How Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Can Drive Profit and Build Community

How can food and collaboration help build healthier communities? City Fresh Foods President and Founder and Foundation for Business Equity Executive Director Glynn Lloyd and PAGU chef Tracy Chang chat with Billy Shore in Boston about how and why community is a central tenet of their respective organizations. “It’s an ecosystem community approach to really help support an entrepreneurial class that’s necessary for their communities,” Lloyd explains about the Business Equity Initiative, which provides advisors, infrastructure subsidies and growth capital to help grow black- and Latino-owned businesses. Community is also central to Chang’s view of her restaurant. “We want to be here for the long run, so that means we need to listen to our community and be actively involved, and really take to heart the feedback we receive,” she says.

 

Both guests discuss the leadership qualities that are most important to achieve their goals. “You have to be open to doing anything and everything, and that requires a lot of positive thinking… I’m ready to receive anyone with a negative mood and turn that around,” explains Chang. Lloyd practices what he calls deep listening as a way to motivate people. “Do you really understand the world around you, the people you’re working with, what motivates them, and then put that back into where you’re going as an organization?,” he asks.

 

Listen and learn from two entrepreneurs who use their businesses to build both profit and community.

 

 

Resources and Mentions:

·        No Kid Hungry (nokidhungry.org): Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign is ending child hunger in America by ensuring all children get the healthy food they need, every day.

·        Glynn Lloyd has been a pioneer in the field of transformative urban economic development for more than 25 years. He is the President and Founder of City Fresh Foods and is currently the Executive Director of the Foundation for Business Equity. The Foundation's first initiative is The Business Equity Initiative designed to scale up local Black and Latino enterprises in Eastern MA. Over the last few decades, Glynn has been involved in the local food movement, more recently in helping to establish The Urban Farming Institute (UFI). UFI has the mission of supporting urban residents in the production of their own food for improved health and community resiliency.

·        Business Equity Initiative (BEI) was launched by the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation in April 2017 to mitigate growing inequality by combining business growth, supplier partnerships, and community transformative development as a means of addressing growing wealth and income inequality in Massachusetts. The Initiative is focused on growing enterprises of color by leveraging Eastern’s networks and philanthropic dollars as well as providing targeted, customizable growth tools including embedded trusted strategic advisors, operational support, growth capital, and market access to enterprises of color positioned for growth. This Initiative targets Black and Latino businesses because research shows that this is where the inequities and wealth gap is the greatest.

·        City Fresh Foods is on a mission to make healthier communities by delivering fresh, wholesome meals to organizations throughout the Boston area, educating and advocating for more nutritious food choices, and building sustainable careers for our dedicated staff and local growers. City Fresh is a nationally recognized provider of affordable, high-quality whole meals, with a mission-driven business model that supports community development.

·        Tracy Chang is the chef and owner of PAGU a Japanese Spanish fusion restaurant that bridges cuisines and cultures in Cambridge, MA. Chang’s love for the restaurant industry began at an early age at her grandmother’s Japanese restaurant in Cambridge. She furthered her craft at famed Japanese restaurant O Ya in Boston. She went on to study with Pâtissier Nicolas Bernardé at Le Cordon Bleu Paris and cook alongside Chef Martín Berasategui at his Michelin three-star restaurant in San Sebastian. After returning to Boston, she co-founded Guchi’s Midnight Ramen and joined the Harvard Science and Cooking program as a teaching fellow before opening PAGU in 2017.

·        PAGU combines Japanese and Spanish cuisine to create a dining experience that is greater than the sum of its parts. The menu reflects the background and travels of chef Tracy Chang. The beverage list features wines from the Iberian Peninsula and Basque Country, Japanese sake, Spanish ciders and sherry, and more. In addition to offering delicious, soulful food, PAGU emphasizes health, sustainability and community.