Diversity & Inclusion

The Greater Worcester Community Foundation has opened applications into the two grant programs designed last year to be responsive to the needs exposed by the coronavirus pandemic and the reckoning in racial justice, but this year with a focus on nonprofit support and effectiveness, the organization announced on Thursday.

The $300 million in federal relief funds Gov. Charlie Baker is seeking to spend to expand down payment assistance would help as many as "tens of thousands of homeowners," particularly in communities of color that historically have struggled to access other government programs, Baker said Thursday.

The announcement comes roughly six weeks after four of the company’s five leaders stepped back from business operations in light of allegations of workplace sexual harassment and discrimination circulated on social media in May.

Fontaine Bros., a construction company with offices in Worcester and Springfield, announced on Tuesday it has named Elizabeth Wambui as the company’s director of diversity, inclusion and impact.

Christopher Dustin, a former philosophy professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, filed a 246-page lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Tuesday, seeking to reverse his firing and provide unspecified damages for allegedly unfair termination.

Nichols College’s Institute for Women’s Leadership will be named for outgoing president Susan West Engelkemeyer, who retired in June after 10 years at the Dudley school, the college’s board of trustees announced on Wednesday.

The YWCA Central Massachusetts announced on Tuesday it has completed a $24-million renovation of its Salem Square facility in Worcester, lauding both the work itself and the diversity of and wages paid to the crews who saw the project through.

Worcester Business Journal was honored as a top three business journal of its size in the industry, being honored with four total awards for its investigative and feature writing and design, during the annual ceremony Wednesday from the international industry group Alliance of Area Business Publishers.

The Sheth Sangreal Foundation of Austin awarded a five-year, $1-million grant to the Discovery Museum in Acton to support the museum’s sustainability and inclusivity efforts.

Regulations adopted Tuesday and set to affect applicants for the 2022-2023 school year will require vocational-technical schools to develop their own admissions policies "that promote equitable access", removing the requirement that grades, attendance, discipline records and counselor recommendations be used as admissions criteria.