This is what structural racism looks like. A Black chief executive is hired to address documented deficiencies in the diversity of the workforce and contracting at a quasi-public agency. The seasoned executive makes headway in hiring and promotion despite resistance from other senior leaders and alack of support from the board that hadhired him, unanimously. Less than a year later, the Black executive is out.
That’s the bottom line with the departure of Marcel Vernon Sr. from the top job at the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority or MCCA. It is a regrettable but all-too-familiar sequence of events affecting executives of color in Boston. The region’s enterprises talk a good game about diversity, and do enough to produce a veneer of racial-ethnic fairness but not enough to recalibrate inequity in workforces.
Inequities in income and wealth persist because the white beneficiaries of the unfair system built to their advatage want to keep it that way. The undeniable truth is white people are still hogging more than their fair share of the best paying jobs and contracting opportunities in this region, as elsewhere. That employment, income and wealth gaps are so consistent across the varied local economies of the country is evidence the problem is built-in and structural .
The MCCA was created by state law to manage the Menino Convention and Exhibition Center in the Seaport, Hynes Convention Center in the Back Bay, MassMutual Center in Springfield and the Boston Common garage downtown. It is a public agency whose principal role is to attract visitors to this majority-minority city and promote tourism, an important sector of the local economy.
This quasi-public agency, with a majority of its board appointed by the governor, has to do better in employing people of color and doing business with businesses they own. That was the conclusion of an audit that the MCCA commissioned the law firm Prince Lobel Tye to do.
In October 2024, the agency’s board hired Vernon with a mandate to improve diversity in its workforce and contracting, particularly with respect to Black and Latinos. When he arrived, he was the only senior leader of color at the MCCA.
As Vernon departs, a quarter of senior leaders are of color. His hires include a Black chief of human resources, a Black chief procurement officer and a Latino head of auditing.
The Black chief executive had to overcome resistance from other senior leaders to make as much headway as he did. Anyone who has been in Boston for a while knows why. An attitude of entitlement pervades workplaces that have been white preserves — the new boss is “giving” other people (of color) “our jobs” or taking away sweetheart contracts from (white) favorites.
White senior leaders could resist Vernon but not remove him. Only the board that hired him could do that.
The board interceded after Vernon, in a laudable expression of transparency, pledged his cooperation with separate investigations by two legislative committees.
The Joint Committee on Racial Equity, Civil Rights and Inclusion is looking into racial bias and discrimination at MCCA. State Sen. Liz Miranda of Boston and Rep. Bud Williams of Springfield, both members of the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, co-chair the committee.
The Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight is investigating alleged corruption — before Vernon’s arrival — in procurement, mismanagement of funds, and other practices.
What did board members think Vernon was supposed to do when notified of investigations by the very body that created the MCCA? Hunker down and say nothing? That would make him look like he had something to hide. Instead, he took the high road, where the light can shine on the authority’s internal operations.
The board made a move to terminate Vernon in an emergency meeting on a Sunday, until his lawyer pointed out the executive session did not meet the required public notice period for public meetings.
By the end of that week, Vernon had accepted a settlement agreement to depart with a $500,000 payment, equivalent to a year and a half of his salary. The agreement allows Vernon to testify before the two committees and any other legislative bodies. The agreement does not include a nondisclosure agreement.
There have been anonymous, internal rumblings in media reports that suggest Vernon’s management style at MCCA is at fault. This amounts to bad mouthing from insiders who resisted giving up their privileges masquerading as entitlement.
It makes no sense that Vernon, a financial expert with more than 30 years of executive experience in multiple industries, would need an executive coach. If so, why would the board have hired him on a unanimous vote in October 2024? Or awarded him a full management bonus after less than a year?
The Racial Equity Committee has scheduled a hearing Jan. 6 to conduct “a comprehensive review of diversity efforts along with updates on the progress made his year by the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority.” MCCA officials as well as Vernon are expected to testify.
The legislative scrutiny is a welcome development. The hearing starts at 1 p.m. and is to be live streamed.
The Banner awaits comment from Gov. Maura Healey. She appointed a majority of the MCCA board’s 13 members. What does Healey have to say about this setback in leading this authority created by the commonwealth to fair, equitable representation in employment and contracting? It is a relevant question waiting for an answer.
Ronald Mitchell
Editor and Publisher, Bay State Banner
