CBS New York is partnering with I Will Graduate for the second year to get kids excited about education. It's part of our commitment to community through our #BetterTogether campaign.
Bloomberg
When Tonya Lewis Taylor started her youth development organization, she had two major challenges: launching a citywide business and understanding the Department of Education’s procurement process.
It took Lewis Taylor, the chief executive officer of I Will Graduate, nearly five years and the help of an external consultant to navigate the system.
“It was like having a second job,” Lewis Taylor said.
While the city’s failure to sign contracts with minority and women-owned enterprises persists throughout government agencies, the Department of Education had a particularly poor showing. The agency has immense purchasing power; it spent $4.3 billion in fiscal 2020, a figure comparable to Delaware’s entire state budget. Less than 6% of the money went to MWBEs.