Paving the way for BIPOC women

(ABC 6 News) – The city of Rochester is celebrating an award it earned in January.

Rochester was selected as one of 15 champion cities in the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Mayors Challenge.

Rochester hosted several key stakeholders Tuesday afternoon in downtown Rochester including someone from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Mayor Kim Norton said she is very proud of Rochester being named one of 15 cities across the world to receive this honor to focus on economic recovery and growth, addressing health, income, and labor disparities deepened by COVID-19, particularly for BIPOC women in the med city.

“Recognizing this great disparity, we saw the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Mayor’s challenge as an opportunity to drive equitable economic recovery by removing barriers that prevent women of color from entering and advancing in well-paying careers,” Norton said.

Last year, less than one percent of construction jobs were filled by women of color, and 13 percent of Rochester’s entire population is women of color.

Over the next 20 years, over two thousand annual construction jobs will be generated by the Destination Medical Center initiative.