Community Impact – Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Minority Inclusion Steering Committee & the Minority Business Partnership

In 1999, The Dayton Foundation convened a Diversity Task Force to study and develop a plan to bring the issues of diversity and inclusion to the forefront in Greater Dayton. The Task Force’s key mission was to engage area businesses and minority leadership in meaningful conversation about the serious gaps that exist and the economic barriers that inhibit minority participation and success. These efforts led to the creation of the Minority Inclusion Steering Committee and its first operational entity, the Minority Economic Development Council, which later was renamed the Minority Business Partnership. Now a program of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce, MBP works to create opportunities for local businesses by pairing minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses with large buying organizations within the region.