Mass. Supplier Diversity Office executive director to retire
Photo I Courtesy of the Supplier Diversity Office
Bill McAvoy, executive director of the Supplier Diversity Office
Bill McAvoy, executive director of the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office, will retire come fall.
McAvoy’s retirement follows his nine-year tenure as executive director of the SDO and 36 years of public service, according to a Friday press release from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance.
McAvoy has been an advocate for removing the citizenship/permanent residency requirement for businesses seeking diversity certifications through the SDO, a certification that not only adds credibility to a business but also affords opportunities for revenue as firms receiving state funding have a portion of their budget allocated for SDO-certified businesses. The SDO plans to remove the citizenship requirement, permitting immigrant business owners with legal status to qualify for certification.
“One of the SDO’s primary missions is to identify and remove barriers for diverse and small businesses trying to participate in the state’s bidding process. We see the requirements for citizenship as one of those obstacles,” McAvoy wrote in an email to WBJ.
During McAvoy’s tenure, the number of certified diverse businesses more than doubled from 2,794 in fiscal 2015 to 5,669 in fiscal 2023, according to the press release.
In addition, expenditures from SDO programs increased by 124% in the same timeframe from $959 million in fiscal year 2015 to $2.15 billion in fiscal year 2023.
The SDO became the first state in the country to include disability and LGBT categories in its Supplier Diversity Program under McAvoy’s leadership and his office launched the Certified Diverse Business Dashboard, an interactive digital map for agencies, vendors, and consumers to find diverse certified businesses.
“I am proud of the many accomplishments and commitment to diverse and small businesses by the amazing team of professionals that I have had the honor to work with in the SDO,” McAvoy said in the release. “As I retire from public service, I would also like to thank Governor Healey and Lieutenant Governor Driscoll for the opportunity to lead the SDO and for their unparalleled support of the SDO’s mission to uplift and remove barriers for diverse and small Massachusetts businesses.”
The SDO began its search to find McAvoy’s replacement on Friday when an executive director job listing was posted to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' career page with a yearly salary between $160,000 and $180,000.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
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