Worcester Business Journal

8 Worcester Business Journal | January 13, 2025 | wbjournal.com BY MICA KANNER-MASCOLO WBJ Staff Writer W hile the likes of Walmart, Harley-Da- vidson, and John Deere were all rolling back their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and initia- tives in 2024, the City of Worcester had been hard at work searching for its new chief equity officer. Until October, the City's chief equity officer role had been vacant since April 2022 and talks of a replacement were clouded with controversy as none of the three previous officers had stayed in the position for much longer than two years. But aer two and a half years, three rounds of searching, one rejected offer, Kevin Lovaincy filled Worcester's chief Stepping into the storm As Worcester's newly appointed chief equity officer, Kevin Lovaincy has his work cut out for him to advance the city's DEI efforts equity officer role on Oct. 28. While leading DEI efforts for the second largest city in New England was a heavy enough li in itself, two months aer Lovaincy assumed his role, the U.S. Department of Justice released egre- gious findings of its investigation into the City of Worcester and the Worces- ter Police Department. City Manager Eric Batista tasked Lovaincy and the Executive Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to spearhead a number of initiatives addressing the findings. Lovaincy isn't daunted by the task. Equipped with years of DEI leadership experience, his own lived experience, and a strong equity lens, he's looking forward to stepping into a role he knew wasn't going to be easy. A systems approach Lovaincy's goal was always to ensure his DEI work had a greater impact on his community. Having previously held leading DEI roles at institu- tions including Quinsigamond Communi- ty College in Worcester and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Lovaincy saw the City's chief equity officer role as affording him that opportunity. Lovaincy's prior work in both public health and higher education caught the attention of Batista. Lovaincy takes a systems approach to the work he does, said Batista, meaning he tackles the structural designs and business practic- es creating systemic inequities. "e work that we need to do in our municipal government, it's institutional work. It's systemic work," said Batista. "We need someone with that mindset, and he brings that." In an effort to attract a candidate like Lovaincy and ensure his success and longevity in the chief equity position, Batista initiated a reorganization of the City's EODEI. ese changes included ushering the City's divisions of human rights; investigations; and training and development under the chief equity offi- cer's management, along with elevating the position to a cabinet role. Even with all these efforts, Batista admitted he may still be biting off more than he can chew with what he's asking of the department. e office may need to add more people to the office given the amount the position is responsible for. "I'm committed to evaluating that and seeing how that grows," Batista said. Listening, learning, trusting DEI work is a journey, said Lovain- cy. e work can't be done in a day; he sees DEI officers burning out when they attempt to take on everything and have a timeline to get it done. Instead, Lovaincy aims to take this work day by day, and that starts with listening, learning, and exploring the historical and cultural context of the city and its municipal government. "You don't want to come in and strong-arm your agenda or try to make changes without getting to know the players and getting to know the histo- Worcester City Manager Eric Batista Kevin Lovaincy worked at Quinsigamond Com- munity College before he was hired as the City of Worcester's chief equity officer. PHOTO | EDD COTE

• Cover