FROM PROTEST TO POWER

VIRTUAL FUNDRAISER

PART 2: ELECTEDS ENACTING POLICY

DONATE

ABOUT THE EVENT

October 21, 2020 | 6:00 – 7:30 PM

The focus of this event will be how elected officials have used policy to codify meaningful change in the fight against institutionalized racism. Our speakers will show us how to use energy from protesting to transform our communities through visionary policies.

MODERATORS

Samantha Kelly, MWPC PAC Treasurer
Ilana Krill, MWPC PAC Intern
Caitlyn Clarke, MWPC PAC Co-Chair

SCHEDULE

6:00 – 6:05 – Welcome and Introductory Remarks
6:05 – 6:15 – Rachael Rollins Introduction and Presentation
6:15 – 6:25 – Ayesha Wilson Introduction and Presentation
6:25 – 6:35 – Damali Vidot Introduction and Presentation
6:35 – 6:45 – Jo Comerford Introduction and Presentation
6:45 – 6:55 – Moderated Q&A
6:55 – 7:00 – Closing Remarks
7:30 – End Virtual Event

SUGGESTED CONTRIBUTIONS

$5 – Student Activist
$25 – Young Professional Activist
$50 – MWPC PAC Supporter
$100 – MWPC PAC Champion
$500 – MWPC PAC Platinum Sponsor

SPEAKERS

RACHAEL ROLLINS

Suffolk County District Attorney

Rachel Rollins was born into a large, multi-cultural family, whose parents met shortly after the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Loving v. Virginia. While in college at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, she was instrumental in helping coordinate lawyers for a Title

IX lawsuit, that successfully won, and helped reinstate all women’s sports team that were cut. Rachael then went on to receive her Juris Doctorate at Northeastern University School of Law and then a Masters of Law at Georgetown University Law Center. She then went on to work as a Field Attorney at the National Labor Relations Board in Boston, then joined the law firm of Bingham McCutchen, where she participated in a District Attorney rotation in Plymouth County. Later in 2007, Rachael became an Assistant United States Attorney. In 2011, Rachael became the first person of color to serve as the General Counsel of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. She then was voted to become the first female General Counsel of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. In 2013, she became the Chief Legal Counsel of the Massachusetts Port Authority. In 2018, Rachael was elected as the District Attorney of Suffolk County, becoming the first woman to serve as DA in Suffolk County and the first woman of color in Massachusetts to serve as a DA.

Show less

AYESHA WILSON

Cambridge School Committee Member

From growing up in the Jefferson Park Public Housing Development in a single-parent household to attending public school in Cambridge, Ayesha Wilson has had a wealth of personal experience with the issues faced in her community.

She achieved her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Social work and an Associate’s Degree in Human Services. Throughout her life and career, Ayesha has been advocating for and engaging with the community, and specifically young people, with The Work Force Program, YWCA, and Emerge Massachusetts. She is the perfect role model for young people who want to give back to their community. Many of the projects she has worked in have been aimed at instilling these skills and knowledge in youth, creating the next generation of activists, advocates, and legislators.

Show less

DAMALI VIDOT

Chelsea City Councilor, At-Large

Damali Vidot has life experience as a disabled working-class Latina from Chelsea and is the proud daughter of a former union maintenance worker. Upon becoming a mother and youth worker, Damali helped co-found The Movement, which is an anti-violence youth basketball league, as a way to

give back after having been caught up in street culture herself. She has previous experience as a youth advocate and mentor for Career Source and Roca, Inc. She is currently serving in her third term as City Councilor At-Large in Chelsea. Damali is the first woman in the city to serve as Council President, and for two consecutive terms, after serving as Vice President in her first term. Her work on the Chelsea City Council has centered on helping the most vulnerable residents in the city.

Show less

JO COMERFORD

Massachusetts State Senator, Hampshire, Franklin & Worcester District

Jo Comerford graduated from Hunter College School of Social Work in New York and then moved to western Massachusetts in the late 1990s to help lead a crisis intervention outreach team through the Center

for Human Development. She worked for seven years as the director of the western Massachusetts American Friends Service Committee and then as director of programs at The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. After The Food Bank, Jo led National Priorities Project as its executive director followed by four years as a Campaign Director for MoveOn. Currently, Jo is serving in her first term as State Senator for the Hampshire, Franklin, and Worcester District.

Show less

DONATE

< PART 1: ACTIVISTS IN ACTION