When we think of reasons we are so proud to call Boston home, we often trace back to our community of world class nonprofit organizations—from our renowned educational and medical institutions; to our abundant historical and cultural treasures; to the neighborhood gems that are rebuilding communities and caring for our most vulnerable neighbors; to service organizations that provide essential infrastructure for engaging people from all walks of life in volunteerism and community service.
The tradition of Bostonians stepping up to help others and taking an active stand for the common good has literally changed the course of history; from the volunteers who protested taxation without representation, to the instigators of the Abolitionist movement and its underground railroad, to those who championed gay marriage. Nowadays, nonprofits are increasingly the vehicles that facilitate community engagement and transformational change.
As Mayor, I will be fully committed to cross-sector partnerships that bolster nonprofit capacity to tackle our most pressing issues, advance social justice and create opportunities for ensuring shared prosperity for all.
I have spent most of my life in the nonprofit sector, on the boards of dozens of organizations with local, statewide and worldwide impact; as co-founder of a number of nonprofits, such as the Center for Community Health Education, Research and Service at Northeastern University and the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network; and as CEO of Codman Square Health Center for over three decades.
The Codman Square Health Center is an excellent example of how nonprofits are often the key institution for transforming struggling neighborhoods – the organizations that stabilize local business districts; offer space for resident meetings; are the source of jobs; and are willing to take on challenges often beyond the scope of their original missions. In addition to providing clinical health care to tens of thousands from across the city and into the suburbs, the Health Center also led strategic planning of the community; started financial literacy and youth programs; brought a farmers’ market and a fitness center to the community; created arts programming; and was an anchor partner for numerous City initiatives, from Healthy Boston to the Earned Income Tax Credit Coalition. As a $20+ million enterprise providing good jobs for nearly 400 people living in and around Codman Square, Codman Square Health Center has been one of our City’s most innovative and effective economic engines in any sector.
If we have learned anything in the last forty years, it is how inextricably linked the success of our neighborhoods and downtown are to one another; and how critical nonprofits are to bridging those worlds. Any vision for the future of Boston must include a blueprint for ensuring that our nonprofits continue to be sources of innovation and engines for solutions that make this the most livable and vibrant city of opportunity in America. Nonprofits have been a major part of Boston’s on-going success and must be a major part of its deliberative plans for the future.
As mayor, I will form a compact to establish shared commitment and coordination between the nonprofit, private and public sectors to tackle and address the most important challenges facing our city:
- Preparing Our Youth for Success in Education and Beyond
- Supporting Our Most Vulnerable Citizens
- Growing Economic Opportunity in Every Neighborhood
- Keeping Our Citizens Healthy and Fit
- Improving the Quality of Life for All
- Expanding arts and culture
Within those broad impact areas, my initial priorities will include:
- Achieving 3rd grade literacy, which starts with access to early childhood education and volunteer tutors.
- Eliminating wait lists for English as a second language and citizenship classes, which will dramatically increase prospects for New Bostonians to succeed in the job market and to fully participate in community life.
- Tackling obesity and asthma through intentional strategies that link public health, fitness, sports, and physical education.
- Providing workforce development for non-traditional adult learners.
- Building financial assets and savings for low-income households through the
Earned Income Tax Credit and residential weatherization strategies.
- Expanding emergency response strategies to prepare and mobilize people in service when disaster strikes, whether natural or created by humans.
- Stabilizing First Night, to ensure a robust and sustainable future for this cherished New Year’s tradition.
Accordingly, I will make the following commitments in support of the nonprofits engaged in this compact:
- Establish a division within the Boston Redevelopment Authority to focus on collaborative city/non-profit programs that expand the economic and social impact of Boston’s nonprofits;
- Position Boston as the most charitable city in the country by appointing a Chief Service Officer and facilitating high impact opportunities for citizens and companies to share their time, talent and treasure with nonprofit organizations, schools and government initiatives;
- Create a network of private/nonprofit incubators in Boston neighborhoods, focused on developing collaborative, systems-based solutions to the economic and social needs specific to each neighborhood. This network will be directly linked to the creation of neighborhood Master Plans;
- Coordinate efforts to deploy significant public and private investment in nonprofits working together or with city government and the private sector to scale proven solutions; and
- Deepen the partnership with our largest education, medical and cultural institutions to ensure that the abundant benefits they provide can be accessed by all Boston residents.
The flip side of the relationship between the City of Boston and its valued non-profit organizations is their responsibility to the city. I will carefully evaluate the current PILOT Program (Payments In Lieu Of Taxes) to ensure fairness to the city and its taxpayers as well as the non-profits. It is particularly important that all non-profits have equitable relationships with the city. I will have a broad view of how a non-profit’s contributions would be measured. While the PILOT Program focuses on funding, I am open to offsetting funding by increasing and targeting services. Providing specific allotments of jobs to Boston residents is an example of appropriate offsets.
Finally, I will work closely with our nonprofit institutions of higher education on housing issues. It is critical that colleges and universities provide campus housing for their undergraduate students and, ideally, their graduate students.
