Founder of Builders of Color Coalition returns, group changes name and focus

Dave Madan, who started the Builders of Color Coalition in 2017, is now back running the nonprofit under a new name and a broadened mission.

The Boston-area group is now the Builder Coalition, and it still works to diversify the state’s commercial real estate industry, which is typically dominated by white men. Now, its focus is not only on aiding minorities in real estate, but anyone from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The change in mission comes as many employers are moving away from diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, but Madan said the nonprofit isn’t shying away from important work.

“The story of human history is, adapt or die, right? Every moment offers the possibility of adaptation, so that you can grow and figure out what comes next,” he said. “There’s an opportunity here.”

Madan cited the pivotal Supreme Court ruling in 2023 that barred entities like employers and colleges from explicitly weighing race or ethnicity in an application. It did, however, allow for the consideration of socioeconomic factors and geography.

“Those are factors that matter in the outcomes and the determinations of a person’s life. I don’t see it as a challenge, but more like an opportunity,” Madan said. “It’s how to figure out, in this environment, how we continue to build diversity and access in a way that includes more people in the process, so that we’re building coalitions that win people over and get people to the table.”

Madan, who grew up in Cambridge, said he founded the group after attending local real estate industry events. He noticed how few people of color were typically in the room and how much demand there was for making connections and sharing insight.

“I just said, ‘How can we get people to, one, to meet each other, to build the teams, to build the future of this city, and, two, to get connected with these existing resources that are out there?’” he said.

“I think there’s a disease in me that says I don’t want to complain about things. I just want to do something about it,” Madan joked. “Sometimes I have to calm it down, because I’m like, ‘You don’t need to try to fix every problem out there in the world.’ I can’t sit around too often and complain if there’s something we can do.”

The coalition’s work to date

Among the coalition’s big successes was launching a regional agreement called the CommonWealth Development Compact. Cities that opted in — Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Lynn and Salem were the original participants — agreed to consider a development team’s diversity as an important factor in choosing among multiple bids.

The coalition, which includes a network of more than 800 diverse real estate developers and professionals, also runs fellowships for real estate entrepreneurs who could benefit from connections and resources that aren’t readily available to all. Roughly 35 people have passed through the fellowship program.

Madan has returned to the Builder Coalition after its executive director of three years, Colleen Fonseca, left last fall to join Boston City Hall and do similar work. She is the equity and inclusion manager for the city’s Office of Housing.

Madan’s return comes not only during a different time for diversity efforts, but a different economic environment, particularly for the pace of new construction taking place. Far fewer projects are under construction, in large part to higher borrowing rates, as well as a major slowdown in demand for office and lab space.

To Madan, that makes it a great time to try pushing through changes in the industry.

“It’s precisely at a time like this when people can actually do new business development, and even where you’re starting to consider where to look for new employees and new staff,” he said. “I actually think this is a perfect time for us to be doing some of this knowledge building and convening.”

The Builder Coalition has taken a step back from its race and ethnicity mission, at least with its name, despite its location in one of the most progressive regions in the country. Madan credited Boston with having a strong record on minority ownership of development firms and said there’s research to back that up.

“It’s not every day you get to see data that shows that maybe we’re onto something, that maybe something’s happening here,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but I think we’ve made enough progress to feel like we’re heading somewhere good.”

Where the coalition is headed next is national — at least in a sense. It won’t be expanding its fellowships and other programming geographically but plans to expand its networking and think tank role to other markets.

Madan, who spent considerable time in a conservative area of South Carolina between his stints leading the coalition, said the group’s new name may help in some regions.

“Our name wouldn’t work there,” Madan said of the previous moniker.

“I’m trying to get more people to the table, so that more people are on board with the work that we’re doing,” he said. “I’ve never, and I will continue to not shy away from diversity as the objective and from the term itself.”

Grant Welker is a reporter with Boston Business Journal.