Alum Joins Ayanna Pressley’s DC Team After Historic Win.
On Tuesday, November 6, Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley officially became the first African American woman to represent the state in the US House of Representatives, following her September 4 primary upset against 10-term Democratic incumbent Michael Capuano.
As she prepares to become the new national voice for Massachusetts’ 7th District, Pressley has hired Lynese Wallace (CAS’11, SPH’17) to join her legislative team in Washington, DC.
Wallace is no stranger to Pressley’s progressive ideals and policies. Since January, she has served as Pressley’s research director during her term as an at-large member of the city council. Her original goal was to attend law school after finishing the MPH program, but the 2016 presidential election changed her plans.
“I never intended to enter politics,” Wallace says. “But after the election, I didn’t think that I could put off diving into work right away.”
On the heels of Pressley’s historic win, Wallace spoke about the team’s vision and priorities for the upcoming year, the surge in black female political candidates, and what Pressley’s win meant to Wallace as an African American woman.
How did you first connect with Congresswoman-elect Pressley, and what are your responsibilities as her research director?
After graduation [from SPH], I started to dive more into local politics. [Professor of Community Health Sciences] Candice Belanoff connected me with Ayanna’s former chief of staff, Jessica Taubner (SPH’07), who is also a graduate of the MPH program. I attended a lot of events that Ayanna held over the course of 2017 and familiarized myself with her mission and her message, and everything just resonated with me. After the Democratic defeat of 2016, Ayanna spoke with so much conviction about many of the same issues that had motivated me to enter public health in the first place. I knew I wanted to be a part of the movement she was building, and to work on issues that impacted marginalized and underserved communities.
When I graduated, I met with Jess, who was leaving Ayanna’s office to work in the nonprofit sector, and it was there I learned that Ayanna wanted someone on staff with a public health background, because so many of her policies are shaped by a health and equity lens. When they offered me a role, it spoke to everything I was looking for—informing and driving policy decisions at the local level, working with diverse communities throughout Boston, and building coalitions with groups and organizations that I admired.
As research director, I develop a lot of policy as it relates to housing, gun violence and trauma, reproductive justice and women’s health, all on a city level, so it really was a natural fit.
Which issues will be priorities during Pressley’s first year in office?
The 7th district has so many stark disparities—part of the district is in Cambridge, and as Ayanna often says, you can ride the #1 bus from Cambridge to Roxbury, and life expectancy drops, the median income drops, and experience changes. The premise that she ran on was trying to reduce those disparities and make things equal for everyone across the district. So we very much anticipate prioritizing those issues when we get to Congress. We created an equity agenda for the 7th Congressional district that we can advocate for on the national stage. It includes things like combating gun violence, investing in trauma-informed schools, prioritizing housing as both a human right and public health issue, and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system for every individual and family.
There has been a recent surge in women of color, especially black women, running for political office. What do you think is driving minority women to pursue political roles, and what impact are they having on our current political state?
I think as black women, we’re finally recognizing our political power and owning it. If you’re an African American or a person of color, there is not much light in the Trump era. The president has done a lot to roll back the gains we saw under President Obama and to make people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, and immigrants feel small.
In 2016, 94 percent of black women voted for Hillary Clinton—the largest voting block to gain her support. We also propelled Doug Jones to the Senate last year. We have political power to change elections. For me, that was eye-opening to see as a young black woman. I truly believe black women are the backbone of the Democratic Party. I think those results made people realize that we can do this. We might not see ourselves represented in leadership positions throughout the Democratic party or this country, but we have a lot to offer. And we don’t need permission to lead.
What our election showed is that when you put diverse and dynamic people on the ballot, more people turn out. We were able to shift our electorate by 53 percentage points by engaging people who don’t ordinarily vote, and I think you’re seeing that all across the country.
What transferrable skills did you gain from your SPH experience that became applicable in your current role?
To me, a lot of the maternal and child health courses were emotional and feelings-heavy. But it was probably one of the best things to launch me into politics. It taught me compassion, empathy, and understanding for other people whose circumstances were different than my own. To be a good advocate, you have to be able to understand what other people are going through. It’s a soft skill, but such an important skill, particularly when you’re in politics and want to be a policymaker. I also took a class on MCH Policymaking with [Professor of Community Health Sciences] Gene Declercq, who provided a good framework for advocacy and coalition-building in politics. It taught me strategies to become an effective policy advocate.
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