Rochester selected for Bloomberg Global Mayors challenge

(ABC 6 News) – Rochester has been selected as one of the fifty cities across the world to be a part of the Bloomberg Global Mayors Challenge.

Rochester has been selected as one of its champion cities for creating a pathway for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) women into the local construction industry.

Friday night at City Hall, community members from Benike Construction, Diversity Council, and others were honored for their work in trying to help make social equity in Rochester a reality.

"Less than one percent of our construction industry in the last couple of years has been BIPOC women, less than one percent, and we’re going to put that over five percent with our effort and more if we can do it. We know if we can help the BIPOC community, the BIPOC women community, that it will help the entire community," Rochester Mayor Kim Norton said.

According to Bloomberg Philanthropy, 40 percent of black residents in Rochester live in poverty, and the level of unemployment for women of color is far higher than among any other demographic group.