WBJ Staff

In 2020, companies, nonprofits and other organizations tripped over themselves to establish diversity, equity and inclusion committees, initiatives and goals, largely in response to the police murder of George Floyd. But it’s one thing to talk the talk, and an entirely different thing to walk the walk. Enter: Valerie Zolezzi-Wyndham and her company, Promoting Good.

Much of the rise of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce – and the Greater Worcester economy as a whole – as a force for business advocacy and change in Massachusetts can be traced back to Timothy P. Murray stepping down as lieutenant governor to become the chamber’s leader.

Stacey Luster, the first Black woman ever elected to Worcester City Council, works to support anti-racism and equal opportunity, and she has co-founded two advocacy groups designed to help those efforts: Black Families Together, which focuses on addressing institutional racism in Worcester; and the Black Excellence Academy, which helps students of color who are struggling in school.

Under Roy Nascimento’s leadership since 2015, the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce has truly become the leading economic development organization in North Central Mass., performing surveys of the region’s businesses and assessments of the economy in order to better advocate for their wants and needs locally and at the State House.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute, led by Laurie Leshin since 2014, tends to nearly always be at the center when people talk about where Worcester colleges shine: drawing more students, spurring startups, and a forward-thinking mentality toward equal opportunities.

Rev. Debora Jackson has been part of WPI’s administration for nearly a decade, having served on the university board since 2012, but it wasn’t until her appointment to business school dean in January that her influence at the school and in the Greater Worcester community really took off.

As the newly elected as president of the Worcester Unit of the NAACP, Fred Taylor took the helm of the organization at a pivotal moment, when both Worcester and the rest of the country are actively reckoning with centuries of systemic racism.

James Regan sits atop the largest credit union in Central Massachusetts, as DCU has more than $10...

Deborah Penta has been leading PENTA Communications for more than 30 years.

Small employers in Central Massachusetts and far beyond needed federal financial help fast last year when the coronavirus pandemic hit, and no locally-based bank provided more Paycheck Protection Program funds than Hudson’s Avidia Bank.