Boston City Council Welcomes New Members

Councilor Edwards (District 1) was raised all over the world by her military mom, but chose East Boston to build her home and raise a family. Her "game changing" leadership was recently highlighted by the Boston Globe, who lauded her work as deputy director within the Mayor's Office of Housing Stability. She was responsible for developing and delivering innovative solutions to fight displacement and brought together all stakeholders: landlords, management companies, housing authorities, and tenants.

Edwards also previously worked as a public interest attorney with Greater Boston Legal Services, focusing on labor issues such as fighting for access to unemployment insurance and back wages, fair treatment for domestic workers, and combating human trafficking. She served as the statewide campaign coordinator for the Massachusetts Coalition for Domestic Workers, which advocated for the passage of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. In 2015, she was named Bostonian of the Year by the Boston Globe.

Councilor Flynn (District 2) is a lifelong resident of District 2, where he has been deeply involved as a community activist, veterans’ advocate, and youth sports coach. Before taking his seat as City Councilor he was a Probation Officer at Suffolk Superior Court.

Flynn served for 25 years in the U.S. Navy, both on active duty and in the reserves. He served two deployments in the Persian Gulf, is a Veteran of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, and helped coordinate disaster relief in Haiti. He is currently retired from the U.S. Navy. Flynn also served for five years in the United States Department of Labor under President Bill Clinton, where he worked to improve labor conditions, expand access to affordable health care, and increase the federal minimum wage.

Councilor Janey (District 7) has been a tireless advocate and a voice for Boston’s children for more than 20 years. Prior to being elected to the City Council, Janey was a Senior Project Director at Massachusetts Advocates for Children, where she led efforts to advocate for systemic policy reforms that would ensure equity and excellence in education for students in Boston Public Schools, with a special focus on eliminating opportunity and achievement gaps for children of color, immigrant children, students who are learning English, children with special needs, and those living in poverty.

While many know Janey for her work in education policy, she is also very active on a number of boards and civic organizations. In 2009, Janey founded a neighborhood association in Roxbury and served as its president for the first four years. She is a member of the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus and the Boston Ward 12 Democratic Committee. In November 2016, she was elected to the Boston NAACP Executive Committee and she has served on MassVOTE’s board of directors for more than 10 years. Janey has been recognized for her service with a number of awards, including the Boston NAACP Difference Maker Award in 2015 and the coveted Sapphire Award in 2017.

We are looking forward to the different topics and legislation that these Councilors will bring before the Body. For more information regarding them and other members of the the Council, click here.