Anchoring the Community
For more than 200 years, Massachusetts General Hospital has been deeply committed to caring for its community. As a leading health care provider in the Greater Boston area, Mass General is considered an “anchor institution” for its unique position to make a significant economic and social impact in the community and to enrich the lives of those within it.
Mass General’s impact is stronger when it is driven by a comprehensive strategy — an anchor strategy — of which the current focus is to advance health, economic and racial equity in Greater Boston communities.
Building the Foundation
The construction of Mass General’s newest state-of-the-art clinical facility, the Phillip and Susan Ragon Building, is the catalyst project for this anchor strategy. It is designed to increase diverse representation across teams of individuals and businesses employed onsite, helping to create meaningful, systematic change in the design and construction industries.
The Ragon Building’s anchor strategy features three goals:
- Underrepresented Business Enterprises: Increase the participation of minority-owned, women-owned and veteran-owned businesses.
- Workforce Development: Implement innovative approaches to advance diversity among the project’s workforces.
- Youth Engagement: Expand opportunities for Greater Boston youth and young adults to pursue careers in construction and the skilled trades.
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Mass General’s Anchor Strategy is central to the Ragon Building’s significant impact on the community.
Program Spotlight
Mass General partners with ACE Mentor Program of Greater Boston, a nonprofit organization that provides a career exposure program for underrepresented high school students to learn about architecture and the construction and engineering industries. Mass General has provided four-week paid externships to students, who learn on the job from construction employees, hospital staff, architects, a diversity consultant and other volunteer mentors from companies across the city. Many graduates are already being placed into union positions.
Through this partnership, Mass General is helping the next generation of workers establish impactful careers that offer sustaining wages and health benefits, which can spur generational change for their families. The Ragon Building’s construction is estimated to last eight years and will provide significant opportunities to strategically invest in our anchor initiatives and make a lasting impact in our communities. This comprehensive anchor strategy will ultimately serve as a new pioneering model that can be leveraged by other construction projects throughout Boston for years to come.
Shaping Career Goals and Aspirations
“During my junior year of high school, a group of Turner/Walsh employees visited my school to talk with us about architecture, the profession I wanted to study at university. They explained their work and how it connected to what we were learning in class. This included showing us models and blueprints and explaining some of the ways in which architecture and the construction management industry collaborate in the real world.
The following summer I participated in a four-week externship through the ACE Mentor Program, visiting construction sites and architecture studios. In that short time, I saw aspects of these careers that you can’t learn in the classroom. Prior to this, I had always hoped to pursue architecture, but with new exposure to construction management, my goals shifted. Now, I’m working part-time with Turner/Walsh on a new project in Cambridge, where I’ve learned more about the construction industry than I ever could have imagined.
In short, this program has given me valuable insight that inspired me to change my career direction. I now hope to go into construction management and engineering, and I look forward to continuing to pursue these goals.”
-Alex, a high school student who participated in the ACE Mentor Program
Recent anchor strategy milestones include the following:
Help us create a more equitable future
To learn more about how you can support Mass General’s community anchor strategy, please contact the Development Office.