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Mayor Wu and The Community Engagement Cabinet Announce 2024-2025 SPARK Boston Council

Today, Mayor Michelle Wu announced the newly-selected 2024-2025 SPARK Boston Council. The 38-member group will spend the next year working to connect young adults to leaders in local government, City services, and one another. The SPARK Boston Council advises Mayor Wu on City policies and programs affecting 20- to 35-year-olds in the City of Boston. 

“The only way we can understand our residents' needs is to work alongside them,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “Our SPARK Council is the key to connecting our young adults to our work here in City Hall, and I am so excited to see how this new edition of the council will reach our young people and enrich their experience as Boston residents.”

SPARK Boston is housed in the Mayor’s Community Engagement Cabinet. This office is responsible for advising Mayor Wu on issues affecting millennial and gen-z residents and working with City departments and community stakeholders to create innovative solutions. The Council meets monthly with City Hall leaders and creates free programming for their peers including voter resources, events highlighting the City’s initiatives, and professional and social networking opportunities across Boston’s neighborhoods. This year’s Council members come from diverse cultural and professional backgrounds including public service, higher education, and scientific research. Sixteen SPARK Boston council members are multilingual and the Council represents almost all of Boston’s neighborhoods.

SPARK Boston’s new Director, Aidan McDonough, is a former council member. He plans to use his experience to create space and empower more council members to become advocates in their neighborhoods, especially those that have been historically underrepresented and overlooked.

“Since stepping into my role as the Director of SPARK Boston, I have been really looking forward to having the opportunity to recruit my first council,” said SPARK Boston Director Aidan McDonough. “One of the bedrocks for the SPARK Boston Council is to be diverse, including in neighborhoods council members call home. We had over 150 applicants to fill out the 40 person council and I feel that, with the help of the volunteers who managed the interview process, we've done just that.”

“I applied to SPARK because I wanted to become engaged in the city that has profoundly shaped me as a young adult. During my time on the council, I learned about city resources, connected with representatives and councilors, and collaborated with other passionate residents across the city,” said SPARK Boston Council alum Amanda Miner. “This experience deepened my understanding of the city's inner workings and broadened my perspective into how others experience and navigate life in Boston.” 

Last year, SPARK Boston Council members had the opportunity to host Neighborhood Socials inviting residents, community leaders, and elected officials to network with Boston’s 20-35 year old constituency. SPARK Boston held multiple Chief Chats, informal speaking engagements with members of Mayor Wu’s cabinet, to learn more about the work being done to uplift Boston residents. The council held a Credit Building Workshop in partnership with the Mayor’s Center for Working Families to help give residents better access to financial literacy resources. 

“Boston residents ages 20-34 years old make up 35% of our city’s population. SPARK Boston council members bring such a fresh perspective to their roles as leaders in neighborhoods, an eagerness to learn from experienced City leaders and commitment to serving constituents,” said Chief of Community Engagement Brianna Millor. “I look forward to partnering with our newest cohort of council members to ensure our city is the best place for young adults to live, work and enjoy all that Boston has to offer.” 

The 2024-2025 Council includes:

Allston

  • Jose Mendoza

Back Bay

  • David P. Litwin

Brighton

  • Beza Zenebe
  • Alexandra Daukaus

Charlestown

  • Olivia Steinke

Chinatown/Downtown

  • Faaiz Masood

Dorchester

  • Kristina Melendez
  • Monet Eugene
  • Paul Buchanan
  • Sayyida Jean-Charles
  • Annie Jean-Baptiste

East Boston

  • Aileen Gabriel
  • Elizabeth Auguste

Fenway

  • Marine Nimblette

Hyde Park 

  • Zoë Petty

Jamaica Plain

  • Montell Khaldi
  • Eva Scapicchio

Kenmore

  • Naomi Knight

Mattapan

  • Kyle Alexander Saunders

Mission Hill

  • Colin McAndrew
  • Rebecca Manley

North End

  • Chelsea Lauder

Roxbury

  • Arantxa Melendez
  • Olivia Grant
  • Tanesha Beckford

Roslindale

  • Samuel Brenner
  • Ramya Ravel
  • Ronn Newsome
  • Elvira K Mora
  • James Glenister

South Boston

  • Lia Valdez
  • Allie Ross
  • Richard Chapman

South End

  • Peter Heller
  • Ritika Iyer
  • John Ferraro
  • Karim Addetia

West End

  • Shinhui Cai

West Roxbury

  • Conor Bond

For more information on SPARK Boston programming and initiatives, please visit boston.gov/sparkboston.

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