Day: March 25, 2021

Excerpt from WAMC News coverage of a Vermont Chamber of Commerce event:

‘Vermont has long been known for, and often struggled with, being one of the whitest states in the nation.   According to U.S. Census data, 94 percent of the state’s population is white, 1.4 percent Black, 1.9 percent Asian and 2 percent Hispanic or Latino. 

Vermont Chamber President Betsy Bishop says advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion has become a priority for many organizations including the Vermont Chamber.  

“Our board  has begun working on DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) issues through a task force that initially started with a mission to diversify our board,” Bishop said. “The mission quickly brought in to include diversifying our membership and partnering with other organizations to help BIPOC businesses thrive in Vermont. We are developing programming to support and promote BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color) businesses and other business in efforts to address DEI initiatives in their own companies. We’ll be gathering input through an outreach process to ensure that we meet the needs of these businesses.”’

Read more from WAMC News Reporter Pat Bradley.

Watch our full recorded event, Advancing Equity in Vermont, with Representative Hal Colston and Senator Kesha Ram.