Meet Maggie Kormann, the 2022 MORRE Summer Fellow
The Initiative on Cities (IOC) and the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground are proud to announce that Maggie Korman has been selected as the 2022 MORRE Summer Fellow. Maggie will spend the summer working with the City of Boston’s Chief Resilience Officer, Ms. Lori Nelson, in the Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Racial Equity (MORRE). As Chief Resilience Officer, Ms. Nelson is responsible for leading the development and implementation of Boston’s Resilience Strategy, specifically in advancing racial equity, social justice and social cohesion through community engagement, public policy initiatives, collaboration with non-governmental institutions, and research projects.
Maggie is originally from New Jersey, and she is a rising senior studying Political Science and Psychology with a minor in Public Policy in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). Maggie told us that she has been interested in issues of social justice and public policy since she was a pre-teen, before she really understood their true gravity or even knew the correct terms. She has always believed that psychology, and better understanding people on an empathic and human level, will lead to more informed policy decisions and an improved quality of life for everyone. Her involvement in advocacy for the Black Lives Matter movement during the fallout after the George Floyd movement and the proceeding 2020 election pushed her to fully immerse herself in public service and advocacy work. Aside from politics, she has been a dancer since she was three years old and loves to express herself through that art, especially when political burnout hits.
We asked Maggie a few questions about her interest in working at MORRE and what she’s looking forward to:
Amelia (IOC): Why did you choose to apply for this fellowship and how did you hear about it?
Maggie: I originally heard about the IOC fellowship through the Political Science department and instantly knew it was a perfect fit for me. I’m extremely passionate about community building, civil and social justice, and advocacy and the Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Racial Equity (MORRE) does incredible work in those areas at the local level.
How did you first become interested in municipal governance?
After working in several electoral campaigns throughout Boston as well as with a Boston-based nonprofit, I realized that local and municipal governance is one of the most effective ways to directly impact the lives of Bostonians, which has always been my motivating goal in any of my work. I firmly believe that citizens should be actively involved in the policy decisions and programs that directly affect their lives, and building those relationships with a strong commitment to equity for the Bostonians that are less advocated for is extremely meaningful work.
What are you most looking forward to about this summer?
I am most looking forward to all the learning I’ll be doing this summer! I am extremely excited to become fully immersed in the local governance of Boston and to be surrounded by so many successful, intelligent, and passionate people in City Hall and throughout the city. Using the new skills I’ll learn every day at MORRE to organize public events, advance policy initiatives, and overall engage with the Boston community sounds like the most exciting summer to me!