Message from the commissioner: Advisory Board welcomes new members

Mayor Martin J. Walsh recently appointed six new board members to the Boston Disability Commission Advisory Board, bringing the total number of members to 13. This is our first full-capacity Advisory Board since it was expanded from nine members to 13 members in 2016. I am excited to welcome all of the new members to the board!

In order to accommodate the larger number of board members, the monthly meetings are now being held in the City Council chamber, located on the 5th floor of Boston City Hall. The chamber allows each board member to have their own accessible desk and microphone. There is also an ADA compliant podium for guest speakers.

Our Advisory Board members are active in the local disability community. They come from various Boston neighborhoods, have diverse interests and backgrounds, and have lived-experience as persons with disabilities (and family members). Our board is representative of Boston’s diverse abilities, neighborhoods, genders, ethnicities, cultures, and languages.

They play a crucial role in providing input to the Mayor and City officials about services that are relevant to people with disabilities, and often express formal support or concern about issues of importance in the disability community.

Our board meetings are held every fourth Wednesday of the month, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Please note that City Hall has two entrances. The main entrance is on City Hall Plaza, and that closes at 5:30 p.m. The other entrance on Congress Street is open all night.

All of our meetings are open to the public, and we will welcome your participation!