'The power of many'

Boston's minority professionals find strength in numbers at Get Konnected networking events

As the cosmopolitans and conversations flowed and business cards were exchanged at the South End hot spot 28 Degrees, Paul Francisco witnessed a scene he saw often in Miami and Baltimore but not so much in Boston: crowds of minority professionals interacting at an informal social gathering. A multicultural happy hour.

"In Miami, there is an automatic dynamic for Latino professionals. In Baltimore, there is a very strong network for minorities," said Francisco, who lived in those cities.

And what about Boston, his home now?

"Boston has been one of the cities that has been lacking in venues for professional minorities," said Francisco, a client relations manager. "You have to go out and find it."

Francisco and fellow members of Boston's corporate communities of color have found such a networking venue, thanks to a group of executives who know what it's like to be out of the professional mainstream loop in Boston. They call their new monthly gatherings Get Konnected. At these events, professionals from various ethnic backgrounds can meet others who may not necessarily travel outside their own ethnic groups.

Other efforts have been made in this vein over the years, but they have petered out, sometimes because they were informally organized. In addition, young professionals of color have been known to relocate to larger cities that are more diverse (such as Miami and New York) and offer more social and cultural outlets (Chicago and Los Angeles) for minority populations. Community advocates say some professionals tend to self-segregate, preferring to connect with people of shared race and ethnicity. Get Konnected aims to get folks from various ethnic backgrounds to meet and foster kinships.

"Your life is bigger than Chinatown, Chelsea, or Cambridge," said Colette Phillips, who has been organizing the gatherings with a multiethnic advisory board. "You have to go to the ballpark, go to the symphony, go to places where you don't see a lot of your own. We have to get out of our silos."

The group spells "connected" with a K as a nod to Kaleidoscope, a professional phone book that lists contact information of who's who among Latinos, Asians, blacks, and gays in the Massachusetts business community. The parties, held the last Tuesday of each month at 28 Degrees, aren't just for minorities. Anyone is welcome, especially Boston employers looking to recruit people of color.

For professional transplants in Boston, these kinds of events also serve as an instant friendly corporate pass to make business contacts. Some attendees at the April party said that is traditionally done by way of a coveted introduction among more established Bostonians.

"I know friends who live in San Francisco and D.C., and it's very different. You don't have to know someone. You can do it by yourself," said Evelyn Barahona, 31, a consultant communications manager from the North End. "Here, if they are a native, it's a little more cliquish. They are very close-knit to their friends, and it takes a while to break into their circle. You don't go somewhere if you don't know someone. Transplants tend to be more receptive because they know what it's like."

As she mingled at the restaurant, she was surrounded by dozens of managers and consultants who gabbed about who they are, where they're from, how they arrived in Boston, and what they do for work. Barahona's story: She moved 13 years ago from California to study at Northeastern University. After graduation in 1999 she stayed, but she has struggled to find more professional social networking opportunities that go beyond her Latino professional circles.

"This not only crosses racial barriers but professional barriers. It's like a nucleus," said Barahona, who talked to many people and scored 15 business cards over three hours at 28 Degrees. "This could be such a better city if it worked more on this aspect."

There have been other attempts at creating multicultural social networking parties in Boston, but community leaders say those served as more of a balm to the city's reputation as an unwelcoming place for minorities, and they stalled because they were loosely organized. There have also been cultural events such as Friendly Takeover or First Fridays, which focused more on the black/white dynamic.

Get Konnected takes a different approach, recruiting representatives from various professional organizations - such as the National Association of Asian American Professionals and the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting - for input and help planning and promoting the events.

"It's getting people connected to celebrate the growing critical mass of professionals of color in the Boston area," said Beverly Edgehill, president and CEO of The Partnership, a 20-year-old nonprofit group that works to increase and cultivate the presence of black professionals in Boston through development and recruitment. She and fellow Get Konnected members are trying to help budding professionals who have remained here after college by giving them a regular place to swap ideas and stories about their fields.

"This time the main difference is that the glass is being viewed as half full," she added. "It's the power of many."

Phillips, who owns and runs a public relations firm, and her advisers launched the first party in March with 100 guests. The second one was held April 29. The next one is tonight. The June event will feature wine tasting with the Divas Uncorked, a group of wine aficionados. The gatherings are free and open to the public.

"There is no professional place we can go to and gather in Boston to connect, collaborate, and exchange business cards and find out who's doing what," said Phillips, who wants to add guest speakers to talk about their careers and the importance of diversity at future events.

People attending the parties represent an ethnic rainbow of Boston's business community. They are black, Hispanic, Asian, West Indian, or gay. They are accountants, Internet consultants, and financial advisers. Some are getting started in their careers. Others are more seasoned, with gray in their sideburns or perms.

As the number of minorities in the city has grown - Boston has gone from 80 percent white in 1980 to 49 percent white today - so have the number of professional networking groups such as the Black Professionals Meetup Group.

Yet many of these affinity groups generally don't interact with one another socially because they are still recruiting their own members or simply don't know where to congregate with their counterparts, said Samson Lee, president of the local chapter of NAAAP.

When he heard about the recent Get Konnected gathering, he stopped by to check things out. As Lee, a network consultant who lives in Quincy, sat inside and watched the crowds gather, he said, "as a combined group, we are more powerful and connected. If we didn't have this, we might be doing our own thing."

Johnny Diaz can be reached at jodiaz@globe.com.