25% to take place. We've heard from businesses and we've heard from external folks that especially in this moment when they're not hearing oh we're still doing equity we're still doing inclusive procurement they might step back thinking it's not happening so kind of reaffirming that on an ongoing basis is something that folks will use as a guiding light because if it's not said it won't be done so in addition to what Nicole said you know being This is part of hopefully Boston's brand for all of these projects moving forward and that will help reach the goals that we want to see and hopefully surpass 25%. 25% I think is a great number, but we'd love to see as much as possible happening knowing, like I said, Boston's a majority minority city and we have so many businesses of all types doing work that are ready for this moment.

Thank you. Thank you for mentioning accountability and data because this conversation is all for naught if we're not auditing, holding ourselves accountable, and providing the data to back up the numbers.

So thank you. No further questions. Just to add to that, Councillor, sorry, just quickly. I want to triple down on the transparency piece. And also, as we think about, I'm very much a supporter of the moral and civic reasons. You know, on the business case side, just like we see happening with companies, visitors want representation and authenticity. So as we are also just thinking about how do we make ourselves more competitive, As we market these events, people are making a lot of decisions of if they're even going to visit the US right now. And I think the more that Boston can be a leader and show that we are welcoming Not only to visitors, but in the way that we do business, it is just going to all around be a smart business move for us as a city as we compete for visitors and for residents.

Agreed. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Council President. Before I go to Council Murphy, I do want to recognize former City Councillor Lydia Edwards and current State Senator now Edwards. Good to be with you. Thanks for being here. Murphy, you're up.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you for your testimony and Just to have some questions, you made it clear why it's important, but my questions are around how do we then make sure it happens, right? What barriers have you experienced when trying to participate in large events contracts or tourism grant programs up to this point? And if you've already started, looking forward to the big events coming up. What support, either technical assistance, communication, or partnerships, would make these opportunities more accessible? And how can the city strengthen collaboration between event organizers and neighborhood-based businesses? I think all of you spoke about, you know, all of our neighborhoods, all of our residents across the city need to benefit from this once in a generation probably opportunity.

I can jump in and just share some of the barriers. It really does, I always say, if buyers aren't buying, then it doesn't really matter what we as business support organizations or individual businesses do. I believe that our biggest barrier is anytime that there is a lack of commitment on the side of buyers to and that commitment has to follow through in their actions and holding their teams and their contractors accountable. If you don't have that, we're not going to get there from here. It's as simple as that. So that, I would say, has been the biggest barrier is that we aren't seeing Enough commitments and then actions being put in place to make sure that we realize those goals.

I would add specifically to the events that are coming in the next year, there's just, I think, the flow of communication. So I remember way back when we were trying to bid for the Olympics. I was a part of a lot of community and neighborhood level conversations about that. People were coming into neighborhoods. I remember going to things at the Freedom House where Everyone was engaged in this conversation of whether this was right or wrong for Boston. I know this is a little different, but just that same type of ground game of having people be a part of conversation It really wasn't until this hearing order and being invited to speak that I really, I mean, I know this because I know math, but really understood the economic opportunity that is on the table and I've been surprised. It doesn't feel like there's a lot of conversation about it in the city. It doesn't feel like Everyone is engaged around how this could really shift Boston next year. And so I think being able to, along with Nicole said on the commitments from the buyers, from a community level, because that's where a lot of our small businesses sit, right? We are amongst our customers, amongst our community. It doesn't feel like we're all in this together and that we're really thinking about how do we all participate and bring this forward.

I agree with the feeling of the conversation. I don't really hear much about it sometimes here on the council. Do you feel at all that that may be intentional? If we keep it quiet, then we don't have to share it. Is that a thought any of you have?

I have a lot of thoughts. I don't know, but I do think that it's to actually where you all ended on the last question, along with the transparency and accountability I just want some of this to be reframed also as opportunity. This is not a reprimand or not a bad thing that we have to have inclusion. I mean, there's stats all over the place of how much it benefits everyone. And so I think maybe sometimes it is maybe things are kept close to the chest because of just maybe our perception around Scarcity or access, but I really think access should be kind of the rule and not the exception. And so whatever the reasons are, this is an opportunity amongst others for Boston to really stand out and lead. I think if we see it like that and really see it as how do we bring everyone in the city along with us, the energy of the conversation could just be very different.

I would say that because I have the privilege of serving on so many of these organizations that are part of these There's good intention, but there's not the intentionality There's not the same, we wanna have a great event, we're gonna do all the things that are needed to have a good event, but there's not that same level of seriousness Thank you. pivot or activate that good intention and really have it be a part of what's being planned for these amazing events that are coming up.

Yes, and adding to that, not just like a nice to have. It'd be nice if this was equitable, inclusive, if folks had access. We want it to be standard and part of the process. And so we can continue to build on that in years to come. I think sometimes we're having these conversations. It seems like we're still trying to get access, inclusion, and equity.

Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Council Murphy. Over the weekend, I was at the Bowling Building on Saturday for the open studio for the artists that were selling their paintings or pottery or sculptures. And one of the people there did ask me about what opportunities are there for those types of artists of color, small businesses. They may not necessarily have a... A storefront for their office. They do a lot of their paintings at home. But are you reaching out to those types of artists? And is there an opportunity for them Thank you.

Thank you. and all the vendors and all the support that needs to be a part of that. Then there's the event itself, and then there are things that are happening afterwards. And so our goal here at BECMA is to make sure that, yeah, we're casting a broad net because we know that whether it's a day or a couple of days there's just a lot and it's not just the forward-facing people that are going to be part of these events that are going to make them great so artists can help with social media can help with some of the other Advertising, some of the other creative elements of what's going to make these events really special. But we really think across the broad spectrum. from the boring stuff that needs to happen from security to sanitation to transportation to those that are front and center as well. That's what we do.

Maybe my final question is, when these wonderful events do come to the city, how are we going to connect these events to the neighborhoods and ensure that residents know about these events, that maybe there's an opportunity for them to attend, maybe there's an opportunity for them to participate, engage in contracting, But what is the strategy of communicating with various neighborhoods, people of color? How are we getting the message to them specifically on what is taking place in the city and how could they possibly Participate if they choose.

Well, that's an excellent question. I mean, that is why we would like to make sure that we're part of the planning Those events can't happen last minute. There can't be pop-up events. We have to be as intentional with those as everything else. And so for example, serving on the Massachusetts 250 I'm the chair of the community engagement committee. And so we've been working with some of the folks here in this room We have an equity playbook that we are implementing that not only includes inclusive procurement, but it also includes making sure that we're doing the outreach, that we're having events, Outside of the July 4th Pops event. And we're planning those now. And so it just takes that long. And so that's why we want to really caution against treating this as an afterthought. We're just not gonna be successful in last minute planning on being equitable and inclusive.

I think also tapping into networks of our local You know, ethnic radio and, you know, our local neighborhood level newspapers and ethnic newspapers. We know that when we have events, even as Beckman, like we have our Mass Black Expo, We're sure to invite and partner with all of our local and diverse media as well as forms of non-traditional media and social media and tapping into folks who have larger networks to ensure that we're able to reach people who might You know, maybe closing the racial wealth gap isn't the topic that drives them, but they're really excited about trying a new restaurant or meeting a certain person that's going to be at one of our events. So we really rely on our network of local folks, and they do a great job covering our events and raising awareness about different things. So I always want to make sure I'm uplifting our black papers. Local Ethnic Radio and stuff like that.

And we're not proprietary about our equity playbook. We're happy to share that broadly with organizers, but it's, you know, It's an artifact. It's something that can be useful as a tool. But again, there has to be more of a commitment in order for that tool to be able to help guide to success.

Councilor I would add there's a couple of models I think that we can that we've done recently and in the past that we can can look to because I think that question really is also for the organizers of these and so on. So I think it's really important to think about how are these events, how are they being intentional about it. Boston has an amazing community of creators if equipped with the information and the resources to distribute it, I think can distribute on behalf of a lot of these events. Many years ago, I worked for the Chamber of Commerce started a festival that ran for about a decade called Fierce Urgency of an Hour Fund. And it was a decentralized model where the chamber was the host of the main event, but then we worked with local creators to host events throughout the week. The city of Boston just did something similarly with the HBCU Weekend for the Culture Week where you had the anchor event that was happening, but throughout the week others were encouraged to host things related to that. I would just add for I don't the the city didn't do this and I don't think we did this as a chamber either of those things should also come with some resources for people to be able to actually host and If you are asking people to get the word out, giving them marketing dollars or if you ask them to host, giving them some dollars to be able to host. But again, if we really see this as something that the whole city is participating in and everyone has a role in it, and people are a resource to participate in it. I think that naturally people are gonna help spread the word around it.

Thank you and my final question and maybe it'll be a question I will ask the next panel but I wanted to get your opinion as well. How are we engaging our BPS students, especially our high school students? Is there an opportunity for them To be part of the process, to be engaged, to be exposed to businesses, sporting events, cultural events, arts and culture. Is there an opportunity for BPS kids, high school students to participate as well.

So when I worked at BPS, something you said in your opening counselor around, you know, when you, in your neighborhood, In the neighborhoods that you serve, having residents who haven't even been to the harbor or haven't been to other parts of the city. And I worked in Boston Public Schools for many years. I worked at Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative. and then came to work at the chamber in the financial district. And for many of the families I worked with, I might as well have went to another state because they just had no connection to this part of town. There's a lot of, So that was a decade ago. I think there's a lot of opportunity now, one with social media, honestly. Again, there are ways to... get everyone to participate in a message, kind of rally them around what's happening in the city in a way where they really feel like they're including and telling the story and being a part of the story. I think more concretely, I know the Chamber is doing some of this and more of this can be done of really connecting particularly the business community and events community to Boston Public Schools and making sure that young people are see a pipeline for themselves into what's happening in the rest of the city. So it could be tapping into some existing programs that are already happening, some of the schools that are already kind of career pathways and see if there's ways for those young people to participate. There was a program that I learned of many years ago that actually utilized high school students as event staff and was able to have them participate in large events Thank you. Thank you. that these things are even coming to their city and them and their families aren't tapped into it. So really opening up the communication channels.

I will just, oh, go ahead, Nicole.

I was just going to say that when, as we're talking about diversity and inclusion, we are talking about also young people, all sorts of people. It's not just racial diversity that we're were speaking about, and as Sheena says, there are organizations that I think would love to be a part of helping to organize to get students and other residents involved.

I will also say, prior to working at Becma, I worked at the Boston Public Health Commission. And a lot of the work we did was with BPS students in the after-school setting. And there were advisory councils, youth advisories, different after-school youth programs. and they're always looking for opportunities to connect with local events. Some of them are civically focused, health focused, a lot of different focuses but they work with a lot of young people in BPS and I know they also work with Nonprofits or other after school programs with BPS students specifically. I know they'd be really excited and they're based in almost every neighborhood. So that would be a great way to activate young people.

Well, thank you to this panel for being here. for staying and providing excellent testimony, excellent feedback. At this time, Councilor Louijeune, I'm going to dismiss this panel. You would obviously love for you to stay, but I would like to bring down, ask if city councilor, former city councilor, current state senator, Lydia Edwards, if you'd like to appear.

Thank you. Thank you.

Good morning, Senator.

Good morning.

It's good to have you here, Senator.

Thank you, Councillor Flynn and Councillor Louijeune, Madam President. Thank you for the opportunity to be here. I can say, as you You're the only body that introduces me as the former city councillor and then senator. I understand the priorities. But I have to say, I wanted to testify specifically today seeing the wonderful hearing notice. and the conversation that's going to happen. And if you don't mind, I'd like to address three components. First, speak to the tourism marketing bid specifically then also speak to some of the recommendations some of which I heard today but also in light of the equitable conversation that we're having nationally but also locally some also suggestions that we should consider and finally also in preparation for next year's incredible amount of events that are happening. If that's okay?

Yes, it is, Senator.

So first I wanted to speak specifically to the tourism destination and marketing district plan. I was the lead sponsor. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. After the pandemic, the pandemic destroyed our businesses and our tourism business especially. And we did not have the reserves as a commonwealth to help us bounce back. and as is often said, when I guess mainstream businesses or mainstream entities get a cold, you can say our neighborhood businesses, or our minority-owned businesses catch the flu. And so what we saw is record numbers of our local businesses close. We did not have the reserves to push and back them up, and this in part is a response to that, to create those reserves, this tourism. A successful example is the Greenway. where local property owners that align the Greenway each have agreed to an increase slight increase in their property taxes and that creates a renewable fund that allows for us to invest. and a free accessible entity and resource over here. So Boston and Cambridge came together. We celebrated it here. We voted on it here and Cambridge City Council voted on it there. It was unanimous. Before it was unanimous, 80 to 90% of the local businesses, hotels especially, supported this creation. As a result, we became the first city, again Boston leading the way, to opt in to this tourism bid, if you will. And as I'm sure they will testify, the amount of money that they've been able to raise to help us survive whatever pandemic recession or withdrawal of federal funds is going to be vital in the next several years. As such, I wanted to testify and speak to the wonderful gem that this body helped create and why it's vital to assure that we support it and also stand by it. I can speak also to the direct investments from this entity in my district. The Latino Art and Musical Festival or Dance and Musical Festival that we've had, The Meet Boston has directly invested, advertised, and pushed for it around the entire state. Excuse me, around the city. I can speak to the gathering we started of all New England. State and state representatives and senators, all of the black and African-American. There's about 50 of us in New England gather now annually. and again, Meet Boston has sponsored that gathering. So we can talk about regional response to racial equity, racism and also opportunities. So these are gatherings that I have seen directly invested in our communities by Meet Boston to assure that we have not only an equitable voice, but I can assure you when we were designing this, One of the big pushbacks or pushes that we had, myself and Councilor Baker at the time, was making sure that the money that this generates is spread across all of the neighborhoods of Boston. and also that it be green money and also that the union was on board and the hotel union is on board. So this is a gem. It continues to produce incredible amounts of investments in our communities. I'm hopeful that we will see it that way and encourage folks to continue to push and move and get involved actually in making sure that the money can get spread around the neighborhood. Moving on to the second component of recommendations, I think it was Ms. Collier who talked about potentially an equity, citywide equity in events kind of position in the city. taking, yes, I'm a huge yes to that, but also thinking that maybe the city should also consider looking at creating a calendar of equitable events during Black History Month or during Latin History Month and actually having a calendar from the city council or from the city in general that is demonstrating where people can go for that month. I represent the Third Suffolk, which is East Boston, Revere, and Winthrop, and also all of downtown Boston, this area. Historical components and aspects are huge for us. making sure that that's part of our tourism conversation, especially the African American History Museum. These are all wonderful ways in which we can push those dollars towards our history and then also push it towards other historical neighborhoods outside of downtown. and then finally next year. I'm excited, a little nervous about the World Cup coming up. I'm excited about our 250th anniversary. These are wonderful opportunities. Again, Ms. Collier mentioned that we should not be seeing diversity I know that in the State House we'll be meeting with FIFA to discuss all of the investments. But long story short, we have a lot to shine and to show throughout the entire city. And I look forward to making sure that we have a partner with the TM Excuse me, the TDMD, and also with our local businesses throughout. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator. Council President, do you have any questions?

I don't.

Thank you for your testimony. Okay. Thank you, Council President. I don't necessarily have any questions, Senator. Well, maybe one question. With so many So many events taking place in and around the downtown area or the waterfront or in the financial district or near the Boston Common. How do we connect? All those residents to the neighborhoods is specifically focusing on transportation. Are we able to get people into the neighborhoods through the MBTA, through various means of transportation in also getting residents of the city into downtown Boston so that they can explore and participate. But do you see transportation as

Thank you for bringing that up. Public Transportation, one of which is the ferry. And I've been speaking with the convention and also Meet Boston about how we can push for more advertisement about the ferry. and getting people on the boat. It is harder sometimes to see this gulf of water. So from East Boston, we're less maybe inclined to go downtown to things. So having that ferry has really connected us. It's a five minute, Quick Across the Pond, as we say, to get to downtown, making it affordable and also making it fun, so having it on the weekends. So we hope that the city will partner with us to make sure that it's a year-long ferry, that it continues to be affordable, That's one thing, making sure it's a ferry that's increasing back and forth traffic between downtown and the airport. There are now three boats, but they're not coordinated as an airport transportation Hub, but we should, from aquarium area, being able to walk right to the boat and go straight to the airport is a huge win for a lot of people. 10 minutes, $6. I also think that looking at shuttle buses as well as supporting the youth buses from the YMCA and so on and so forth from coming from different neighborhoods, maybe partnering them and sponsoring them. Thank you for joining us. We actually have to build the bridges and the connectors, Councilor Flynn, to make sure people can get there.

Thank you, Senator. And my final question, and I know it certainly plays a key role in your district, As part of your outreach and your colleagues in the Statehouse, are you going to coordinate with Massport and figure out any support Massport could play, especially on transportation-related issues? in communication issues and how we can ensure that Massport works with us. And I do have tremendous respect for Massport. I just wanted to see what your thoughts are, Senator.

Yes, one of the ways in which Massport was immediately responsive to our concerns was helping us bring back the ferry to the airport so that you can come from downtown and go to Winthrop and go to the airport. So they have been responsive and now they're advertising water transportation So when you get off your plane, you can actually see there's ferries to take you downtown or to Seaport or to Long Wharf. So that is a huge win. And I think that that's the kind of coordination and immediate response that we're going to hope for more of from Massport. is basically letting travelers know all of the opportunities that they have and helping them to get as soon as possible to those opportunities and not necessarily drive through the beautiful neighborhood of East Boston.

Well, thank you, Senator, and we're honored to have you, and thank you for being here. I introduced the Senator first as a City Councilor, then as a Senator, but I also should recognize that she's been a strong advocate for veterans and military families as well. So I want to thank you, Senator, and your family for their service to the United States government, the United States military. Thank you, Senator.

Thank you. Have a good day.

Thank you. We're on to the second panel. And would like to invite down members of the second panel, including the following. Segun from the Office of Chief, Office of the Economic Opportunity Inclusion, David O'Donnell from Meet Boston, Neil Dougherty from FIFA, of the Boston Host Committee, Stacy Lynn Sant, also from FIFA, and Dusty Rhodes. Good to see you, Dusty. Conventures, Executive Director and President. At this time, I would I would ask if each person would like to introduce yourself, give your name, your title, and an opening statement if you'd like to provide one. And whoever wants to go first. Please do.

Well, Councillor, since... I had the most experience from the panel of doing these hearings, so I'll kick it off and ask to colleagues.

Neil is no stranger.

Well, but actually, it's interesting being on this side of things though, right? It's uncomfortable. Well, good morning, Councillors, and great to see so many friends and advocates and colleagues here in the room. So for the record, my name is Shigun Idewu. For the last 1,376 days and counting, I've had the privilege of serving as the Chief of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion for the city. As I share at every hearing, Our name changed four years ago to Economic Opportunity and Inclusion Our vision remains of a city that is resilient, equitable, sustainable, and vibrant, one that centers people, and one that is focused on helping all of our communities build generational wealth. And I think building on what Sheena shared during her testimony, and Nicole from Beckma. Also for the city, this is not a moral argument in terms of our commitment to equity and diversity. It's not a social argument, but rather an economic imperative if we want to ensure the stability of our city's economy. For generations to come. Since January 2022, we've worked to make sure that every Bostonian has fair and equal access to opportunities, but also creating those on-ramps to opportunities. Some of the ways or some of the results of doing that over the last three and a half years, the Office of Small Business has awarded $35 million to small businesses here in the city. Majority of those dollars going to Businesses owned by women and people of color. In our cannabis industry, 54% of shops that are open at the moment are operated by equity applicants. Amazing Chief of Worker Empowerment, Trinh Nguyen, has brought in nearly $100 million from the federal government to help ensure that we're again creating on ramps for women and people of color, but all Boston residents to have access to high wage jobs to help strengthen Our middle class. And again, as was mentioned on the previous panel, the city has leaned into making sure that we're not just that we're here to talk about events that are coming to the city. but also how the city is helping to grow events that are already in the city to be attractive for others to come and try to take them away but they never will, like the HBCU Classic that was led and spearheaded by John Borders, our Director of Tourism, Sports, and Entertainment, but also how we continue to try to support events like Family Reunion, events like BAMS Fest and so many others that happen throughout the year. Another way that the city has ensured that we are focused on equity and diversity is by ensuring broad participation of small and local companies in the area of procurement. So this is my favorite topic, as you all know. I say that every time we come talking about Supplier Diversity. And because of the support of this council, we've seen year over year growth. Successes that we've had are the result of intentionality and policies that this body has adopted. And in fact, there's going to be a forthcoming, our forthcoming annual report on equity and city contracts in anticipation of Supplier Diversity Week, which as a free plug is October 20th, excuse me, October 27th to October 31st. being managed by, I think Cisnel is here somewhere, a wonderful member of our team. That report will show, among other things, a huge increase in the amount of spending and I heard that question earlier in the White Stadium piece, so this is what matters. The dollars that we're paying out, a huge increase in the amount of dollars that the city has been spending. Numbers that I've got is that in comparison to Fiscal year 19 through 22, which is four years, the city spent roughly $233 million. And just in the last three years, we spent $369.5 million, which is a 63% increase. in terms of the amount of contracts we've awarded. Again, for that same period, FY19 to 22, the city awarded contracts valued at $323 million to women and minority businesses. And in the same period for FY23 to 25, which is only three years, We've awarded contracts valued at $628.7 million, which is a 52% increase. So we're proud of the work that we've been doing, but we've got a lot more further to go. Happy to be here to discuss this topic because as has been shared by pretty much everybody that's spoken today, next year is a generational opportunity for the city of Boston. You know, Boston continues to lead as I think we are the only city that will have the convergence of three major opportunities and major events like FIFA, like the Tall Ships celebration and celebrating our 250th anniversary. Of course, Boston is what kicked it off despite what Philly has to say. We did it first and best, and they did the paperwork, I think is what Mayor Walsh said. And so it's an important opportunity not just to celebrate what Boston has done, but to look forward into the future of what Boston is becoming and what we will be. And lots of successes that we have to inform How we operate next year. So I've just mentioned all the things that we've done as a city to increase and boost supply diversity Nicole was here earlier I know that a lot of the conversation has been on the events that are happening, but as she mentioned in her testimony, someone has to build the things that are happening. Someone needs to clean the things and transport Folks where they got to go provide the security. Someone needs to provide the decor and the flowers. Someone needs to communicate and market all the things that are going on. and so there are huge opportunities to make sure that businesses that either didn't exist before when the last, for instance, Tall Ships event was here that exists now or that were too small then who are now big enough have not just access to opportunities, but actually can secure those opportunities to help grow their business. As an administration, we're focused on ensuring the safety, mobility, and sustainability of anything that we put together, because I think Colin mentioned this is really our road to the 400th in 2030, that other cities just get to talk about 2026 and the role in 250, but we're celebrating for the next five or six years because of all the great things that Boston kicked off in this country. So whatever we do for 2026 are things that we can replicate leading up to and during 2030 for the 400th But that is what will sustain what we're doing even beyond 2030. Just very quickly, which I know I'm saying after speaking for 10 minutes, just for the three different events, just to put on the table some of the things the city is considering or has already done per these different events. And again, I look forward really to the ideas that come from this body as well as colleagues here in this room for what more we can do. But for the 250th, I think Boston did it first and best. So for Bunker Hill Day, we had a drone show that was beautifully done and narrated by some random person, me. You know, the drone show, I think, showed what was possible for 2026, and we're seeing this replicated across different state events, the inclusion of drones. I know there's an effort to create a landing page that will gather all the different events that are taking place. And much like Sheena mentioned, kind of this umbrella event that saw a lot of people do things. Having that accessibility for people to see everything that's going on will be important. And I know we're working with Meet Boston on that page, having an interactive map to show what's going on. We're working with Embrace Boston and other colleagues in community E250 to develop a marker campaign. So during the bicentennial, a lot of the different markers we see across the city were placed there in 1975. and so we want to make sure that we're putting our mark not just celebrating and honoring those who helped kick off the birth of the nation but also those who contributed to making Boston and this country a better place given that we were not yet done in 1776 or 1787 and who have contributed to the fabric of society since then. So ensuring that we're focused on that inclusion part. And block parties, we want to celebrate all next year. And so I've heard all the questions, which I'm grateful for and I'm excited about because there are so many opportunities for us to involve. Finally, for FIFA, I'll let my colleagues talk about what they're doing. We are still in the negotiation phase on FanFest. and what that will look like. But we are committed to working with our partners to make that happen and to make sure that our businesses get to participate We're also in conversation about how to utilize our parks for different viewing opportunities if possible, which would involve more food trucks, merchandise, restaurants, all that kind of stuff. Finally, for our great friends at Sail Boston 250, talking about tall ships, a couple things that the city's doing. One is we're thinking about how to involve our global affairs team, our special events team, and thinking about and many more. to have an opportunity to go visit the ship and have a special opportunity in that way. In terms of contracts, one contract that we are gonna be releasing, and you heard it here first, it'll be public next week or the week after, is an RFP, to coordinate vendors for 15 different sites across South Boston, Seaport, North End, Charlestown, for Vending Opportunities. And so this could be for food trucks, it could be for food carts, it could be for merchandising, but there's going to be More than a million folks that are moving around the city around the parade of sale time in July. And we want to stick small businesses in these areas to make sure they're benefiting from that foot traffic. And so we'll have an RFP out. Thank you for my 15 minutes of. sharing some thoughts and I'll turn it to my colleagues.

Good morning. I guess I'll go next. Thank you. Good morning. My name is David O'Donnell. I am the Vice President of Communications for Meet Boston. And thank you Madam Chair Louijeune and Madam President Louijeune and Chair Flynn for this opportunity today to speak on behalf of Meet Boston. The topics we're discussing today are really critical to our mission at Meet Boston. They are fundamental to our CEO Martha Sheridan's vision for the company and for the sector and her leadership. and I do want to note also that the two major events that we're talking about for the summer of 26 would not have been possible without the investment of Meet Boston. and therefore we remain very interested in procurement processes, equity and how they impact all of Boston when they're here. While we don't have direct oversight over some of those things, we do have a responsibility to share communication and many more. A couple weeks ago, we hosted an event for 500 folks, our partners at the Menino Center, that was very informational, and we had representatives from SAIL Boston, FIFA, and Mass 250 at that event. That'll be the first of many such events that we host, again, in the interest of sharing information. We'll have our next one in December. It's well known that the tourism industry was severely impacted by the global pandemic. Senator Edwards referenced earlier. Our sector essentially came to a standstill for 18 months and coming out of that period was the formation of the Boston Cambridge Tourism Destination Marketing District, which I'll refer to simply as the TDMD going forward. It was really essential for those cities to get back and to thrive and for the workforce that underpins the tourism economy to get back to work. Over the last four years, we've seen the industry regrow to the point where we have reached some 2019 benchmarks and even exceeded some. There were a couple of lagging metrics coming out of the pandemic, notably the meeting sector, but also international visitation. But even those we have seen return in many ways to 2019 benchmarks. Now International, of course, is now going through its own challenging period, another phase, and I just want the Council and the audience here to rest assured that Meet Boston, through our international reps, is very dedicated, devoted, interested in spreading the word that Boston-Cambridge is a very inclusive, In this period where a lot of international visitors are deciding to go elsewhere or just not come stateside at all, Meet Boston is working hard through our agencies to make sure that we're propagating a message of inclusivity. As part of the formation process back in 2020-21, Meet Boston worked with really important stakeholders, notably the hotel community in Boston and Cambridge, but of course, city council here and over in Cambridge, to create a district plan that would essentially frame and dictate how we could utilize TDMD funds. Per the enabling legislation, these funds were to be raised by an assessment that hotels would self-impose. So not a tax, but an assessment. Also per the legislation, the funds had to go back to the benefit of the payer or the electors, that is, the hotels. We've shared a version of the district plan in the handout that I gave you, and you can see where we are able to make really robust investments and where we have a reinvigorated brand, A global sales, marketing, and PR strategy, enticing large events to come to Boston, and investing dedicated resources in DEI-focused programs, notably workforce development and supplier diversity, which we'll talk more about in a moment. But above all else, the main objective of the plan remains to drive overnights for Boston and Cambridge hotels. Creating the district plan was a robust process for Meet Boston. We needed a plan that would clearly benefit the hotel community, again, the payers, but also resonate with our own values and that this municipal body would find merit in as well. There were several areas of alignment, and I think what's perhaps most relevant for us to discuss today is how we could contribute to event support within the plan. You'll see from the plan, which is also as I mentioned in the packet, that event support section includes two separate paragraphs. The first paragraph has to do with the large events that the hotels would really want. And again, they're the ones that we have to be accountable to first and foremost. Major events that drive overnights and include a suite of media and marketing assets that create brand recognition for the destination. Think of events like World Figure Skating, Four Nations, Army-Navy, FIFA, Sail Boston, and of course the HBCU game that we just hosted recently. Beyond these large-scale events, Meet Boston also wanted to invest in community events that might not really be drivers of the visitor economy per se, and therefore not as enticing to the payers, the hotels. but that would help us to build new partnerships across all 23 Boston neighborhoods and throughout the squares of Cambridge. We were very strategic in how we worded this section of the plan, noting that TDMD funds could be dedicated to supporting events that weren't necessarily the type of event or scale of event that the hotels would want us to pursue. I believe that our efforts to include this clause and our subsequent leveraging of this clause has produced some amazing successes and new partnerships for Meet Boston that would otherwise have not been possible. It's really boosted our investment capability. In an era when philanthropic giving, corporate giving, and big media brand sponsorships have largely disappeared, Meet Boston is able to fill a void intentionally and authentically. From the map we produced, which is also in the packet there, you'll see the scores of events that we have supported across all Boston neighborhoods and Cambridge as well. We're so proud of this work, and we believe that a critical part of today's conversation is about equity in that investment. and perhaps facts cannot change everyone's mind, but the facts are the facts. Of all the events support we've provided over the past four years, a third of it has gone to diverse and multicultural events. and this isn't just cherry picking numbers or skewing math with major investments we've made to organizations like Embrace Boston, Boston Wall Black, NAACP and HBCU. In fact, if you were to remove all the major event funding, such as those four I just mentioned and the major events that I referenced earlier, over half of our community event support has gone to diverse, multicultural neighborhood events. It's relevant to note two things. First, this is not how TDMDs typically operate across the US. There's over 200 of these districts in the country, and when we asked our consultants at Civitas if they could find another example of a TDMD that had community event support that was not ostensibly tied to room nights in their plan, they could produce one example of over 200. and the investments from that destination pale in comparison to the millions that Meet Boston has invested. Second, despite this, Meet Boston is not an events funding or grant administering organization. Our critique of ours has been how well are we communicating that these funds exist? And I'd simply note that, again, if you look at the map that I've included, that word is out that we do this. Our plan is also public on our website, and we have community-focused personnel within our partnership department to help to socialize these opportunities. Still, we are not a public agency like Mott that has a grant season. We're not a foundation like Barr or Highland Street or Boston Foundation that has this as an essential aspect of their existence. We're a convention and visitors bureau that is primarily charged with driving convention business, leisure visitation, destination sales and marketing. Where we can invest in events that drive destination sales and marketing and fill hotel rooms, we will. where we can invest in events that don't necessarily do this, but are also part of our moral compass, we will always do what we can. At Meet Boston, and this was mentioned earlier by the first panel, we have a foundational belief in cultivating relationships with our own residents across all 23 neighborhoods. It's essential. In many ways, it's really the most effective way for us to go abroad and tell people to come to Boston. Who are we to go anywhere, whether it's San Francisco, London, New York, and tell a person that they should come to Boston if we don't have the trust in our resident vertical community that we are capturing their voice authentically? is at the heart of our neighborhood video series, which thus far has produced dedicated destination marketing videos for Roxbury, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Alston, Hyde Park, North End, East Boston, Chinatown, and we just recently released Roslindale as the 10th video in that series. You notice these are not neighborhoods that have traditionally received their equitable market share of visitor spending, and that's exactly what these videos attempt to correct. They showcase all the amazing cultural, culinary, and commercial experiences that make these neighborhoods compelling for any visitor. I want to note for a moment the partnership of Colin Knight, who spoke earlier, who has not only been involved in our neighborhood video series, but also has appeared in our podcast, has conducted tours for Meet Boston staff, has conducted tours for all of our PR agency and has conducted a number of tours for travel writers, bloggers, and influencers that has led us to be able to generate hundreds of thousands of earned media value for Colin. He's been a tremendous partner. That focus on the home community takes many forms. It is the guest we have on the podcast. It's the content we push out on social media. And going back to the landmark all-inclusive Boston campaign that was also referenced on the first panel, which was a partnership between Meet Boston, the City of Boston, Colette Phillips, and Proverb Agency that executed that campaign between 2020 and 22. It's also reflected in the DEI initiatives that are codified in our plan, notably supplier diversity and workforce development. Meet Boston has been working diligently over the past two years in partnership with Conan Harris & Associates to develop a supplier diversity module for the entire industry. We're about to roll that out, and it's truly pioneering for the travel and hospitality sector. Likewise, on the workforce development front, we've worked with CHA, Cohn and Harris, to develop the PATH program, that's Promoting Advancement Travel and Hospitality, hosting an annual career for every spring which many members of the council have attended. Meet Boston considers workforce advocacy as a core part of our mission and driving new visitation is key to growing wages, adding shifts, and supporting our diverse workforce. It's important to note that our TDMD, along with our organizational values, has enabled us to not only develop these important DEI initiatives, but to double down on them in an era when they're being assailed daily, and where every week we see another institution being forced to abandon or rename their equity goals so that they don't have their funding slashed. The beauty of these funds is that they are private. We can do with them what we wish so long as they adhere to the district plan. and since we worked with our hotel community in this municipal body to make sure that those DEI focus values were enshrined in the plan, that's where they're gonna remain. Over the past year, we've seen some tension as it relates to community support. Because Meet Boston is one of the only giving entities out there, and because not every event organizer knows that our investments are dictated by a district plan, There have been some examples where Meet Boston's efforts have felt inadequate to some. We respect everyone's perspective, but we also believe that much of this opinion stems from a misunderstanding of our district plan and Meet Boston's central purpose as a destination marketing organization. Our investments must go back to the benefit of Boston and Cambridge hotels. We've done our best to educate stakeholders and today's conversation is an important part of that ongoing conversation. Meet Boston is very invested in helping homegrown events evolve into bonafide visitor events. is why we've increased our investment in BAMS Fest tenfold over the past three years and why we continue to work with Boston While Black to help with new surveying and data points that capture how that event is growing as a visitor and visitor spending sort of festival for Boston. We continue to work in concert with the Black Travel Alliance and industry leaders like MMGY Global to understand perceptions around Boston, which have improved since the original research we conducted ahead of All Inclusive Boston, but we still have a long way to go. Meet Boston embraces this work as the best way to promote the thought leadership that has always emanated from this city. We will always look to add more voices to that tale. As we move beyond the 250th and towards the city's 400th, Meet Boston is devoted to uplifting these stories as the true means to mark these momentous occasions. Again, thank you so much for the opportunity today to speak on behalf of Meet Boston. Thank you.

Thank you. Dusty?

Thank you. Oh, here, Dusty. I don't need to. Thank you. My name is Dusty Rhodes. I'm very honored to be here. Thank you for inviting me. I am with a company by the name of Condentures, which is 48 years old, formed as a woman-owned business back in the Dark Ages of 1977. Very, very pleased to be here. We have participated in so many events in the course of our history here in Boston and such things as First Night and Harborfest and The original World Cup back in 1994 and many, many different initiatives with many nonprofits in the community. We are in a disadvantaged business zone, which means we're down on the water, right in Raeflin Marine Park, and happen to have been I was enticed by Dave Davis a hundred years ago. He was head of Massport upon the occasion of the Quinsos Ontario, which was the opportunity to We'll welcome a tall ship festival upon the occasion of Columbus in the 500th anniversary and to which we put our toe in the water and I found that there could be quite an appetite for a major maritime festival on our shores and cobbled it from nowhere to What was an extraordinary opportunity for Boston to showcase all that it had to offer in 1992 and with the spectacular Tall Ship Festival known as Sail Boston. In 1988, we formed the 50123 South Boston for the purpose of continued maritime tourism, not only in the benchmark years of major festivals, Whenever a visiting ship comes from the Foreign Navy into the port, we work very closely in advance so that those cadets, sailors, crew get to enjoy the benefits of Boston. In many cases, if they're Latino or they're Cape Verdean, basically go and visit and have exchanges with those communities. We were successful. in producing 1992, and thereafter the millennium in 2000, again in 09, 17, and coming up on the, I can say the word, semi-quincentenary coming up in 26. These events, first of all, Boston is blessed with a great, great harbor. We're, if you think about it, the fact that the harbor is somewhat narrow blends even a better event because if the ships are coming into the port, it's not way off in the distance. It's something that's very real, very close. Creating a Sail Boston event takes years and years of planning. And the planning, quite frankly, is internationally. If you're working with the government of Argentina about sending their Beloved, Libertad Naval Vessel to Boston. Those discussions began six or seven years ago. So to coordinate many different countries to have their pride and joy, their training ship, their naval Crown Jewel to come into Boston on a specific six days. We work very closely with, again, the attachés, embassies, ambassadors, and are continually doing this and I'm happy to report today that through these efforts that have been going on since 2018, we're pleased to announce that we have 28 significant ships coming from 25 different cultures. which promises to be quite a spectacular event for the city of Boston. More importantly, a multicultural event. When we talk about The ships aren't coming from Savannah and Charleston. They're coming from Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, China, France, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador, Tilly, and we're thrilled with this kind of participation. Now I'm going to give you a little bit of a side note. Because the ships were received in 1992 so well, and the crew and cadets were into the communities and so welcomed and so adored, if you will. Those crew and cadet young folk are now the attachés and the Captains of their navies in their respective countries. So when you say we're thinking of going to Boston, There's a great deal of enthusiasm because Boston embraces these crew and cadets. And as they come off of the ships and get into the neighborhoods, they truly have a wonderful experience. That is our reputation. That we could not do if we didn't have that kind of enthusiasm from the communities. I've mentioned the fact that we're blessed with 25 different countries. We will probably have over 100 ships. The dates, as you have heard, are July 11 to 16. However, most of the ships will arrive here the morning after the last FIFA game. will arrive here on Friday the 10th in our outer harbor. And then they will parade in on the 11th. Thereafter, we have a series of events over those days We work very, very closely. The school is out, so what we do is we work with like the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston or Austin or the YMCAs in bringing the youth in earlier in the morning before the ships are open to the general public. so that we have an exchange. They come on, they come up the brow, they meet with the crew, they meet with the cadets, they meet with the CO, and have an experience, understand what these foreign navies are about. The challenge of the event is it's mostly on the water. And then the physicality of our decreased birthing space that we have in the court. I'll give a great deal of thank you and outreach to Massport. They have a burgeoning cruise ship industry. So those of you who are as old as I am may remember the ships used to tie up at Black Falcon Flynn Marine Park no longer can do that happily. We have such a good cruise industry. So we are being quite creative as we go around the port. But fortunately and fortunately, It will embrace not only the Convent Pier, Fan Pier, Boston Harbor Hotel, North End, Charlestown, East Boston, Jefferies Point, MWRA, all of those I will thank Meat Boston. We would not be able to do this without the support of Meat Boston, which they joined us years ago. and working with the 65 public safety agencies for our transportation public safety and our secure birthing. We work very closely with Massport, MWRA, DCR, and of course the City of Boston. This event is free. It is open to the public for six days. It is a joyous occasion and many, many people will bring their children and their grandparents and come down, it's a family event, and hopefully they spend lots of money. I'm very pleased to hear what you just said. about the mass vending opportunity because we only control, we, Sail Boston, only control a little bit of space on the land side. It's a city. that opens itself up to all the wonderful vending opportunities, which we look forward to working with you on. Thank you.

Thank you, Dusty. Neil? Great. Thank you, Chairman Flynn, President Louijeune. Appreciate you all bringing us together. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of the FIFA World Cup Boston 2026 host committee. My name is Neil Daugherty, and I serve as the Director of Government Affairs. I'm joined by my colleague Stacey Linsant, who's our Director of Social Impact. I also want to thank the first panel for providing all the information that they did with the best practices and recommendations. Would really appreciate the opportunity to sit with them in the near future. to talk to our event more specifically and really work with the intentionality that they describe. I think that would be hugely appreciated on our end. We'd love to just provide an understanding of this event and what we're working on. I'd like to start with a brief overview of the tournament and our role as the local organizing committee. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the largest sporting event in history. 48 nations will compete in 104 matches over 39 days from June 11th to July 19th. Boston is one of 16 host cities across North America, including 11 in the US, three in Mexico, and two in Canada. Boston will host seven matches in total, five group stage games, one round at 32, and a quarterfinal on July 9th. All matches will be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, which will be known as Boston Stadium, during the tournament, while fan events and celebrations will take place here in Boston and across the Commonwealth. This event is an extraordinary opportunity for Boston and Massachusetts. Nearly 2 million visitors are expected, generating an estimated billion dollars in economic impact to our region. Fans will fill our hotels, dine in our restaurants, explore our neighborhoods, and shop in our businesses. Our goal is to create an experience that inspires visitors to stay longer than just one match, but to spend a week here and explore all that we have to offer here in Boston and throughout the region. The economic impact is projected to generate over $65 million in direct revenue for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, nearly $10 million for the city through hotel and meals taxes, It'll energize our city like never before, and we want everyone, residents, visitors, businesses, and communities to share in the excitement and opportunity that it will bring. The Boston Host Committee serves as the local organizing committee We are a temporary nonprofit responsible for planning and delivering all events surrounding the matches at the stadium. So basically everything that is happening outside of the stadium. The games themselves are run by FIFA. The committee must generate its own funding and the scale of our celebration depends on the resources we raise. We have three primary sources of funding. First is the federal government. The 11 US host committees, collectively secured $625 million for security costs through the reconciliation bill that was passed in July of this year. I'm sorry, of this year. We're working closely with the Office of Budget Management to finalize the funding requirements for that. That funding is crucial for us to have a safe and secure event next summer across the 11 US host cities. Second, our state and local governments. We're partnering with the Commonwealth, the city, and municipalities across the region to produce this event. In August, Governor Healey and her administration included funding to support the World Cup in the current closeout supplemental budget that's before the legislature. We're continuing to track that as it moves through the House and Senate over the coming weeks. Third funding source is our commercial sponsorship program. Private fundraising is a vital part of this effort and we're partnering with iconic Boston businesses eager to support the event and showcase our city to the world. Meet Boston has been a supporter from day one and was a major factor in Boston bidding for and being selected as the host city. We're grateful to Martha Sheridan and her team at Meet Boston for all the incredible support throughout thus far and into the future. including events like her partnership event at the Convention Center a few weeks ago where we spoke to about 500 businesses in the city and how they can get involved in this event. So as fundraising continues, our planning remains focused on three core priorities, security, transportation, and celebration. The host committee oversees security for all events outside the stadium. including the Fan Festival, team hotels, team training sites, and any other official Boston 26 events. We're coordinating closely with Boston Police, Fire, EMS, and Emergency Management along with state and federal agencies to ensure a safe environment for residents and visitors. On the transportation side, reliable and efficient transportation will be critical as fans travel between Boston and Foxborough. The MBTA has been an outstanding partner committed to supporting safe, dependable service during the event. We're also working with BTD and other transportation agencies to minimize disruptions for residents and visitors and workers during these matches. Third pillar focuses on the celebration, bringing the excitement of the tournament beyond the stadium and into our communities. Each host city will feature a FIFA Fan Festival as the central hub of activity, which will be located here in Boston. We also anticipate additional events across the city and Commonwealth that will unite communities, attract visitors, and support local businesses. These priorities drive our work and form the foundation of most of the contracting and vendor opportunities available through the host committee. Currently, we have two expressions of interest open. One is for private security services related to the Fan Festival, and the other is for cleaning and waste management services related to the Fan Festival. Additional opportunities through the host committee may and will become available once we finalize the scope and scale of that event through the fundraising that I discussed. Beyond the host committee though, FIFA and its commercial affiliates are expected to host a range of events in Boston next summer, creating further opportunities for local and small businesses to participate and showcase their expertise to a global audience. Businesses can find information on these opportunities at bostonfwc26.com. Bostonfwc26.com. Our business opportunities page includes links to those EOIs and a form for vendors interested in getting involved. Submissions there are not only shared with the host committee, which is ourselves, but also with FIFA and its affiliates through their local impact supplier program. So if you are hearing from businesses in your districts in anywhere in the city, please direct them to that form so that they can be included. This is the best way to be made aware of upcoming opportunities. And we ask that you do please share this event as widely as you can with your networks. So we know today's hearing is focused on equitable procurement and engagement, and we share that commitment fully. We are eager to work with the city, the state, and the leaders in this room to ensure that the benefits of this event reach every corner of Boston. I want to thank Chief Itawu and his team for the continued partnership from day one, and Mayor Wu and her entire administration for their guidance and support as we put this event and bring the world to Boston next summer. We have a long way to go, and we're eager to work with everyone who wants to be involved in showcasing Boston on the global stage. Before I turn it over to Stacey, I want to close by emphasizing just how extraordinary a moment this is for our city. Next summer is going to be extremely busy, as you know. Massive, massive events. Nearly 2 million visitors going to be running around here. There's a lot of planning and work to be done. But the FIFA World Cup is the most watched event in the world. Over 5 billion viewers across the tournament. Here in Boston, we have seven matches. including a quarterfinal that alone could draw nearly a billion viewers. This is our collective moment to showcase everything that makes Boston great. Our history, our culture, our businesses, and our people. as the host committee were committed to delivering an unforgettable event, one that visitors and residents alike will love. But our vision and the opportunity before us extends far beyond next summer. A successful World Cup will position Boston to host future global events and bring lasting opportunities and investment to our city and its businesses. So we look forward to working with you and everyone in the room here to create an incredible experience next summer. Thank you again for the opportunity to testify. Looking forward to the questions.

Thank you, Neil. Good afternoon, Chairman Flynn, President Louijeune, and Councillors. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. My name is Stacey Lynn Sands, and I serve as the Director of Social Impact for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Boston Host Committee. I've been in this role for four months leading our human rights and sustainability strategies which spans all functional areas of event coordination including Our anti-trafficking response, accessibility, environmental sustainability, and what FIFA refers to as responsible contracting. It's an honor to be here in Massachusetts helping to bring this global event to life. The World Cup is more than just a sporting event. It's an opportunity to showcase Boston and the region to the world. Our shared goal as a local organizing committee is to deliver a safe, enjoyable, and inspiring event that leaves a positive and lasting legacy for our communities. As part of FIFA's human rights and sustainability frameworks for World Cup 26, host committees, all of them, all 16, are expected to integrate international human rights and sustainability standards across all areas of event planning and delivery. These frameworks are built on the United Nations guiding principles on business and human rights, which means each host committee is expected to conduct human rights due diligence. That means identifying risks, preventing harm and ensuring benefits of hosting flow to local communities. While FIFA's global policies use the terms sustainable procurement and responsible contracting, in the US context, this aligns closely with what we know as equitable procurement. We are taking care to meet our contractual obligations to FIFA while leveraging the Commonwealth's and city's existing strengths in these areas. Our work This work on responsible contracting is built on three main pillars. First, responsible contracting and transparent dealings. FIFA expects host cities to apply its responsible contracting standards meaning that any entity delivering World Cup-related work, whether it's small, local, or international, must demonstrate respect for human rights and sustainability through its supply chain. that is reflected in obligations to inclusive hiring, so our workforce, as well as local participation. In Boston, we're aligning with the city and commonwealth's already robust supplier diversity and equitable procurement systems rather than attempting to recreate those ourselves. We want to amplify the systems that are already in place to ensure that local veteran, minority, LGBTQIA, women, disability, and veteran disabled owned businesses can access opportunities the tournament will create. The second pillar is the Local Impact Supplier Program. Neil just mentioned this. This is a FIFA-led initiative that is in its very early stages. being implemented across all 16 host cities. It aims to make the procurement process more inclusive by connecting local and small businesses with tournament related opportunities. As the host committee, we intend to link that program directly to the states and cities' existing certified business databases. Beyond matchmaking, It also focuses on capacity building and visibility so that our businesses are well positioned to participate and to benefit long after the event. We also again want to encourage interested businesses to go to our website and complete the new business opportunities form. That data will then be passed along to FIFA and its commercial partners and affiliates. The third pillar is legacy and accountability. We are currently developing Boston's required human rights action plan, which will translate FIFA's global standards into a local roadmap for accountability and inclusion. ensuring that what we do here strengthens both our reputation and our communities, and more importantly, does no harm. While much of this work is still in progress, some of it is in its early stages, our direction as a local organizing committee is clear. We are building a model that combines global standards, with local strength leveraging the Commonwealth's leadership in supplier diversity and the city's commitment to equitable procurement to ensure that the benefits of the World Cup are shared widely. Thank you again Chairman Flynn, President Louijeune, and members of the Council for your leadership. As we prepare to welcome the world to Boston, we look forward to continuing this work together to deliver a tournament that excites the world and leaves a legacy that we can all be proud of. Thank you.

Thank you, Stacey. I know before I go to the Council President, I know one person that was already mentioned, but I would like to mention her again. For her for her work in in all issues relating to diversity inclusion someone someone of had tremendous respect for for a long, long period, long period of time, Linda Flory, former state senator, and thank you for being with us as well. At this time, I'm gonna ask City Council President, would you like to begin the questioning?

I would. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you to everyone for your testimony. I think it highlighted a number of the issues. I have questions for everyone. and I'm both happy we put the two dockets together and I'm nervous because I have a lot of questions. And so hopefully we will be able to get through them. Dave, thank you for your testimony. Thanks for being here. I sat down with you and Martha. I wish Martha could have been here today, but I'm glad to have heard your testimony. One of the things when I look at the Boston Cambridge Tourism Destination Marketing District Plan, which was Steve in 2021. I think the TDMD is great. Great that folks opted in. for this assessment to help during a challenging time that is continuing to reap benefits, millions of dollars today. And we think that's great. I want to see it sustained so long as we are able to ensure that we are thinking about tourism in the way that we want to in the city of Boston and think about making sure that we're uplifting our values and including everyone. One of the things in the TDMD plan stated that the majority of the seats of the committee shall always be comprised. And there's the district management committee that determines how the funds will be dispersed. Who makes up that committee? It says the committee shall always be comprised of assessed lodging business owners, the majority of seats, It doesn't say the supermajority. It doesn't say. So what does the composition of that management committee look like?

Sure. So every voting member of the TDMD committee is a general manager of a Boston or Cambridge hotel. So there are two non-voting at-large members that have been there from the beginning and still remain, including the executive director of the Cambridge Office for Tourism. When we first enacted the plan and started the district, we created a larger group of the initial committee with the understanding we were going to sunset some of those seats as we approached the renewal. So it was throughout the hotel petition process, which is what occurred before Boston and Cambridge City Council approved the district in 21. It was part of the hotel petition process and stakeholder conversations where we aligned with the hotel community on the properties that would be represented on the committee in the neighborhoods, right? So because again, The investment and the funds have to be dictated by hotels. We'd look at where the hotels and the greatest hotel inventory was throughout Boston and Cambridge. And that kind of was reflected in how we composed the committee itself. City, Back Bay Hotels, Downtown Hotels, Seaport Hotels, Cambridge Hotels, you know, where the majority of hotels are. The composition of that committee and the voting members of the committee will essentially remain the same. Again, we are going to go down to 11 voting members from the original 15 that were in that plan, but the voting members will always be the hotels of Boston and Cambridge.

It's interesting because a plan that was so thoughtfully written, as was stated by the State Senator, included language that does not require it to be. The assessed hoteliers. It doesn't require it to be, it says the majority. So wondering why it's a 15 member body going down to 11. It's probably easier for decision making as someone over a 13 member body. But why is the decision that 11 of the 11 people who are making the decisions about how to use these funds are the assessed lodging business owners when the plan itself that was as everyone has stated so far meticulously thought of only requires a majority and a majority of 15 is eight, right? So that seven could go to people who are thinking more holistically about what tourism could and should look like in the city of Boston.

So it's per the law that hotels have to be the voting members. What that clause means is that if we chose to include a larger amount of non-voting members, for example, instead of two, If we had additional ones, that the majority of the committee always has to be hotels. So I can consult with our... are partners at Civitas to ask if that language can be clarified a bit in the renewal of the district plan because to your point Madam President it does create a bit of Questioning around, well, could we just make this committee larger in as long as, you know, 51% are hotels?

I'm not advocating for a larger, right? I'm not advocating for that. That's not what my, I'm just trying to understand this plan that was so diligently Right. Because if I hear you, and I heard your testimony, that it is a committee where we are already trying to pitch the value of supporting events that are community events that Maybe not today are generating the heads and beds that you want to see, but with sustained investment could become those events. Wondering. If you had a decision-making board that wasn't just hoteliers, you'd probably have less of a difficulty in pitching that argument.

I see your point. And if we were to increase the size of the non-voting contingent of the TDMD committee, the hotels, the voting members would still have to be the majority. But that's what that clause is there for. But I understand your point. You know that if there's perspective from outside of the hotel community that can help. inform and educate them as to how something could grow as a visitor event, for example. So that's something that we at Meet Boston embark on those conversations kind of outside of even committee conversations so that if we're talking with You know, a family reunion or, you know, a BAMS Fest or Roxbury Film Festival that they are understanding that when it comes to those voting committee members, the notion of visitation and heads in beds and overnights is critical. We are at Meet Boston trying to make sure that we are having those conversations outside of the committee hearings themselves, but I certainly understand your point that it adds a lot more elements of you know how something could grow as an event if those perspectives are included and we we do do our best too yeah and i think that

The marketing plan gives you the room, too, which is what I was... Okay. I've had the honor of being a guest speaker at one of Boston's career fairs, I believe, last year, and it was an incredible turnout. There were great... A lot of hotels there, a lot of people there in search of employment. I'm wondering what do you do to track the success rate of being able to place people As a career fairer being one of the main points of getting at this, the goals of supply diversity, what is the data that you use to track the success of

Sure, sure. And you'll see another document that I included in the packet was our and many more. Workforce Development Initiative we have with Conan Harris. So essentially we work with Conan's team to track that. So we register job seekers when they arrive. We register our partners that are there exhibiting, and then we follow up with our partners to see, you know, of the job applicants and seekers that came, you know, how many interviews did you conduct and how many were placed, right? We want that number to grow. It has grown over the past few years. I think that our career fair, which launched in 23, I believe, Every subsequent year, we've seen the number of job seekers that actually get employment grow. We've seen the number of attendees job seekers grow. Another really important element of workforce development is the PATH program I mentioned. Again, that stands for Promoting Advancement in Tourism Hospitality, which we're also working with Conan Harris & Associates on. Tide to the career fair somewhat. It makes sense that we have the same partner kind of helping us with both. But it's also different. Path is designed to create more Pathways and Mobility within the sector. So it's about middle to upper level positions, leadership positions within tourism and hospitality. because while the workforce itself is incredibly diverse and the whole sector relies on it, we at Meet Boston have taken it upon ourselves to make sure we're opening doors for upward mobility within the industry. That's what PATH is devoted to and PATH comes with its own and a number of others. basically Conan will see when there are needs in the industry. He will provide candidates to those meet Boston partners and then he will track who gets placed and if there are areas where we feel like we should be doing better or wonder why certain individuals weren't placed. He will follow up on that and report back to us. Like with the career fair, the PATH program I think started slower than we wanted and now has grown in terms of the placements. Because that's what's absolutely essential with both. Volume is great, number of job seekers is great, number of participants in PATH is great. But we want to see conversions and we're starting to see that. So to answer your question, Madam President, that tracking, those metrics are provided to us by Conan.

Okay. And what about the, are you rolling out a new RFP process?

for that particular program. Oh, for Supplier Diversity, yes. So we're again working with Conan and we had a very robust RFP process throughout 24 and into 25. to identify a partner that could help us build a module that would help our partners that want to be more intentional in vendor procurement to do that. that identified an agency called Nectar IQ, which was the vendor that emerged from that RFP process as the partner of CHA and Meet Boston. and I referred to in my remarks that we're going to be rolling that out I think is the term I use soon. What that means is since we onboarded Nectar IQ, we have been internally first looking at all the spend that Meet Boston has done with our partners. So capturing all of it, not just that's going to, you know, black and brown, veteran, LGBTQ+, like businesses, but all of it, right? So what we're trying to do with Nectar IQ is to create a benchmark understanding of how we're doing. You know, the number 25% was mentioned earlier. We're trying to arrive at what are we doing now and how we can improve it.

Do you know whether or not you're meeting that 25% target? Not saying that It's not a, you know, Nicole at Beckman spoke about it. It's not a target that you have, but out of curiosity, would you? Do you know if you'd be there?

I don't know yet because we're still compiling all the data internally about the spend. But the point is to build a platform that all of our partners can tap into. Right, so we're holding ourselves accountable first. Okay, so how has Meet Boston been doing? And then we're gonna create a baseline, a benchmark, and aspirational goals from there, which we can certainly report to the council. But bigger picture, more holistically, it's about encouraging Our industry partners, because Meet Boston is a partnership organization, to also utilize the Nectar IQ supplier diversity module that we're going to be rolling out. And there's not many destination marketing organizations that have done this. say and indicate that they, of course, want to be involved in equitable procurement, but to actually build a platform and a module that allows us to self-assess and also allows our partners to be engaged and involved is something we're very proud of.

Since you mentioned it, I do want to talk about the renewal. The law requires a renewal vote every five years. So when are we looking at that renewal? And what is... and how is the process going to be inclusive of a more diverse set of voices? Again, I understand the model of it being driven by heads in beds. and this is an assessment that the city approved that you talked about, very intentional in the language, trying to make sure that our actions are actually meeting that intentionality. So one about scheduling, when is the next opportunity Will the City Council be made aware of that renewal vote that must be made? And then three, how are you going to ensure that there are

Thank you. Thank you. More than 30 days out alert our hotel partners in Boston and Cambridge that we are calling for a renewal vote, which we've done because it's going to take place on October 29th. For that renewal vote, what is required is 50% of hotels in Boston and Cambridge with over 50 rooms to come and vote for the renewal. The original formation of the district required 62% per an amendment that was in the enabling legislation. We got close to 78% of hotels when we first formed the district. The 22% that are not included in that number were no votes. They were no shows. So there might have been one vote against the formation, but we got close to 80%. This will require 51%. What we are doing and are in the process of doing is sharing a presentation deck with all of our hotel committee on Again, what we've done over the past five years, but what we intend to do over the next five years. And a big part of that, of course, is large event support, community event support. And we also lean on our board of which some members of our board were already present at today's hearing to inform us about what they would like to see in terms of the communication that's happening with the hotel community as we approach renewal. But as I mentioned in my remarks, Everything focused around diversity, equity, inclusion work, around promoting all communities, around making sure that the resident vertical in the neighborhoods of Boston are amplified as it relates to how we promote the destination outwardly. Those are all enshrined in the plan and will continue to be.

Thank you. One last question for you on this matter is, are there The company that you mentioned that is doing a review of spending is that they're essentially doing an audit, who does an audit of expenditures for Meet Boston.

It's essentially a self audit. So the company we've contracted with will be the partner in how we roll this out for the industry as a whole. But we decided to, as a first step, look at our spending, right? So not only as a way for us to kind of understand Best Practices and Functionality of the Nectar IQ platform, but accountability.

And that will be made public. Everyone will be able to access it when you put or The City Council, or will you put it on your website?

That, I don't know. And I'll have to come back to you with the answer on that. I assume our stakeholders, our board, the folks who are building this with NectarIQ and Conan Harris, We'll see those numbers because we're going to utilize them to achieve aspirational goals going forward. But in terms of where else that information is shared, I will have to come back to you on that.

Okay, thank you. Mr. Chair, I have additional questions, but I wanted to, if you had questions, I want to...

No, Madam Chair, you can continue asking.

Okay, thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. Dusty, thank you for your testimony. I'm excited for Tall Ships because I don't know if I've ever been and I think that's part of the sometimes people who live in, I think Sheena made this point, these events and these large events will bring people in but hopefully will bring people who live in our neighborhoods to them and I'm wondering, If there are opportunities, and you did lay this out, but just want to be crystal clear, if there are opportunities, or if there have been opportunities already to think about what Thank you for the question.

We're very cognizant of that and it's been part of our planning now that we're getting close to the The fourth, first, and second quarter of next year. We have on our website a portal for vending and business opportunities, and we've been encouraging people to go to that portal and tell us what What services you have? What can you offer? And we specifically identified now that we're really right on top of things in our planning is the ability to recruit food purveyors. which I'm going to need to work very closely with Segun on, of course, sanitation, printing, cleaning services, waste removal, signage, Car Service, and Entertainment.

And are those all of the contracts that you will have?

They're the ones that now need to be fulfilled. but there are countries that have already been filled, probably the bigger ones. Such things as longshoremen, ferries, pilots, tugs, Berth, people who actually own the Berth, whether it's Massport or MWRA or the city, those contracts.

Where there's like not a lot of competition, it is a person or a company.

Yeah, there are various engineers who do that. These are the land... Again, we don't control what happens on the water. The Coast Guard does. We control what we are demised as our area of operation which working closely with the city, when we have our festival site, then we control the vendors that come in and onto that site. It's different over in Charlestown where you're dealing with the National Park Service. Commonwealth Pier, Fish Pier, and some of 88 Black Falcon are mass port controlled. So some of those vendors that help with the berthing of the vessels are not things that we go out to The areas that I just mentioned are where we are looking for vendors.

Thank you, and I think that's, I mean, I did not know, this is not why I held the public hearing, but I'm glad that we are having it in public hearing because it's possible that a lot of people don't know that these contracting opportunities exist. So if you could say one more time how people can find out about it. Maybe we could brainstorm about how we do a better job of sharing this with everyone.

Going to the Sail Boston site, sailboston.com, business opportunities. or call our office 439-7700. But it's on our portal right on our site for people to fill in. And we've been getting applications. We're very pleased.

That's great. And then my last question. Just in perusing the site, I'm excited about all the ships that are coming. I didn't, and I saw ships coming from Europe, from Latin America, Maybe I think there are some coming from Asia. Are there?

Some of the best vessels in the world are from Latin America. They have very strong sail training programs with their navies. I also should mention that we're very pleased to be obviously working with the U.S. Coast Guard, the Coast Guard vessel. Obviously the USS Constitution will be going out and leading the parade. But most importantly, we're working very closely with the United States Navy. because as you may know, this is her, the 250th anniversary of the Navy, and we're very excited to be having at least three or four Greyhawk Navy vessels come to the port. and that's a very strong draw because as many of our colleagues here know, they have family in the Navy or were in the Navy and so to get on board a destroyer or a WASP and we're working very hard. Councilor, maybe you can help us. We're this close to getting an Irish Greyhawk, but we needed somebody to help put us over the goal line. So we'll talk to you about that.

Well, if you need anybody to help you get a haul or a ship from the Caribbean or Africa, let me know, because I think it would be beautiful. I don't know if it's too, well, obviously it's not too late, because, and I know as a Navy veteran, I'm sure, Flynn is tickled and excited to get for this event. But I'd love to see SHIP representation for the over 20% of folks who identify as Caribbean or of African Descent, Sea of Ship. I don't know if it's possible, but it would be a beautiful addition if so.

And when we talk about the fleet that's coming into the port, and we talk about maybe 80 or 90 vessels, Many of those B's and C's, vessels that's the size, will be part of the whole flotilla, particularly the Caribbean.

So from Jamaica or from...

Yes, exactly. And also that's why we have a very strong what we call Greyhound reach, because if you don't have a tall ship, but you've got a great Navy ship, i.e. Ireland, for example, We're very much welcoming the great hosts to our court.

Great. If I could be of assistance to any, let me know. I'll be back to you. Yep. Yep. Lines are open. And if I don't know somebody, somebody knows somebody to make it happen. I'm just going down the line, I guess. Chief Idewu, thank you for being here. Thank you for the focus of the mayor and your administration and Director Borders and the staffer you stole from me, Cisnell, and your focus on Supplier Diversity. Just thinking about, and someone may have mentioned it, but I don't believe it was you, and maybe it's this position of aggregating these opportunities and just having massive vendor events where people can know or what is is there a strategy that is intentional people can know about the opportunities that Dusty was talking about or that The ones that I believe just came online from FIFA or that will come online. Because I think, again, Sheen stated she's pretty plugged in. And even she sometimes has difficulty navigating. So what are we doing? We have a portal of MBWEs. Are we able to email them? Is there someone able to call them about, this is one website that has all this aggregate information, these are opportunities coming up. Is there going to be that very intentional, Holtanen reaching out, right? Because equity requires, as you know, more intentionality. on the front end in order for people to be able to access opportunities.

That's right. Well, I appreciate the question. And one thing I neglected to mention in my opening remarks, because I was already at 15 minutes and didn't want to add more to it.

I clocked 20, but all right.

was that a few months ago we formed something called the 2026 Business Opportunity Committee, which involves all of my colleagues here and some who are in the audience. to begin to have that conversation of what are the opportunities coming up so we can understand the areas of spend. And then we shared our list and our teams are working directly with each of the groups that are here But for us, it's also understanding what are the qualifications, because it's not enough to just say, For instance, on signage, let's say, or sanitation, or waste removal, we'll say. We could have an abundance of vendors who have a truck but this would require seven, eight, nine, 10, right? And so what we're trying to build into this is twofold. One is knowing who has the capacity so we are directly reaching out to them, connecting them to folks to see if this is an appropriate opportunity for them or exploring joint ventures because I think this is an opportunity and I think Beckman mentioned this and I believe Anita from We Are ALX mentioned this in her remarks of helping businesses scale. So we're looking at it that way. So I would say one of the, you know, White Stadium was mentioned. We're using that as a tactic here. You know, for White Stadium, there's a .gov website that shows How much we're spending, who's been awarded, and we update that regularly. We would like to do the same thing here, not just on what the city's spending, but to aggregate all of the contracts that are being awarded using the .gov website. We can link to the opportunity pages because I don't want to duplicate work, but I think that would add to the air of transparency that was mentioned on the previous panel. But, of course, we're going to leverage our existing database to get the word out there. We're also going to market, you know, we have an EOI has the best city webpage, second only to the mayor, which, you know, I'll Take credit for that in terms of our cabinet, but Kelsey and I are doing a great job. But someone mentioned, again, I think it was Anita who said we need to widely promote. Absolutely. We create graphics that we share out widely for others to share. That's how we've actually in short participation in a lot of the major contracts that have been awarded recently. So anyway, all that to say that completely agree and we want to use our .gov page. We want to do the intentional outreach But what's important for that is to understand what the opportunities are and what the timeline is, because these events are happening, I know we're saying next year, but honestly, it feels like it's going to happen tomorrow. I know many of you would rather it happen yesterday. because we're ready to be over the hump. But we want to make sure that we are connecting folks with capacity and not delay activity. But the important thing is understanding those opportunities.

Thank you. One follow-up question. Based on supporting events and supporting businesses, what are the challenges that you see for some of the black and brown events and neighborhood events that happen in the city of Boston that feel like they are constantly fighting for funding? are in fear that like, okay, I got support this year, will it happen next year? Either because of a changed cultural environment or because of the finances of an organization. I mean, so I'm wondering what your perspective is on that. And I'm wondering, what is it that we can be doing as a city to better support these events? I know the answer is always resources and money. But sometimes it's connecting the dots, right? There's a business that's, you know, wants to be involved next year with the FIFA World Cup. I've already connected them to an organization that needs sponsoring and needs support. How can we be doing the better work of connecting people and supporting black and brown run events in the city of Boston that oftentimes may not have The same funding or capital that other events have, which again, even if you're using heads in beds as the watermark, I think being intentional in the work of equity means like how are we helping organizations get there?

So I'll say two things. One is you're right. I mean, there is a cliff coming in terms of direct financial support for a lot of the wonderful events that happen in our community. I mean, speaking as, you know, take the liberty, I know I'm here as chief, but just as a black person that grew up in the city, I've never seen the amount of events that happened over the summer that catered to the black community, the types of events. The amount of people that came out. It was a really beautiful, wonderful thing. And I think for the future of our city, especially in what's going on at the federal level, Sheena again mentioned the competitive nature. Hasbro, Lego, Eli, all the companies that we are very proud have come into the city under this administration. Diversity was one of the topics that came up. People are choosing Boston because of that diversity. The way we change kind of the narrative of the city that's out there, contrary to what Saturday Night Live keeps saying about the city, this is a very different place, but we have to market and promote that. Boston has done a great job of promoting that beyond and many more. supporting these events, but.

Because that is part of, I think she meant, that is part of, there's no greater ambassadors for a city than the residents of the city themselves.

Exactly.

And how they experience a city.

I'll give, again, not to prolong, but like even when NAACP was here, there was concern that with 10,000 African-Americans coming to the city, and what you know first of all when they were first supposed to come here in 2019 I believe there was a hesitation of a lot of members of coming to Boston because of Boston's history and Folks were more comfortable coming when they did, but because they were in the seaport, they saw Grace by near, they saw Zazie Bar, they saw the leadership, et cetera, and the mayor and I were casually walking up to folks at Gospel Fest that John and Amy Yandel helped us get over to, what's the name of the place? Leader Bank Pavilion, sorry for the brain slip there. And folks were saying, wow, like I have a way different understanding and perspective of the city because they were meeting other people who were from the city that were talking about all the things that have changed. And so she's completely right as well as you, Councilor. But even the city, in terms of our ability to sponsor events, is hamstrung by the frivolous and unfortunate and many more. There are in-kind services that the city can provide. And so I always ask folks, what are your expenses? And what are the things that the city can help support or that other entities can help support? Put a line in their budget on marketing. Well, is that something where Meet Boston or other entities that have a way broader network can help you do? Things like that. So I think for us, it's about being creative and not just focusing on the check. Because either way, when we give the check to the entity, they're using that check to give to somebody else. So it's like, OK, well, how do we help fix that part? But at the end of the day, yes, I think it's important that we appreciate the events that are coming here next year. but I think an opportunity and a focus, particularly through tourism, sports and entertainment, is how we are growing local events to become the types of events that bring a wave of folks here. You know, the HBCU classic, you know, one of the... And I'm sure there were heads on beds for that event. I mean, there were 12,000 people at the stadium. And many of them were from the city of Boston, but we know anecdotally that many traveled to Boston for the weekend and the suite of events that happened. You know, so there's opportunities to build on what happens next year.

Thank you. Thank you. And then my last question will be to the FIFA team. Neil, great job on this side of the, you know, your natural. Wondering, it seems like the only contracts that you've put out to bid, a very similar question to Dusty, have been the two that you mentioned. or have there been other contracts that have been meted out already where it's like an uncompetitive process because there's only one vendor or just trying to get a sense of? And then like what do you make of this 25% goal?

I think it's a great question and we are in a similar boat with Dusty and the SAIL Boston team. These two contracts that are out for security and contract, sorry, waste services are related to the Fan Festival. We had expression of interest was put out for a major event management company to be taking on the Fan Festival who will then subcontract and how we work with that company to Work through their subcontracting system to make sure that businesses in Boston are supported for that is a priority of ours. We have a number of other contracts related to city dressing and signage and things like that that are not there yet. Again, so much of it is dependent on where our fundraising will land toward the end of the year. But things like transportation is another big piece of movement from Boston to Foxborough for the matches. contract that is pretty close to wrapped up for bus service.

Wrapped up, what do you mean?

Just you put out an RFP or? That has gone out, yeah, for the RFP, exactly. But beyond... Those are the host committee events, right, which are those three pillars I mentioned, security, celebration, and transportation. Once December 5th comes, so on December 5th is when the draw happens for the teams and where people will be going for the World Cup next summer across the 16 cities. So that will trigger FIFA and their commercial affiliates to, so the folks who are global partners like Coca-Cola and Bank of America and Adidas and these mega brands who will be hosting events in every city, depending on where their favorite teams go or where the big matches will be, but they will be in every city. And they'll be looking to the business environment in Boston to say, Okay, where are we going to have this? Who can host the catering? Who can do the Who has that car service that picks us up at Logan, brings us right in and gets us around where we need to be? Along with what could be security and all the other things that come into event management. That's where that business opportunity page comes in on our side. There's a great number of portals going on. I think that through Shugun and his team, hopefully we can find something that works with both. To the question earlier about the the work with the city just yesterday. Andrea and Kat in Shugun's office helped us to get those two contracts out to the city's list. They've been hugely helpful and supportive already. So we hope to continue that collaboration. And just as far as procurement, Stacey, I don't know if there was anything you'd want to add.

So I have inquired about whether FIFA has started to contract, FIFA proper has started to contract in the host cities already. And as far as I know, the answer is no. And to Neil's point, they will be waiting on the draw to see where those commercial affiliates will be having their events. So that's Visa, Coca-Cola, Adidas, all of those. So that is the role of the local impact supplier program. They want us to shepherd our businesses to them so then they can matchmake for event production, flowers, decoration, all of those things for those events that we are not in control of. So one more plug to please go in and put in your information in the new business form. So we are right now working with the local impact supplier program to figure out how that reporting and that system is going to work. It's a fairly new initiative. It seems like they're gonna expect us to shepherd those contracts once a month from now toward the end of the tournament. So last week, Wednesday, these numbers are correct as of last Wednesday, we had about 150 local businesses sign up on that form. So the word is getting out. I think what we could rely or hopefully ask the councillors for is to get that word out. Get the word out to your districts. Let them know to fill out that form. Understand that we are also not in control of how those contracts will be awarded. We just want to be that intermediary to make sure Local businesses of all kinds are given so they have eyes in front of FIFA and their commercial partners. And I think another thing like I've heard today again is there are a lot of portals for a lot of places to put information into. And from an equitable procurement, inclusive space, that could also land to a lot of administrative burden for very small companies, people who don't have a lot of staff, So if we could all work together to make sure that it's easier for them rather than having to go to five places to put in their information.

I agree.

And if I could just add, I think it was mentioned in the first panel, there's not a ton of talk about this right now in the world, at least here in Boston. Around the world, the World Cup is the biggest thing ever. But the world is coming here, and I think as we lead up to December 5th and the decision of where teams will go, I was just talking to a BECMA member earlier who has a Senegalese business downtown here. and Senegal is playing today and may be qualifying for the World Cup. If they come here and get drawn to Boston, then how do we make sure businesses with the cultural identity of the countries that will be playing here are activated so that the folks from their home country can know where to go and know how to get that involvement. So that's... Everything will change in December, and it will really turn up. And we want to make sure folks are ready and signed up and aware and waiting for that information.

Thank you, Neil. And I have both skin babes here in the back. It actually lived in Senegal for five months. And it would be dusty if there's a Great Hall from Senegal we can get, sort of meld it all. I mean, this is what we're doing together. So thank you. I've asked a lot of questions. Thank you, Mr. Chair, for your indulgence.

Thank you, Council President. Again, thank you to the panel that is here. I also want to acknowledge the professional work John Borders has done here at the City of Boston and his team as well. David, let me ask you, what are you doing to look at companies owned by people with disabilities? and what are your results so far?

In the district plan, you'll see we do also have an accessibility initiative, which up to now has been focused on creating and pushing out content as it relates to accessible experiences in Boston. We will have, as part of that supplier diversity module, a specific tag for business owners that want to promote their business as accessible. And maybe it's even part of their own brand and identity as well. We've worked with a consultant. He's one of the most well-known accessibility travel consultants. He's Boston-based, actually. His name is John Morris, to help us build content, travel blogs, not only how to navigate the city as a whole, because of course there's sections of the city that are older and not as easy to navigate, but what museum experiences look like, what hotel experiences look like. He's one of the more renowned, We're bringing in another accessibility travel influencer this December. His name is Corey Lee. He's also very, very well known. and he's going to help us to do the sort of the ongoing kind of audit and assessment of Boston and its accessibility standards.

But you haven't awarded any contracts as of now to persons with disabilities?

Contracts, no. Paid consultants and advisors, yes.

So the contracts you're going to award to these two travel people that specialize in supporting persons with disabilities. That's in preparation for all these events coming up. Is that accurate to say?

Not necessarily geared just to those events, no. I mean, it's a very significant fact that we have the world coming to Boston next year. It's just ongoing work. that's mission vital for me, Boston, in terms of accessibility and accessible travel. And to go back to the first point, Councilor, I suppose you could characterize it as a contract that we did with John Morris. We always called him an accessibility consultant, but it was something where we contracted with him over an 18-month period to advise us and help us build content.

Okay, I do thank for everybody here that it is important to recognize companies that are owned by persons with disabilities and veterans as well. I'm not gonna focus on that anymore, but I just, It is a priority for me as well, not only people of color and women-owned businesses, but persons with disabilities. in veteran-owned companies should be part of the conversation.

And if I could just note, Chair Flynn, they all will be as part of that new supplier diversity model to make sure that companies that are owned by folks with disabilities or veterans are listed specifically so we can track and understand how well we're doing. Okay, on the outreach to veterans, who are you working with? Outreach to Veterans, that is also running through Nectar IQ. Whose Nectar IQ? It's a vendor that when I was referring to our work with Conan Harris & Associates to try to develop a supplier diversity module for the industry. Nectar IQ was one of 10 companies that received or at least advanced to a final stage of the RFP process that had built essentially a CRM system that tagged different businesses as either Minority Owned, Veteran Owned, LGBTQ Plus Owned, Disability Owned. So they, through a pretty robust process, we arrived at them as the best partner to work with.

Okay, I've never heard of them, but... I think we need to do more outreach to veteran-owned companies, okay? Sure. Thank you, Dusty, for the important work you have been doing and your team have been doing. What I love about the Tall Ships, Dusty, and I think you love too, is Seal Boston and the Tall Ships. It brings various cultures together, unites the city. We learn from each other, support each other. But I love seeing international sailors in our city engaging with residents, talking about their experience. Bostonians talking about their experiences as well. Dusty, and I've I've been involved in Seal Boston and the parade of ships my entire life, not just serving in the military for 24 years, but working there with the US Navy when ships would come in Just on the aspect of persons with disabilities, Dusty, I know you're very inclusive in working to ensure people with disabilities have equal access. What is your plan in terms of ensuring people with disabilities also have equal access to visiting some of these wonderful international ships? and giving them an opportunity to be exposed to touring a ship and talking to people. We have to navigate the port. We have to navigate getting onto the ship, off the ship. on the brow, or whatever factors we have. But do you have a plan for that, Dusty?

Well, of course, the piers are all accessible, no problem at all. There was only one Paulship in the world that was totally handicap accessible, Lord Nelson out of Great Britain. We're not sure that she's coming. But that being said, the Navy ships that we have are all accessible for wheelchairs and we have it demarcated and we'll have it obviously on our website about Which vessels can you go visit if you're handicap accessible? Because also the elderly, you know, they're not necessarily able to, Thank you Dusty and thank you for highlighting that.

and that type of education and informing people would be important. I do remember when the harbor walk, the access to the ocean, was not accessible in the mid-'80s, and it became accessible under Mejia Flynn and Stephen Coyle and Vivian Lee, who's a wonderful friend of mine. So I just wanted to highlight the importance of any type of event that we have, that we always want to include persons with disabilities and they're a part of our city and they want to be engaged, they want to enjoy every opportunity like we are able to enjoy every opportunity including our BPS students students with disabilities in BPS I'd love to see them Access, not just Tall Ships. And then let me just focus on Neil as well and to Stacey. I'd love to see our students with disabilities be part of the soccer tournament. and ensure that they are respected and heard and part of the civic life of the soccer tournament. What are your thoughts about how are we going to engage BPS students, how are we going to engage Persons with Disabilities to ensure that this wonderful soccer tournament is also enjoyed by them as well.

Absolutely, Councilor. It's a great question, and I appreciate all of your This being such a priority of yours throughout your career, hugely appreciate it. For us, with the Fan Festival that's going to be happening here in Boston, that's going to be the hub of all the excitement that's going on for the tournament that's outside that ticketed event at Gillette Stadium. Our goal would be to have events that are focused on BPS kids or just city kids to have them in and really participate in the event. Whether that's a specific game or days, that's something we're eager to talk through. I'm happy to also work with Superintendent Skipper and her team over at BPS to make sure that we're connected with the right folks. And then I'll let Stacey speak on the Disability side of things, but we would certainly want to lean into the expertise of Commissioner McCosh and the team here, who's the best in the nation. So, Stacy.

In terms of accessibility and inclusion for disabled populations, FIFA has provided many guidelines and frameworks for us, not just about what's happening in the stadium, but what happens around it. So we have quite a few guidelines and frameworks to work within FIFA from the main office in Miami that we are contractually obligated to do. So right now, we are not just thinking of accessibility in terms of, for example, wheelchair users. We're looking at people with limited mobility and also neurodivergence as well. So we need to account for those in all of our events. So sensory spaces, sensory kits, all those types of things, including prayer rooms and quiet rooms as well to account for people with sensory issues. In terms of coordinating with disability organizations within Massachusetts and the region. Boston 26 was very proud to be associated with the amputee soccer event that happened a couple of weeks ago. Our chief sport and impact officer served on their panel and we had our marketing and communications team out there for amputee soccer, soccer unity as well. We are also expected to bring on a consultant with lived experience and accessibility to help us coordinate our efforts for stakeholder engagement, not just for disabled adults in the region, but also with their students. That person has not been hired yet. That hasn't gone out to public. What that consultant will do for us, transportation and accessibility is a big piece, so we are working with MTBA, Massport, to make sure that people who are visually impaired could actually get around, find the train, We are looking at new technology to help them with that as well, to sort of mirror what's happening in Europe. really cool stuff with apps and whatnot so we're working with them but we also know that we can't circumvent their policies and what they do but working with them to improve what they have And in terms of FanFest, we would have our consultants do walkthroughs and accessibility audits as well and bring in members of the community to make sure we are doing what we are meant to do. In terms of procurement, that is also part, again, it's not just black and brown businesses that FIFA expects us to engage, they expect us to engage or at least shepherd to them veteran-owned businesses, disabled veteran-owned businesses and disabled organizations and firms to them because they are very much interested in working with local and small businesses with those ownerships.

Thank you. Neil, let me ask another question relating to that. BPS student-athletes, especially soccer teams from BPS schools, high schools or grammar schools, grade schools. Do you have a plan maybe to include Some of the student athletes at BPS into what FIFA is doing?

So I think that that's something that we'd love to talk through, you know, as a Latin Academy alum with this one. You know, that would be incredible and just such an opportunity for our students out to really just take part in the biggest event on earth, the biggest sporting event on earth. And I think as we work with FIFA, who are the ones who really put on the matches themselves, if you Watch a professional soccer game, the players will walk out with the kids during the game. and how do we make sure those are Boston kids? How do we get folks from BPS and other soccer leagues in Boston to be the ones who walk out with Lionel Messi and folks like that? So definitely a priority that we want to do and I know we're Intending to work with BPS Athletics and the folks over there to see what's possible. And with folks like the Soccer Unity Project, how do we do a mini World Cup or something like that here in Boston during the tournament?

Yeah, that's what I would like to see. I'd like to see some of these soccer players that are participating in FIFA be in our communities and engaging our BPS kids, engaging with All kids really engaging with young people with disabilities and helping them whether it's a clinic or refereeing or just being there and talking about their experiences. Is that something you might You might do, Neil?

Yeah, that'll definitely be happening with FIFA Legends, they're called, so, you know, Pros from the tournaments of years past will be going to different cities and having events and talking to kids and adults alike about what it's like to be a pro and what it's like to play on the biggest stage. So that's definitely something that's going to be on the books.

There's an organization, the Disabled American Veterans, but they have a aspect of it that engages disabled veterans that are in wheelchairs in sports, and they have excellent programs. I've been to a couple of them to experience it. But the national commander now is Coleman Nee. You might know him of Boston. But he would be a great person to talk to about what the DAV is doing to support veterans with disabilities and maybe partnering with some veterans organizations to ensure that They can also participate in FIFA as well. Is that something you guys might want to do? Yeah, that would be fantastic.

We'd appreciate any connection you could make.

Okay. Thank you, Council. Thank you. Let me ask Dusty. Dusty, do you think there's an opportunity for you and Seal Boston to engage disabled veterans as well? and ensure that they are part of the wonderful events of the ships coming in. Is that something you might be committed to?

I'll reach out to Coleman and Tommy Lyons both about what can we do to be more inclusive. I know Coleman. I'll take care of that.

Thank you. Thank you, Dusty. And let me ask you, Chief, overall, what is the city planning to do You heard the questions I was asking about supporting people with disabilities. What is the overall mission of the City of Boston as it comes to these wonderful events But how are the people with disabilities going to be able to participate, engage, and ensure that they're part of the process as well?

Well, as you know, Councillor, you know, this is a citywide effort, not just economic opportunity and inclusion, but our partners across all departments, including Commissioner McCosh's office. I'll also sneak in there Commissioner Santiago and our veteran The overall mission of the city is to ensure that all 703,000 residents get to participate in these wonderful events, get to experience it because, you know, It might be a once in a lifetime, we hope not, but for Tall Ships to be here, for FIFA to be here, it'll be the only time we can celebrate our 250th, so we want to make sure everyone gets to participate. But I'll say that for the mission of our cabinet, Our number one mission is to make sure that dollars are going to our small businesses, our contractors, our entrepreneurs, all who are disadvantaged. That includes not just, to your point, Women and People of Color, but those who certify themselves as veterans, those who certify themselves as service disabled. Thank you, Chief.

I just want to stress the importance of ensuring that these wonderful events are going to be experienced by persons with disabilities and I think that really We really need to ensure that they are included. I was at the Horace Mann School a couple of weeks ago in Charlestown supporting students that are deaf and hard of hearing. you know watching their excitement going to school and listening and talking to some of their teachers as well but they want to be engaged they want to be part of the civic life of Boston and I just want to do everything I can to ensure that students with disabilities are part of the process.

Well, can I thank you, Councillor, for bringing up that point. And I think one of the takeaways from today's hearing is that we will go back to our colleagues in the administration to make sure that they're part of these conversations now as opposed to waiting until we've settled a lot of the details. I'd also like to note or ask on the record that you or your office share recommendations and many other organizations that we should be in touch with. I know that over our time together in our roles, you've brought up veteran owned business participation and we would very much love your recommendations Thank you. Thank you. have not gotten work with the city get it because that's the only way we'll get others to actually participate when they see that people who look like them or have the same identity or experience are also getting contracts with the city. Thank you, Chief.

Yes, I will follow up with you, and thank you for reaching out on that issue. I don't have any follow-up questions. We do have a lot of public testimony. that I want to get right to. Okay, okay. Let me recognize the City Council President.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I had more questions, but I do want to be respectful of everyone's time and want to be respectful of the panel. and those who are here for public testimony want to thank you for all of your work and want to underscore how important it is for us to be tracking and using metrics to actually see if what we're spending money on makes sense for us to also have more For us to be intentional about what our equity investments look like and what it means to sustain them over time and that these are not that Thank you. Thank you. of the City of Boston, both internally and externally. And I think something that I think the Chief alluded to is that People like to spend money, and there are communities that like to spend money so far as they feel welcome. That could then lead and translate to heads on beds, but there is work that we have to do internally to make that happen. and I just encourage us to look at data from when there were events that were very welcoming to black and brown folks here and to see how much money and how much revenue that generated I think everyone for coming with good ideas and I'm really glad the panel offered some recommendations to all of you on how to make these events successful. This morning, I started off in East Boston at the YMCA's celebration, and Dave Jappar, the head of East Boston, the head of the YMCA said, we all do well when we all do well. And I really want us to believe that. And we has to be inclusive, and it has to include everyone. And it has to intentionally include those who often have not been included in that idea of what it means for us all to do well. Anything else of that is just smoke and mirrors. Anything that's not data driven, that's not supporting, you know, regardless of, I don't care what's happening at the federal level, we remain who we are as a city and that's one that is committed to bring out the best in all of our 23 neighborhoods and doing the work of equity, which is correcting for when we have ignored people intentionally and ignored communities intentionally. So I want to thank you all for your work. I'm so excited about these events, and I'm so excited to help bring vendors to these events. Food, Entertainment, Security, more synergizing what opportunities are available. And so whatever I can do as an Allard City Councilor or President of the City Council to make people aware of these. I'm raising my hand to do that. I think this hearing is a display of that. So thank you so much for giving so much of your time to us this morning and may these conversations continue because I'm sure the chair will keep this in committee and we'll be able to have additional conversations and hearings as needed. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you to the panel for being here. Thank you for your leadership. Thank you for your testimony. And you're dismissed at this time. We're going to go to public testimony. And I have a list of people that are looking to testify. And when I call your name, could you come down? Use the microphone on the left or the microphone at the right. Let me start with Carol Copeland. I'm gonna call out a few names and maybe we could spread it out at different microphones. Kristen Mendez. LeGrand Linder. He left. He left. Oh, he left. OK. Vic. Hey, Vic. Marie? Marie Furman? Would you like to go to that microphone, Marie? And Senator Oh, okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. And Krista will be last. Yes, you can come down, ma'am. Okay, tell me what your name is. Okay, you could come down. We'd love to hear from you. and want to give each person the opportunity to testify for two minutes but if you want to if you can please say your name in organization and then get right to your right to your point on it to have Public testimony.

Thank you so much. I am Carol Copeland-Thomas. I'm a 38-year business owner, a speaker, trainer and consultant, and I am on the board of Meet Boston, so I am representing Meet Boston. I am also a member of BECMA, and I was glad to hear that panel this morning. Good afternoon to our president, President Lejeune, and Councilman Flynn, and thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak. My name is Carol Copeland Thomas, and I've had the privilege of serving on the board of Meet Boston, formerly known as the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, for many years. I also chair our Multicultural Committee, a group that for decades has worked to ensure that Boston's tourism and hospitality industries reflect the diversity of the people who live, work, and visit here. During my tenure, I have witnessed a remarkable and deliberate evolution in Meet Boston's commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and multicultural engagement. What began as a conversation about representation has matured into a well-structured, sustainable effort One that invests in community-based organizations, minority-owned businesses and cultural events that bring life to every neighborhood in our city. Our Multicultural Committee meets regularly to advance that mission, most recently by spotlighting institutions such as the Museum of African American History, and planning programs that celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, which we are currently in. These efforts strengthen Boston's image as a welcoming city. while also generating tangible economic benefits that ripple across small businesses, community organizations, and residents alike. Meet Boston's charitable and community funding plays a crucial role in that ecosystem. These funds help sustain the festivals, cultural gatherings, and grassroots organizations that embody the soul of our city. Eliminating or diminishing that support would undercut years of intentional progress and partnership between public, private and community stakeholders. I want to publicly express my full support for our President and CEO, Martha Sheridan, whose leadership has been instrumental in aligning equity and economic growth. Her vision has not only elevated Boston's profile on a national and global stage, but has done so with integrity, inclusivity, and measurable impacts. In closing, I urge the Council to continue supporting Meet Boston's equitable investment strategies. This is not charity. It's good business, good governance, and good faith. Boston's strength lies in its people, and Meet Boston's approach ensures that every community shares in the city's success. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Carol. Thanks for being with us and thank you for the important leadership you have provided for many years in this city.

Hello everyone. Thank you so much for your time, especially in listening to such a deep conversation that will have trickle effects for not only 2026, but for many years to come. My name is Vic Innocent. I am founder and general partner of FrankenBuild Ventures, a venture capital firm established in Boston. We focus specifically on supporting small businesses. So when everyone says investing, Venture Capital is right there with you, genuinely investing direct dollars into the economy. So this is extremely important to us. Considering Boston City's massive appearance and positioning in technology development, Our firm focuses on those who are building within space, deep tech space and dual use. We also cover the blue economy as well as infrastructure. I myself have been ex-NASA and I am currently a BECMA member as well as on the board of Green Energy Consumers Alliance for Boston. There have been lots of facts that were stated earlier today, and so I will add a few more. Considering the great wealth transfer There have been estimates of anywhere from 60 to 124 trillion dollars for that wealth transfer. Additionally, for Boston itself, 13.5 billion of those dollars were represented in 2023 going into 2024. So when we talk about investment, it is investment not only morally, but also very, very much economically. We've heard it many times before, but from the point of view of a venture capital firm, I'm here to stress that economic development is going into individual people's pockets. And so we must steadfast be beside startup business owners. I myself and my firm, we are a member of the APEX and PTAC, the Procurement Technical Alliance Commission for the United States Government, as well as I have lent my own voice and words to this year's SIBR SBIR reauthorization. So, considering all of the economic development incentive programs, some that remain, some that no longer exist, such as the Angel Investor Tax Credit, I really want to encourage everyone to understand that the compulsion to design and have integral avenues to keep Boston as a top four investment in small business city is on our backs right now. The opportunity for so many people globally to be in Boston for 2026 is a highlight not only of the city, but such efforts discussed today runs far deeper than just tourism. I don't mean to say just tourism, but you know what I mean. It is absolutely rooted in a city investing in its own citizens thus affecting the entire state. So when it comes to involvement of everyone, I'd like to also remind us that whether we want to or not, especially for the youth, those kids who are in Public Schools, and whatnot, they are the content creators who will be covering this no matter what, whether we invite them or not. So on a national stage, local journalism, as well as individual persons who are content creators, their eyes are on us right now and in the next year. So I will end this with also mentioning that I'll just leave it with a short quote because our firm does cover space as well as maritime and shipbuilding. I love the quote, a rising tide lifts all boats. And so when we discuss these matters, it is for the inclusion of everyone especially small business owners, which is my whole world as a venture capital firm owner.

Thank you. Thank you, Vic. It's good to be with you.

Hi, my name is Marie Furman, and I want to thank you all for having this opportunity to hear and to hear the bigger picture and to try to get it to relate to my smaller picture, which is my small business. So thank you. I serve as the president and CEO of Black Biz Dev. It's a 501c3 organization in Black Biz. Development Group, LLC. We provide marketing, advertising, and training services in entrepreneurship to businesses and youth 14 to 22. My partnership with Meet Boston has been transformative, personally and in my business. It has opened doors to invaluable experiences, opportunities, and enduring friendships, allowing me to explore new horizons beyond Roxbury where I lived and my family has lived for over five generations. The journey with Meet Boston began with my black biz ball that I give for local businesses in Boston, Cambridge, and other communities where there are really local and small businesses. Michael Munn, who is here today, and part of Meet Boston was the community liaison who guided me to join and partner with Meet Boston to come out of Roxbury actually. Michael introduced me immediately to the President Martha Sheridan whom I saw on TV prior to promoting diversion and inclusion. So I thought this would be a good organization for me to be a part of. Those same team members that I met initially are the team members that I work with quite frequently. They give me one-to-one instruction on topic specific, oh, they do topic specific workshops for our small businesses tailored to my needs. For instance, the first AI workshop for me was at Meet Boston. Over the years, my company has benefited by Meet Boston's resources, including marketing, referrals, access to workshops, and they have strengthened my business in a way. by providing me with sponsorship for my Black Biz Ball, which has been done for over five years. We've celebrated over 80 local businesses. For my newest event and venture that helps to give my entrepreneurship program that I do with youth more depth and more information. And that program was a program I gave recently called The Way We Were, Roxbury, Black Wall Street, 1900 to 1965. So my entrepreneurship program infuses culture. and history in it so that our students are not only informed about what's happening today, but they understand what the history and the struggle has been to be in an entrepreneur. So the fundraising department, after funding me and giving me services in their marketing, I mean, I meet with the marketing They're my friends, so I get all kinds of information from them that informs me. And after sponsoring me, and giving me a lot of referrals for sponsorships. I mean, they not only sponsored me, but then they said, oh, you need to go here, go there, go there and get more money. So, you know, they have been invaluable. to my small business.

Could I ask you to take the next 30 seconds to summarize it?

Okay.

Thank you.

I wholeheartedly encourage all black businesses to partner with Meet Boston and take advantage of the incredible opportunities they offer. and I just want you to continue to support them. And Beckma, I am also a member of Beckma.

Okay, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your testimony. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon. My name is Akku. Akku Jabahate. And I'm a former international model and now entrepreneur. and I'm also a Space Grant Award winner and I'm also the founder of Whole Skin Babe, LLC. It is a truly honor to stand before you today and speak about a topic that has the power to transform community, strengthen economy, and open doors for innovation. The importance of small businesses securing contracts during major global events like the World Cup. When we think about the World Cup, most people imagine the excitement. The PAX Stadium, The Charing Fan, and The Global Spotlight. But behind that spectacle is a massive network of opportunity. from catering, hospitality, event production, marketing, beauty, logistics, transportation, and much more. And this is where the small businesses matter the most. Small businesses are the heartbeat of every economy. We are the one who hire locally, reinvents in our neighborhood, and keep the spirit of entrepreneurship alive. When a large-scale event come to our community, we should not be a celebration of sport, They also should be a celebration of local talent, local creativity, and local ownership. Securing contracts for small businesses during the World Cup isn't just about making sales. It's about creating equity. It's about giving underrepresented and minority-owned businesses a fair seat at the table. It's about ensuring that when the world attention is on us, our local businesses shine as bright as international brands. Imagine a World Cup where the vendors are a small women-owned catering company serving authentic local dishes. Imagine Local Dishes and Imagine Local Beauty and Wellness Businesses Preparing Staff and Performer, Local Designer, Dressing Volunteer, and Local Marketing Firm Handling campaign that reflects the real diversity of our community. That is how we create lasting impact, not just a few weeks of game for generations to come. When the small businesses get those contracts, they grow. They hire more people. They gain visibility and credibility. They build health and stay within the community. So I urge decision-makers, organizers, and city officials Let's make sure our procurement system is fair and inclusive. Let's simplify access, break down barriers, and ensure small businesses, especially minority and women-owned businesses, are prioritized. and all to all the entrepreneur here let's be ready and let's get certified let's get visible and stay informed because the opportunity is coming and belong to us too. The World Cup is more than a tournament. It's a global stage. And our business deserves to be part of the show. And on a personal note, I work in the beauty industry. We really need more visibility on the beauty industry and the wellness as well. Thank you so much.

And thank you, Akul, and thank you for being here. Is Christina here? Haley. And before you go, Haley, was there anyone that wanted to offer testimony that I haven't called or that didn't sign in that still wants to testify? If you do, please come down. Go ahead, Haley, and take two minutes, please.

Thank you very much. Thank you for allowing me to be here. So my name is Haley Fortier, and I am the owner-operator of Haley Henry Wine Bar, which is right around the corner in Downtown Crossing, and Natalie Wine Bar, which is in Fenway. I'm here representing Meet Boston, but over the past couple years I've had the privilege of working with them on a number of different things. I've traveled with them abroad to kind of Send the message along with them what their message is involving diversity, inclusion, tourism, and making sure that the city is being Seeing on a more global level in terms of the diversity that we have to offer with all of our neighborhoods and and things of that, all of our industries as well. I've seen it firsthand. I have been welcomed in to Meet Boston numerous times. They have I supported the business in a multitude of ways. Most importantly, something coming up that I'm working on, it's a project that will be the first of the city. I think, from my knowledge, but I'm going to be creating a wine fair in February that's called FemFet, that is... 100% just completely curated of female winemakers, women winemakers from all over the world. There is a plethora of ethnic diversity in it. Black and Brown, Latin, just lots of different winemakers. It's going to be convening here in February in a time where also restaurants really need a plug because of holiday fatigue. So restaurants will be impacted by it, hotels will be impacted by it, Small businesses will be impacted by it. I think the one thing that I've heard here in the past two hours of listening to these incredible panels is that small businesses take I don't even know. and Kate Davis and Dave O'Donnell were like, we're definitely involved in this. We want this to happen. And so from day one, they have supported the vision of the diversity that we bring at the bar and elsewhere. you know it's it's also a lot of these winemakers that are coming they are all female winemakers it's a festival that is really surrounded by by highlighting and spotlighting female makers. But a lot of those makers are also part of the LGBTQ community and so there's a lot of representation across the board. That being said, anything that the council can do to continue to support Meet Boston, In all of their efforts through every industry that I've seen them diversify, I would appreciate it, and I'm sure that lots of other Restaurant owners and small business owners that I know would say the same thing about them because the organization is made up of lots of different partners, but a lot of them are actually People in the same industry as me. And over the course of the past four years with COVID and the way that the city and small businesses just took a very big hit. Boston has been a really big ally to small businesses to get them back up and going. So any consideration I would appreciate. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Haley. Thank you for your testimony. Thank you for being here. I have one document that I'd like to read into the record. It's public testimony. It's from Colette Phillips, the founder, CEO, Collette Phillips, Communications, Get Connected. I'm going to read in a good portion of it. First, let me give my heartfelt thanks to Boston City Council President, the Honorable Madame Routzilou-Eugène for this opportunity. to offer my personal testimony and insight in recommendations on this important economic driver of Boston's economy. Let me preface my testimony by saying that my testimony is not an attack On anyone or on Meet Boston, this is an opportunity to share my observation on some of the issues in opportunities that have been missed or unintentionally overlooked that hold significant economic impact for Boston's economy within the hospitality and tourism industry. I want everyone and anyone who has a business within the hospitality and tourism industry from the very smallest vendor to the largest entity, hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, entertainment, food trucks, tours, museums, and all the hidden gems out there to succeed. It is all in all of our collective economic interests that Boston tourism and hospitality sectors do well. The term a rising tide lifts all boats could not be more appropriate here. I want Meet Boston to be successful as someone who worked earlier in my career in marketing in the hospitality industry and advised the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism on how to engage and attract diverse visitors, I believe, I bring a strong track record and keen understanding of this industry. Five years ago in 2020, my firm Colette Phillips Communication has honored to be awarded the contract to create a comprehensive campaign aimed at reshaping Boston's image while simultaneously supporting the city's recovery from the devastating impacts of the pandemic on its tourism sector. To achieve this, we assembled a dynamic team of creative, partnering with Proverb Agency to develop an impact strategy and with Meet Boston, the marketing bureau that markets and promotes tourism and hospitality in the city. Despite the initial success of our multi-award winning, all-inclusive Boston campaign that resonated with diverse audiences, I find myself extremely disappointed in wondering why this momentum has not been built upon. It begs the question, why does such a positive and effective campaign seem not to have been fully leveraged? This lack of urgency to meet the moment has left Boston at risk of missing the valuable opportunities to engage a rapidly involving travel consumer market. As the travel and tourism industry evolves, it is imperative for culturally diverse cities like Boston to adapt and seize emerging opportunities at a time when America in general In Boston in particular experienced a decline in international tourism because of the current government's tariffs and perceived, real or imagined, hostility towards our global allies. It is concerning that Boston is not actively pursuing the expansive domestic market of black, Hispanic, and Asian domestic travelers, a demographic with a collective traveling spending power exceeding $250 billion. This oversight reflects a short-sighted approach and fails to recognize the potential economic benefits of engaging these communities. Boston's population is approximately 50% of people of color, yet the marketing strategy employed seem rooted and outdated, looking through a lens that is over 50 years old rather than today's diverse and inclusive reality. This is not simply a matter of political correctness or diversity, equity, or inclusion awareness. It is fundamentally about economics. By overlooking the needs and interests of black and Latino and Asian travelers, Boston is missing a significant opportunity for economic growth in return on investment, especially when competing markets such as Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, DC aggressively pursuing these markets. If Boston were to adopt a more visionary approach, it could invest strategically in initiatives that celebrate and uplift diverse cultures, especially as we are on the eve of celebrating America's 250th birthday. Consider the potential of the following. BAMS Fest, an annual multi-day music celebration showcasing diverse musical talent similar to Montreal Jazz Festival. The Boston Wild Black Family Festival, a vibrant gathering celebrating black culture and community. The Roxbury International Film Festival, a week-long event highlighting stories in filmmakers from marginalized Communities, the Asian American Film Festival, Get Connected's annual food festival, A Taste of Ethnic Boston. It's a culinary celebration of Boston's diverse cultural Cuisines that contribute to making Boston an international culinary destination, the week-long annual Festival of Botanza, New England's longest-running Latino cultural Festival promoting 50-plus traditional cuisine arts highlighting the diversity of the Latino culture, the American Caribbean Festival, the third largest in the country, a 50-year plus two-day weekend event celebrating the Caribbean community, investing a minimum of $250,000 in each of these initiatives. would not only elevate them, but also position Boston as a top destination for domestic leisure travelers of color. There's further comments as well, but I just wanted to kind of read in as much as I could at this time. Before I offer brief closing comments, I do want to give the City Council President, the lead sponsor, an opportunity to offer closing comments. Thank you.

And thank you so much, Mr. Chair, for hosting this hearing. It is 1.40, which means we've been here since 10, which is more than three and a half hours. Imagine if our other colleagues had been here, it would have We would have continued stretching or I would have stopped. I would have had to talk less. But I'm grateful for everyone who has come. This is obviously an important topic to our city. We obviously realize how much The tourism industry, how much it generates for the city of Boston, but how much there's a deep desire for us to be putting on display a Boston that is true and that is authentic. and how much there's a deep desire to finally, as we feel like we are on the cusp of something here, we feel like we are on the cusp of actually doing the work of uplifting communities that have been too often sidelined financially, I think there needs to be intentionality to ensure that these events can be National, International Tourism that other events are able to generate. As we look forward to 2026, there's obviously a number of really exciting events that we have to look forward to, and I'm hopeful with our collective work, with the Chief, and with Dusty, and Mike was unable to be here, but Neil and Stacey who testified on behalf of FIFA. and the work of Meet Boston that we're able to put on display a city of Boston that no one has ever seen before next year. and we can only do that if we're intentional, which is why talking about the TDMD investments are important, talking about who is at the table when those decisions are being made, especially when the language of the marketing plan allows for greater elasticity with who are the decision makers is incredibly important. I am grateful that we have the TDMD. It has done really great work for so many in the city of Boston. and the work of equity requires us to lean in more, the work of making sure that we are representing a city that is 54% people of color, that we're using everything we have at our disposal to make sure that we are putting on display a Boston that is representative of that. and where we can give walking tours of Roxbury, Dorchester, the South End, all of that. I think all of that's important. This is obviously the beginning, or I hate when people say it's the beginning of a conversation. These conversations have been happening. But this is part of a continuum of a conversation that is going to continue to happen, As we continue into next year, which will hopefully be an amazing year for this city and for everyone involved, that particularly highlights our black and brown communities. So thank you so much to everyone who came here, and thank you, Mr. Chair, again, and to our incredible central staff for the work that they've done today. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Louijeune. Thank you also to the City Council Central staff team that did excellent work preparing for this as well. I want to say thank you to the both panels really for being here for the important work that you are doing. I think we all learned a lot today. It's about working together, respecting each other. We may not agree all the time, but it's about sitting down, having a conversation, treating each other with respect, ensuring that everybody is part of the decision-making process. Boston works best when we work together. This hearing docket 1-4-4-3 and 1-4-4-4 is adjourned. These two dockets will stay in committee. Thank you.