Building Together: City of Memphis Weekly Updates

Celebrating Diversity. This week we are celebrating the beginning of Black History Month, and it isn’t lost on me that black history and Memphis history are indelibly intertwined. As I write this, I am renewed in my commitment to make our city’s history one we can all be proud of.  

I have said it before, but I want the fact that Memphis is the country’s largest minority majority city to be a pride point for all of us. I want us to connect it with high percentages of black tech talent, black entrepreneurs, and black creatives. I want it to be the thing that makes industry and visitors flock here. And I want you to know that my team and I are working every day to demonstrate that our diversity is more than a demographic percentage, it is our super-power. 

This week, I would like to give a little shout out to our Office of Business Diversity and Compliance, led by Director Zanderia Davidson.

 

This department offers a wide range of services to help small and disadvantaged businesses thrive in Memphis, including free business consultation, training and workshops, access to financing and contracting opportunities, and much more. The 13 people on this team also play a key role in certifying Minority and Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) businesses and making sure that the city’s MWBE compliance goals are met. In FY23 alone, they assisted over 16K clients, held  194 workshops with over 2,400 attendees. 

Rounding out the diversity theme for this week, I also had the opportunity to meet with the Multicultural Advisory Board, led by Queen Keskessa, Community Outreach Multicultural Affairs Manager. Together with the board members, citizens who represent 26 countries, we had an open dialogue about all of the issues that every Memphian is interested in: public safety, blight, more reliable transportation, and education. This meeting reminded me that no matter what neighborhood we live in, or faith we practice, or color of our skin, we all want the same things for our community and from our government. 

My promise to you is that I hear you. And I want the same things for my family.

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From Ariel and Jade on the City's social team - a little inspiration for Black History Month: 

 

And from our partners at MATA - a historic appointment of the first African American female president of MATA - congratulations Bacarra Mauldin:

In partnership and progress, 

Paul A. Young