Boston Elects a New Mayor

In a historic election, Michelle Wu will become the first woman and first person of color to be elected as Mayor since the role was created in 1822. This comes after one of the most diverse slate of candidates ever to run for the City’s highest office engaged in a thoughtful and issues-based campaign about Boston’s future.

My Barr colleagues and I extend our congratulations to Mayor-elect Wu as she assumes this vital leadership role. She does so at a time when Boston faces many pressing challenges, which can also translate to exciting opportunities for transformative and enduring change. We also express our gratitude to Acting Mayor Kim Janey, who made history as Boston’s first Black woman mayor, and assumed the office in the midst of a pandemic and provided steady leadership over the past nine months

Philanthropy must partner across sectors to drive lasting change.

Boston has been the Barr Foundation’s home since our founding in 1997. While our funding extends across the New England region, with targeted national funding, we are deeply invested in Boston’s potential and success.

Barr’s longstanding partnerships with the City of Boston over the past two decades span the core areas of our grantmaking in Arts & Creativity, Climate, and Education. More recently, we invested in efforts to support the newly-created Office of Equity, under the leadership of Mayor Marty Walsh.

We have valued our constructive partnerships with the administrations of Mayors Tom Menino, Walsh and Janey, and we look forward to meaningful ways to support shared goals and priorities with the new Wu administration.

Given Barr’s position to be both stewards and catalysts for change, and our commitment to Boston for the long haul, we fully realize that philanthropy must partner across sectors to drive lasting change. In that spirit, we will welcome opportunities to build on the work we have done with the City of Boston over many years, with a clear focus on bold action, grounded in the aspirations of the communities we serve.

We wish the new Mayor well and congratulate her on her election.

Read about past Barr-supported City of Boston work: