MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2004-2006
Recent electoral victories and appointments reflect the “New Boston,” with an unprecedented number of women and people of color taking on leadership roles. 2005 and 2006 were the years of many “firsts” in electoral politics and appointments:
- On November 7, 2006, Massachusetts elected Deval Patrick as its first African American Governor, and only the second African American Governor in United States history;
- Had Patrick lost the election, Kerry Healey would have become the Commonwealth’s first elected woman Governor;
- In 2005 Sam Yoon was elected as the first Asian America Boston City Councilor;
- In 2006 Martha Coakley became the commonwealth’s first woman Attorney General;
- Following his election, Governor-elect Patrick appointed a diverse and representative cabinet. Of the 27 appointments made, 12 are women and 6 are people of color including the first Arab-American to hold a state-level homeland security position, and at least 8 people under the age of 40, establishing a new leadership beyond the Baby Boomers.
Boston’s colleges and universities made remarkable headway in supporting a more diverse set of educational and civic leaders.
- Born in Lebanon, Joseph Auon became president of Northeastern University;
- MIT appointed Susan Hockfield as the university’s first female president;
- Drew Gilpin Faust became the first female president of Harvard;
- Jackie Jenkins-Scott, an African-American woman, continued the tradition of female leadership at Wheelock College becoming the 13th president;
- In 2006, Dr. Zorica Pantic became the first female president of Wentworth Institute of Technology;
- President Gloria Nemerowicz led Pine Manor College in Brookline to US News & World Report’s number one spot for campus diversity for the fourth year in a row in 2006.
Boston’s “third sector” was strengthened through mergers, alliances and new ventures.
- The 2006 launch of massnonprofitnet.org—after a year of development—established a new forum for shared strategies, resources and infrastructure for the purpose of third sector advocacy, public awareness, and organizational effectiveness.
- In July 2006, faced with increasing overhead costs and thinning financial resources, The Women’s Union and Crittenton merged resources and consolidated administrative staff to address Boston’s population of at-risk women and families.
- The merger of Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s After-School Initiative and Boston’s After-School for All Partnership dramatically increased the financial capacity to address a common goal, and after joining forces, the annual budget increased to $3.5 million
- Community health centers, such as the Codman Square Health Center and the Dorchester House Multi-Service Center, are becoming more efficient and effective by sharing administrative functions, information technology, development strategies and other infrastructure through DotWell.
- United Way of Massachusetts Bay Inc. and United Way of Merrimack Valley announced plans to merge in late 2006. The new organization serves 87 communities and holds investments totaling $34 million. Prior to the merger, UWMB served 64 cities and towns and UWMV 23 communities.
Cross-sector collaboration supported the passing of the Massachusetts Quality Affordable Health Care Act in 2006. MassACT!, a coalition led by Massachusetts Health Care for All including the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, worked tirelessly at the grassroots level to motivate and activate constituents, communities and the Massachusetts Legislature in support of quality and affordable health care for all of Massachusetts’ citizens.
With a focus on building social capital, networking, and integrated problem solving, new and revitalized community organizations created new, collaborative civic mechanisms.
Boston Public Health Commission launched the Disparities Project in 2005. Following years of increasing recognition of racial disparities in health and health care, the Boston Public Health Commission began its Disparities Project in 2005 to research and develop strategies to eliminate disparities by 2010 (see Health).
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS 2004-2006
2005 and 2006 exposed election problems for the City of Boston. In July 2005, following allegations by community advocates that limited-English speakers were being denied voting rights and services—such as interpreter services and multi-lingual ballots—the US Justice Department sued the City of Boston Election Department for Voting Rights Act infractions. The department came under fire again in 2006 when 38 Boston precincts—many home to a large proportion of Boston’s foreign-born population and people of color—ran out of ballots during the gubernatorial election. While both incidents resulted in Federal oversight of Boston’s elections until 2008, they served as a catalyst for new civic support mechanisms for voters like MIRA Coalition’s New Americans Vote: 2006 network. Additionally, the Mayor’s Office of New Bostonians , working with a network of over 150 community organizations, continues to engage all eligible voters through the New Bostonians Vote Campaign which provides multilingual voter registration cards, get out the vote campaigns, videos and banners in multiple languages, as well as multilingual support and training on how to vote.
Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service became formalized at Tufts University. In 2006, the former University College of Citizenship and Public Service was renamed and formalized as an academic forum for the study of the democratic process and civic engagement. Click here for a link to their website.
In an effort to head-off a “brain drain” in Boston’s critical but low-wage nonprofit sector, area colleges and universities instituted debt relief for graduates who pursue a public service career. As the cost of higher education has increased, so has the debt of recent college grads in the form of student loans. A 2006 report by MassINC on the cost of higher education shows that more of New England’s students are taking out loans than 10 years ago and that the average debt is greater than the national average.
- Boston University Law School in 2006 doubled the program size of its loan forgiveness to $1 million, allowing more grads to consider a career in nonprofit law;
- In 2005, Boston College awarded $170,000 in loan forgiveness to 49 new alumni entering the nonprofit sector;
- In 2004 Harvard paid out $2.2 million, or 100% of eligible debt for alumni making less than $38,000 annually in the public sector;
- Northeastern University spent an estimated $210,000 in 2005 towards loan forgiveness and continues to spend $500,000 annually for students working in a public interest co-op;
- In both 2004 and 2005, Suffolk University paid $120,000 for students making less than $42,000 annually in the public sector.
Massachusetts remains the only state to recognize gay marriage, but the issue has sparked contention between supporters and opponents of a Constitutional ban. Almost immediately following the 2004 ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court compelling the legislature to institute gay marriage, opponents and proponents of the issue have engaged in bitter legal battles, and the Massachusetts Legislature opened the door to a possible 2008 ballot vote to ban gay marriage.