Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s Civic Summit Draws a Crowd to BU
Event at Howard Thurman Center brought together more than 200 residents, civic leaders, and nonprofit advocates from across Boston
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s Civic Summit Draws a Crowd to BU
Event at Howard Thurman Center brought together more than 200 residents, civic leaders, and nonprofit advocates from across Boston
More than 200 Boston residents, civic leaders, and representatives from local nonprofits gathered at Boston University’s Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground on January 13 for a Civic Summit organized by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
The goal of the Saturday summit, titled Community Over Everything, was to help inspire and empower attendees as they seek to find innovative solutions to the challenges facing the city’s various communities.
The summit included a fireside chat with Wu facilitated by Jeneé Osterheldt, Boston Globe deputy managing editor and founder of A Beautiful Resistance. Summit sessions covered learning to fund projects, training the next generation of local leaders, leveraging social media for community impact, and how to empower communities for a greener future. Guests also had opportunities to network throughout the day.
Panelists included M. Lee Pelton, president and CEO of the Boston Foundation, Oliver Sellers-Garcia, Boston’s Green New Deal director, Kristen McCosh, Boston’s disability commissioner, and BU’s own Brianna Bourne (CAS’24), a Boston Public Schools graduate and former president of BU’s Students of Caribbean Ancestry, who was a member of the panel Becoming a Civic Leader: Training the Next Generation of Leaders.
“The idea of civic organizing is that we’re not just sitting back in City Hall disconnected from communities and waiting for what comes in, wherever it may come from, and trying to judge frequency and how to prioritize that,” Wu said during her fireside chat. “We are actually hopefully building that direct connection and two-way relationship and ownership of city services, where we can together understand how to get the resources where they need to go. And the only way that can happen with true equity across the city is for all of our neighborhoods to be in fellowship and co-ownership together.”
Kenneth Freeman, BU president ad interim, said the setting for the summit was particularly appropriate. “The Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground, with its mission to connect people through creative shared experiences, is a fitting venue for this forum. We’re pleased to play a part in facilitating conversations reflecting diverse viewpoints and experiences as we work to build a more inclusive and vibrant community.”
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