Boston City Council President Kim Janey has announced the co-chairs of her Mayoral Transition Sub-Committees, a diverse group of dedicated community leaders from government, business, advocacy, health care and other sectors who are providing valuable insight on their specific fields of expertise for the forthcoming Janey mayoral administration.

The six sub-committees are focused on the most pressing issues facing the city, advising incoming Mayor Janey as she works to move the City forward in the crucial weeks and months to come. Sub-committees are meeting over the coming weeks to draft actionable recommendations for the incoming administration that can support the equitable response to the overlapping public health, economic, and racial justice crises that have been exacerbated by COVID-19.  The sub-committees are being led by the following Co-Chairs:

Public Health Sub-Committee Co-Chairs:

Frederica M. Williams, President and CEO of Whittier Street Health Care Center

Dr. Lauren Smith, Chief Health Equity and Strategy Officer at the CDC Foundation

Education Sub-Committee Co-Chairs:

Tanisha Sullivan, President of the NAACP Boston Branch

Jessica Tang, President of the Boston Teachers Union

Housing, Planning and Development Sub-Committee Co-Chairs:

Lydia Lowe, Director of the Chinatown Community Land Trust

Patrick Lee, Partner at Trinity Financial

Safety, Healing and Justice Sub-Committee Co-Chairs:

Rahsaan Hall, Director of the Racial Justice Program at ACLU

Jeffrey Lopes, Boston Police Officer and President of the Massachusetts Association Minority Law Enforcement Officers

Small Business and Economic Development Sub-Committee Co-Chairs:

Segun Idowu, Executive Director of Black Economic Council of Massachusetts

James E. Rooney, president and CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce

Transportation and Climate Justice Sub-Committee Co-Chairs:

Stacy Thompson, Executive Director of Livable Streets Alliance

Rev. Mariama Hammond, Pastor at New Roots AME Church and Faith Fellow at Green Justice Coalition

“Boston is blessed with world-class experts and advocates on some of our most pressing issues,” Council President Janey said. “Their perspectives are essential as my administration tackles unprecedented challenges in their relevant sectors. I am honored to have them as part of my Transition Committee as I assume mayoral office and get to work on building a more equitable Boston for all residents.”

“Whittier is deeply honored and humbled to be invited by Council President Janey to serve as a co-chair of the Mayoral Transition Public Health Sub-Committee, along with Dr. Lauren Smith and other experts in public health, as we play a part in laying the roadmap for emerging from the COVID-19 crisis,” said Frederica M. Williams, president and CEO of the Whittier Street Health Care Center. “We are building on the lessons learned over the past year about the dire consequences of longstanding health disparities in our communities of color as we create greater, more lasting health equity for Boston residents hit hardest by the pandemic.”

“I am honored to co-chair President Janey’s Education Committee with NAACP Boston President Tanisha Sullivan,” said Jessica Tang, president of the Boston Teachers Union. “President Janey has always been a fierce advocate for our students and schools, and this education transition team is a reflection of her longstanding commitment to education equity and our community. The ideas, experiences and solutions that the students, parents, educators and longtime community advocates and leaders on the team have brought to the table give me great hope about what we can accomplish in the next ten months under Mayor Janey.”

“We are at a pivotal moment in the history of the city of Boston,” said Rahsaan Hall, director of the Racial Justice Program at ACLU. “There is a unique opportunity to address the way the city responds to harm and loss in the community, whether it’s interpersonal or at the hands of law enforcement. True safety comes from addressing people’s underlying needs and healing past harms. I’m honored to be a part of this team that will help frame the city’s approach to safety, healing and justice.”

“I’m honored to serve on and contribute to the Small Business and Economic Development Transition Subcommittee,” said James E. Rooney, president and CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. “I look forward to working with acting Mayor Kim Janey as we create a more equitable and inclusive region and economy.”

“I am honored to serve on the Housing, Planning and Development Sub-Committee for Council President Janey’s mayoral transition process,” said Lydia Lowe, director of the Chinatown Community Land Trust. “It is crucial that we put equity at the center of our housing strategies as the city begins to recover in order to work for development without displacement, particularly of people of color and working class neighborhoods.”

“I am honored to serve as the co-chair of the Transportation and Climate Justice Sub-Committee, and to be able to contribute in a small way to the just and equitable recovery process Boston must advance in the coming months,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of the Livable Streets Alliance.

In addition, nine young people from Youth on Board and the Boston Student Advisory Council are serving on the Education; Safety, Healing and Justice; and Transportation and Climate Justice Sub-Committees, providing critical youth perspectives and important voices to these conversations.

Seven Harvard Kennedy School graduate students are working with the Transition team and co-chairs to provide policy, technical and administrative support to the Sub-committees under the supervision of faculty and staff as part of an educational program offered by the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. 

Sub-committee co-chairs serve with the Committee’s honorary co-chairs, Mayor Yvonne Spicer of Framingham and Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui of Cambridge, along with co-chairs Linda Dorcena Forry, Vice President of Diversity, Inclusion and Community at Suffolk Construction; Betty Francisco, General Counsel at Compass Working Capital and Co-Founder of Amplify Latinx; Steve Grossman, CEO of Initiative for a Competitive Inner City; Quincy Miller, Vice Chair and President of Eastern Bank; and Kate Walsh, President and CEO of Boston Medical Center Health System.

Along with the work of the Transition Committee and sub-committees, Council President Janey’s preparations for mayoral office have also included:

• Appointment of Gustavo Quiroga as her Mayoral Transition Director

• More than 30 briefings with cabinet chiefs, department heads and city staff, and numerous discussion with Mayor Walsh;

• Close communication with Chief Martinez on COVID-19 response strategy, including dedicated weekly vaccine roll-out update meetings with Chief Martinez and Boston Public Health Commission. Taking part in official visits to COVID testing and vaccination sites including the Strand Theatre COVID testing site, the community vaccination site at the Thomas M. Menino Hyde Park YMCA with Mayor Walsh, Chief Martinez, and Boston Medical Center Officials, and an upcoming  visit to the Reggie Lewis vaccination site 7;

• Ongoing collaboration with Superintendent Cassellius on the current status of BPS operations, the education of students and the progress being made toward safely reopening school buildings to in-person learning;

• Dialogue with community leaders, advocates, business leaders, clergy and health care professionals;

• Direct engagement in preparation and briefing calls for snowstorm emergency response and snow clearing/management, as well as other standing meetings addressing City operations.