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Nutter Partner and Chamber Board Chair Paul Ayoub, speaking at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting, challenged the business community to commit to action so that “when we meet a year from now, we will see this as the moment when true change began.”  He observed that “the Annual meeting is usually a time to celebrate, but today it is also a moment to pause and contemplate . . . We should not, indeed cannot, move forward until we have a shared understanding of the action needed to bring about racial equity and justice.”

Speaking at the virtual meeting attended by more than 1,500 members of the business community, Ayoub stated: “We need to commit to meaningful, accountable action; to making change happen now, in our homes, our work and our community; to being anti-racist and not just non-racist; to speaking out, even at our own personal and professional cost; and to continuing to actively listen and learn.”

Noting that the Annual Meeting invitation stated that “[o]ur region and community are ready to take on the challenge of a changed world,” he declared, “ I know I am, I know the Chamber is” and then challenged the Greater Boston business community: “The question is: are you?”

Following his remarks, Micho Spring, Chair of Weber Shandwick Global Corporate practice and President, Weber Shandwick New England, spoke of Paul’s “exceptional tenure” as chair including his  “elevating the voice of the Chamber” and his advocacy of diversity with respect to the Chamber Board, “welcoming more women and people of color onto the Chamber Board than ever before in its history.”