As the daughter of a single mother who had her at 17, Diana has always had to fight for the things that have mattered to her. A student of Massachusetts public schools, she went to Middlesex Community College. She later earned a financial scholarship to Wellesley College.After serving in the legislature as an aide, as Chief of Staff for the 12,000 member Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts, and years of work for local nonprofits and community organizations, she won her first race for public office in 2012. Diana served three terms as State Representative for the 14th Essex District. In 2018 was elected to the State Senate.
I will use the Auditor’s office to examine our state contracts and procurement processes to ensure engagement and fair treatment for women-, veteran-, LGBTQ-, and minority-owned businesses. As your next Auditor, I will tell you if your taxpayer money is spent equitably and hold the state government accountable to modernize its operations in the interest of justice and fairness.
Massachusetts has consistently failed to meet diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals in state contracting. In 2020, the state spent $4.8 billion on contracting but only $23 million went to Black or Hispanic owned businesses — only 0.005% of total spending. The share of state contracts going to minority-owned businesses declined by 24% from 1998 to 2018.
Inability to access state contracts is one of many challenges faced by minority entrepreneurs and our government needs to actually enforce diversity goals it adopts. When this does not occur, we will publicize data to ensure all residents of the Commonwealth know how and where we are failing to meet our DEI goals. Additionally, it is essential to hold contractors accountable for meeting DEI goals in their subcontracting. Too often, big contractors make promises about diversity in their bids but do not follow through. That can be exposed and remedied through effective auditing and reporting.