{"id":194653,"date":"2021-04-09T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=194653"},"modified":"2021-04-09T15:00:22","modified_gmt":"2021-04-09T19:00:22","slug":"194653","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2021\/194653\/","title":{"rendered":"Alum Named Deputy Chief of Policy for Mayor of Boston"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin sphnews-block-editorial-leadin is-style-side-by-side has-media has-wider has-media-focus-center-middle\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2135\" height=\"2560\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2016\/05\/butler1-scaled.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2016\/05\/butler1-scaled.jpg 2135w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2016\/05\/butler1-530x636.jpg 530w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2016\/05\/butler1-854x1024.jpg 854w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2016\/05\/butler1-768x921.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2016\/05\/butler1-1281x1536.jpg 1281w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2016\/05\/butler1-1708x2048.jpg 1708w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2016\/05\/butler1-755x905.jpg 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2016\/05\/butler1-834x1000.jpg 834w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2016\/05\/butler1-751x900.jpg 751w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2016\/05\/butler1-1920x2302.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2016\/05\/butler1-1200x1439.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2135px) 100vw, 2135px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">alumni news<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlum Named Deputy Chief of Policy for Mayor of Boston\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">SPH alum Lindsey Butler aims to ensure public health is placed at the center of all policy work. <\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar sphnews-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">April 9, 2021<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/authors\/mallory-bersi\/\">Mallory Bersi<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p>School of Public Health alum Lindsey Butler (SPH\u201915,\u201921) has been named Deputy Chief of Policy for Kim Janey, acting mayor of Boston. In this role, Butler sits under Mary Churchill, Chief of Policy and Planning and associate dean for strategic initiatives and community engagement at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/\">Boston University Wheelock College of Education &amp; Human Development<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Janey was sworn in as the acting mayor of Boston on March 24, replacing Marty Walsh, who resigned to serve as President Joe Biden\u2019s labor secretary. She is both the first woman and the first Black mayor of the City of Boston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the day of Janey\u2019s historic swearing in, Butler says she had never seen a moment like this before. Janey stood at the podium with Justice Kimberly Budd, the first Black woman to lead the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and US Representative Ayanna Pressley, the first Black woman to be elected to Congress from Massachusetts, by her side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI hope that the weight of this moment is reflected in the policies that come out of this office,\u201d says Butler. \u201cIt is a new day for Boston, a more inclusive and equitable day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An environmental epidemiologist by training, Butler came to SPH in 2012 for her Master of Science degree in environmental health. After graduating in 2015, she stayed at SPH to pursue her Ph.D. in environmental health with a major in epidemiology and a minor in biostatistics and exposure assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Originally interested in the impact of environmental pollution on health, it was during her time in the <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/\">BU Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health<\/a>, that Butler says her eyes were opened to the role that city governments play in solving urban problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen you study the environment that makes someone sick, it\u2019s so much more than the pollutants; it&#8217;s their experience with racism. It\u2019s the fabric of their community. It\u2019s their economic situation. It\u2019s their educational opportunities,\u201d says Butler. \u201cThis holistic understanding of what environment and exposure actually mean has really shaped the way I think about public health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Butler hopes to bring this nuanced perspective to her new role, where she will prioritize placing public health at the center of all policy work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic, if we can say that there is one, is that people appreciate how integral public health is to our society ,\u201d says Butler. \u201cIf we don\u2019t have the public\u2019s health, we really don\u2019t have anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COVID-19 prevention and equitable distribution of the vaccine across the city are central priorities for Butler, but she also recognizes that Boston\u2014and the country, as a whole\u2014is navigating many co-occurring crises at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From racial injustices and a long overdue racial reckoning, to economic and educational crises exacerbated by the pandemic, to climate change, \u201cwe need to have a public health scientist at the table as we re-emerge,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While at SPH, Butler learned there is often a disconnect between the science that is done in an academic setting and policy. But she believes that local government is a great place to bridge these gaps. \u201cI hope that by having one foot in academic science and one foot in city government I can make sure that the excellent science that is being done makes it into our policies,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is an enormous privilege to take my specialized public health training from SPH and bring it to City Hall, and it is an honor to serve Mayor Janey and the city I love during such a difficult time for so many Bostonians.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>School of Public Health alum Lindsey Butler (SPH\u201915,\u201921) has been named Deputy Chief of Policy for Kim Janey, acting mayor of Boston. In this role, Butler sits under Mary Churchill, Chief of Policy and Planning and associate dean for strategic initiatives and community engagement at the Boston University Wheelock College of Education &amp; Human Development.&nbsp; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14852,"featured_media":194727,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"alumni news","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[1750,2427,2013,2261,3420,3380],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[3519,3520,3541],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/194653"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14852"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194653"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/194653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":194726,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/194653\/revisions\/194726"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194653"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=194653"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=194653"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=194653"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=194653"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=194653"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=194653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}