“Failure is an option. Failure is a great guide. It is how you learn—how you recognize you’re not doing the right things and therefore you should change to succeed.” – Paul Singer

Paul Singer is the Investigations and Impact Editor at the GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting. His The Color of Public Money series at GBH News investigates the systemic exclusion of minority-owned businesses from public contracts in Massachusetts. Before joining GBH News in 2018, Paul was a politics editor and Washington correspondent for USA Today. He also previously worked as an associate editor of Investigations for Roll Call and an executive branch correspondent for the National Journal. Paul holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Kenyon College.

Paul joins us today to share a recent ground-breaking story about a construction company that filed false reports on its diverse spend to the city government while working on a $100 million public contract. He describes the background of The Color of Public Money series at GBH News and how they discovered evidence of vast racial disparities in awarding government contracts. Paul also underscores how the leadership of an enterprise can impact spending on diverse businesses and highlights the importance of transparency.

“Failure is an option. Failure is a great guide. It is how you learn—how you recognize you’re not doing the right things and therefore you should change to succeed.” – Paul Singer

This week on Breaking Barriers:

• How the state of Massachusetts falsified information on the number of contracts they awarded to minority-owned businesses
  
• George Floyd’s murder and its impact on Massachusetts’ action on false reporting on diverse expenditures
  
• How investigative reporting changed Massachusetts’ reporting practices and spending on minority-owned businesses
  
• The value of failure and the importance of transparency
  
• Gilbane/Hunt and their false diverse spend reporting issue
  
• Why false reporting on diverse spending happens
  
• How companies can validate the accuracy of information being reported to their subcontractors
  
• The aftermath of the Gilbane/Hunt false reporting issue
  
• Making truthful, accurate reporting part of an organization’s KPIs
  
• The role of investigative journalists in creating an equitable ecosystem
  

Resources Mentioned:

• The Color of Public Money: Worcester Spent More Than $100 Million Building Polar Park. Minority Companies Got Peanuts
  
• The Color Of Public Money: Black Businesses’ Share Of Public Contracts Has Declined Over 20 Years
  

Related Content:

• Uncovering Racial Inequalities in Public Contracting with Journalist Paul Singer
  

Connect with Paul Singer:

• GBH News
  
• The Color of Public Money
  
• Paul Singer on LinkedIn
  
• Paul Singer on Twitter
  
• Email: paul_singer@wgbh.org
  

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