The Black Economic Council of Massachusetts hosted its inaugural Vanguard Awards Ceremony on Tuesday.
The council formed in 2015 to help address the region’s racial wealth gap. The inaugural awards recognized innovators, advocates and leaders that are shaping the commonwealth’s business community.
“Today we honor five leaders who refuse to wait for permission,” said BECMA President and CEO Nicole Obi. “They are proof that our model works, that investment in Black economic power produces real returns, and that this commonwealth is stronger when all of its people can fully participate.”
Sidney Baptista was awarded the Innovation Leader Award. He founded the PIONEERS Run Crew in 2017 to create space for a diverse running community in a sport that typically feels exclusive.
“My personal mission is twofold: One is to normalize health and wellness in our communities, and the other is to drive wealth and ownership into our communities,” he said.
Baptista said he also noticed brands wanting to use Black culture to sell products, but did not invest into Black communities.
“If we’re creating the community, we should be able to clothe them, we should be able to train and do all of that with money,” said Baptista, who is also the founder and CEO of PYNRS Performance Streetwear. “Working with an institution like BECMA to fund some of these projects is important.”
Former state Rep. Chet Atkins, who served from 1985-1993, received the Ally in Action Award for leading reforms that modernized the state’s budgeting process.
“Allyship is a verb. It’s an action. It’s a consistent and intentional practice of using one’s own privilege to address systemic inequalities,” said DaQuall Graham, who presented the award to Atkins. “He truly understands that a stronger Black economy is a stronger Massachusetts economy.”
Teri Williams, president and owner of OneUnited Bank, received the Lifetime Achievement Award. OneUnited is the country’s largest Black-owned bank, and its mission is to help people build wealth through includes broader access to financial literacy and services.
Williams, who is also a cofounder of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, said there was not a voice for Black economic empowerment before the council was founded.
“Several organizations had it as one part of their mission,” she said. “But there really wasn’t an organization where that was their sole mission, who was focusing on closing that racial wealth gap.”
In honor of Williams’s contributions to the council, the Lifetime Achievement Award will carry her name going forward.
Massachusetts Rep. Russell Holmes was awarded the Policy Champion Award for his longtime commitment to community investment and Natasha Holmes earned the Transformation Award for work to expand mental health services to Black women, LGBTQIA+ individuals and people of color.
