Mayor Michelle Wu announced the members of the 2023-2024 SPARK Boston Council on Friday, who will work to facilitate a connection between the city government and young adults within the City, according to the City’s website.
This year, the council will be composed of 43 members, aged 20 to 35, who come from a variety of professional and cultural backgrounds. Sixteen of the members are multilingual and, overall, the council represents the majority of Boston neighborhoods from Allston to Roxbury, according to the City’s website.
The director of this year’s SPARK council is Anthony Nguyen, who formerly served as a council member himself for two years. Nguyen is a lifelong resident of Boston, as he grew up and attended school within the city.
“I know the program well, I’ve dedicated a lot of time volunteering for the program and meeting with community partners, meeting with people from all over the city,” Nguyen said.
Last year, the council organized numerous projects, including filling community fridges in the winter, creating a holiday gift giving guide, participating in voter registration events and more, according to the City’s website.
“We are looking and trying to tackle various issues that young adults and young professionals are facing in Boston,” said Nguyen on the goals of the 2023-2024 council. “The biggest thing we try to focus on is civic engagement that can come in many shapes or forms, whether that’s at a neighborhood cleanup, or perhaps hosting a forum or chat with one of our chiefs. Very much it’s about how you can get involved with the City, with local government and your community.”
Nguyen said one of the main issues the council will be trying to address this year is increasing voter registration.
“We are going to focus on voter registration, making sure that people in communities and our neighborhoods have their voices heard through one of our most important processes, which is voting, especially at the local level [and] how important that is and how impactful that can be,” Nguyen said.
Newly-selected SPARK council member Keenan Ottley said he joined the council this year with big goals in mind.
“The biggest thing that I’m focused on is closing the wealth gap disparity in the City of Boston, especially for African Americans, being African American myself,” Ottley said. “The average net worth of an African American in the City of Boston is $8 and if I can do anything to help grow that, that’d be amazing.”
Ottley said he will also focus on creating a “green city” and addressing the food disparities among low-income Boston residents by working to make fresh produce and healthy food more available.
“We’re focused on creating new programs as well, moving forward to see what new things we can start,” Ottley said.
The SPARK Council is a part of the Mayor’s Community Engagement cabinet. Nguyen emphasized that it is a priority for Mayor Wu to implement the voices of all Boston residents with the new council.
“So many things happen around us that we don’t realize are based on nonprofits and volunteerism, or just good faith and people’s hard work and we need to try to revitalize that,” Nguyen said. “But ultimately, just making Boston the best place to live for everybody.”