Reflecting on my 2020 Fellowship with the Boston Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Racial Equity

By Faith Rynda (Undergraduate, Political Science)

This past summer, I was granted the opportunity to participate in the Initiative on Cities (IOC) and Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground undergraduate fellowship with the Boston Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Racial Equity (MORRE). With all the uncertainty brought on by the pandemic, I was extremely grateful that MORRE still invited me to join the team and made the necessary adjustments to ensure I’d be able to participate in a full capacity. My time at MORRE taught me how to evaluate my work and impact through a lens of equity and inclusion, gave me a new passion and appreciation for municipal government, and taught me that the real work is always in your own backyard. The lessons I learned at MORRE will stick with me throughout my career journey and have become fundamental in my understanding of how government must operate in order to be truly effective and representative of the communities it serves.

Though we only met virtually, in no way did our online workspace impact the significance of our workload or relationship as a team. In fact, this summer was particularly challenging as we navigated through unprecedented times. Early in my fellowship, we quickly came together as a family and support system as we grieved the murder of George Floyd and watched our nation undergo its most recent racial reckoning. The conversations the national news encouraged were nothing unfamiliar to our office and as a result MORRE was thrusted into the limelight as city departments sought guidance.

The greatest lesson I learned this summer was to always have vision, be prepared, and be patient. After such a transformative summer it can be difficult to remember that, just several months ago, racial justice and equity were not the mainstream conversations they are now. Yet, regardless, MORRE had been working diligently and passionately to encourage dialogue around such topics and design initiatives focused on racial equity in Boston. As racial justice and equity made it on to the nation’s agenda, MORRE understood its moment had finally come.

In my public policy class at BU, we would have called the window of opportunity this summer presented a “policy window” — an opportunity for advocates to push for their solutions and initiatives, or push attention to their issues. MORRE was able to take advantage of the window as it gained the support and attention needed from the city to bring its many ideas and projects to life. We at MORRE understood that policy windows are short, quick, and take everything you have. As a result, we worked tirelessly to propose all we could in hopes that when the dust settled, the city would be left with new sustainable initiatives and policies that would endure. Some of our work included collaborating with different City of Boston departments and city stakeholders to establish and develop comprehensive diversity & equity training for city staff, bringing in notable speakers who specialized in topics such as race, coordinating city events dedicated to helping residents find common ground, transforming the ways in which the city communicates and connects with its immigrant population and residents of color, working with the Health Equity Task Force to ensure all communities were being catered to, and creating newsletters filled with resources to support and empower city staff members of color.

Throughout this experience I quickly came to understand the racial dynamics and politics of city government; more so, I learned first-hand why it is so important that our local institutions are not only diverse but also inclusive of their already existing diverse staff members. I say with confidence that all who we worked with this summer learned that equity, racial justice, and inclusion are not priorities meant only for one office but fundamental to any healthy and multicultural workspace. Being able to spend my summer with the brilliant and inspiring women of MORRE, I left the office more confident in myself, my leadership abilities, and my ability to ignite change. MORRE did not only nurture me to be a successful professional but empowered me to be the confident and driven woman I am. MORRE is paving the way towards an equitable future for Boston and it is shaping the next generation’s leaders in the process; I am excited to see all that MORRE accomplishes and transforms into. Thank you MORRE for such a rewarding and educational experience, I am forever grateful.

Learn more about IOC fellowship opportunities here.