2023 Public Advocate Champion for Biotechnology Education  

Michelle Wu, Mayor of Boston

Michelle Wu is the first woman and first person of color to be elected Mayor of Boston. The daughter of immigrants, a Boston Public Schools mom, and an MBTA rider, Mayor Wu believes that the key to solving our deepest challenges lies in building community and embracing possibility.

In her first official act as Mayor, Wu signed an ordinance divesting City funds from fossil fuels, private prisons, and the tobacco industry. In her first week, she worked with the City Council to make three Boston bus lines—which serve predominantly Black and brown neighborhoods—fare-free for two years. 

To take decisive action against climate change and improve conditions for Boston Public Schools’ students, teachers, and families, Mayor Wu has launched a Green New Deal for BPS: A district-wide effort to dramatically reduce building emissions, renovate old facilities and construct new ones, and modernize Boston’s education system. And, following the science on the critical role that early childhood plays in determining life outcomes, Mayor Wu has expanded early childhood services—granting thousands more 3- and 4-year-olds access to high-quality, culturally-relevant education and care.

In addition to creating a new Office of Early Childhood to oversee these changes, Mayor Wu also established Boston’s first-ever Offices of Food Justice, Black Male Advancement, LGBTQ+ Advancement, and Worker Empowerment. Together, these achievements align Boston’s climate, infrastructure, education, and investment strategies with Boston’s values, laying the foundation for a greener, more efficient, more equitable city for generations to come.

Mayor Wu got her start in public service interning at City Hall under Mayor Tom Menino while studying at Harvard Law School. She is an alumna of the Rappaport Fellows Program in Law and Public Policy, the recipient of the Massachusetts Democratic Party’s Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Award, and was named one of The Boston Globe’s 2021 Bostonians of the Year. Mayor Wu lives in the Roslindale neighborhood of Boston with her husband, Conor, and their two boys, Blaise and Cass.