James Nichols-Worley was the lead petitioner for expanding the local voting age to 17 years old in his hometown of Southborough, Massachusetts. His town meeting article was successfully passed at the local level and was introduced in the Massachusetts Legislature in 2023 as Bill H.3874. Nichols-Worley is currently studying Economics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Katherine Silbaugh is a Professor of Law at Boston University School of Law and is widely recognized for her pioneering work on gender, family care, and household labor. She is a leader in the legal literature on the relationship between work and family. Her research highlights the economic and social value of work done within households; the complex relationship between families and institutions, such as employers and schools; and the inadequacy of the legal framework supporting care work. Her publications about the relationship between institutions and family address a range of legal systems from family law and employment law to urban planning and education law. She has intervened in policy matters of particular concern to LGBT individuals, including marriage equality litigation and anti-bullying law and policy. Kelly Siegel-Stechler is a Senior Researcher at CIRCLE, the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University's Tisch College of Civic Life. Her research is centered on civic development and political socialization in schools. She is primarily focused on projects that advance civic learning and development in K-12 education, as well as questions related to youth political and electoral engagement. Prior to joining CIRCLE, Kelly worked as a Research Fellow with the Institute for Education Policy at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education, where she supported their work on civic development as it relates to curriculum, instruction, and school culture. Andy X. Vargas is the State Representative for the 3rd Essex District (Haverhill) in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He is a member of the Massachusetts Black & Latino Legislative Caucus and was previously elected to the Haverhill City Council, taking office at age 22 and serving as the city’s first Latino elected official. A firm believer in the power of education to empower youth, Vargas passed legislation to mandate civics education for all public school students, ensuring a brighter future for generations to come. James Eldridge has served as State Senator for the Middlesex and Worcester district since January 2009. Senator Eldridge previously served as State Representative for the 37th Middlesex district. He serves as the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary and the Senate Vice Chair Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. As an activist legislator, Senator Eldridge proudly serves as the Senate Chair of the Criminal Justice Reform Caucus, the Medicare for All Caucus, and the Clean Energy Caucus.
Old South Meeting House
Author Nancy A. Nichols and Amy Monticello
Modern Theatre
Matthew Wilding
Old South Meeting House
Anita McBride, Barbara Perry, and Elizabeth Rees
John F. Kennedy Library
Elise (Lise) Breen has investigated the practice of slavery on Cape Ann, resurrecting profiles of individuals who resisted their enslavement as well as their enslavers. She has identified Cape Ann citizens’ participation in the slave trade, surfacing evidence from international archives as well as overlooked local materials from 1685 through the mid-nineteenth century. Lise has shared her research in her many public talks and with local institutions and scholars. Her essay, “Hidden City: Slavery and Gloucester’s Quadricentennial” in Gloucester Encounters: Essays on the Cultural History of the City 1623-2023 was published by the Gloucester Cultural Initiative. Lise co-authored Objects of Myth and Memory, American Indian Art at the Brooklyn Museum. Nerissa Williams Scott is the founder of the Boston-based company That Child Got Talent (TCGT) in 2009 and the producer of Dill. Her career experience includes more than 30 years in performing and media arts and the production of two feature films. Over the past 10 years, Nerissa has served as Production Manager for a variety of live events, theater, fashion films, documentaries, narrative shorts, and music videos in New England. Nerissa also leads the operations of Next Leadership Development Corporation and serves on the board of Women in Film and Video New England (WIFVNE). She received her MFA in Film Production (Emphasis in Producing) from Emerson College.
Old South Meeting House
Ada Ferrer
Boston College - Gasson 100
Jeffrey Rosen and Mary Sarah Bilder
John F. Kennedy Library
George Mutter trained in medicine at Harvard and Columbia, and is currently a Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. He is a prolific scientist and educator, having authored over 120 scientific papers, and delivered numerous invited lectures internationally. Bernard Fishman is an Egyptologist trained at Columbia U. and U. of Pennsylvania. He worked in Egypt with the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago before becoming a nonprofit institution administrator. He is presently the Director of the Maine State Museum in Augusta, Maine.
Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation
Jeneé Osterheldt is a culture columnist who covers identity and social justice through the lens of culture and the arts. She centers Black lives and the lives of people of color. Sometimes this means writing about Beyoncé and Black womanhood or unpacking the importance of public art and representation. Sometimes this means taking systemic racism, sexism, and oppression to task. It always means Black lives matter. She joined the Globe in 2018. A native of Alexandria, Virginia and a graduate of Norfolk State University, Osterheldt was a 2017 Nieman Fellow at Harvard, where her studies focused on the intersection of art and justice. She previously worked as a Kansas City Star culture columnist.
Museum of Science
RAHSAAN HALL is the President and CEO of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts. He leads the Urban League’s efforts to enable communities to overcome racial and social barriers that cause economic inequities and are exacerbated by sexual and domestic violence, by creating employment and economic development opportunities. Previously, Rahsaan served as the Director of the Racial Justice Program for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and prior to that Rahsaan was the Deputy Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice. He also served as an Assistant District Attorney for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. Rahsaan also serves on the boards of the Who We Are Project and the Hyams Foundation and is an ordained reverend in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. Rahsaan is a highly sought-after public speaker and has received multiple awards and recognitions for his work, including Boston Magazine’s Top Lawyers 2021, Equal Justice Coalition’s 2019 Beacon of Justice Award, Get Connected‘s 2018 GK100 Boston’s Most Influential People of Color, and the Massachusetts Communities Action Network 2018 Carry It On Leadership Award. ARLINE ISAACSON is a Co-Chair of the Massachusetts GLBTQ Political Caucus (formerly the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus), where she has lobbied on every major LGBTQ+ issue in Massachusetts. Arline advocated for the groundbreaking 1989 gay and lesbian civil rights bill and domestic-partnership benefits for Massachusetts public employees. Her fights have included LGBTQ+ parental rights, anti-bullying bills, hate crimes bills, transgender rights, HIV/AIDS legislation, and banning conversion therapy for minors. Arline also led the legislative battle for marriage equality, making Massachusetts the first state in the nation to defeat a marriage equality ban. SEAN SIMONINI is the founder of the Massachusetts Association of Student Representatives (MASR), an organization that uplifts and empowers student representatives serving on local and state school boards across the Commonwealth. Sean saw firsthand how powerful student sentiment can be after serving on his own school committee during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic and sought to establish a network that encourages students to be leaders in creating the change they want to see. He believes that students are essential partners in building better school environments and uniting communities around our common pursuit of a more accessible and impactful education system.
Old South Meeting House
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