Martin J. Walsh

MARTIN J. WALSH is a lifelong advocate for working people, and a proud product of the City of Boston. He was sworn in as the City’s 54th mayor on January 6, 2014. Mayor Walsh’s vision is of a thriving, healthy and innovative Boston. Since taking office he has worked to create good jobs, great schools, safe streets and affordable homes, while building a more responsive, representative and transparent city government. He has won national recognition for expanding young people’s opportunities and breaking new ground in community policing. He has invited the people of Boston to help build a blueprint for the city’s future in Imagine Boston 2030, the first citywide plan in half a century.

Before taking office, Mayor Walsh served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1997 to 2013, representing Boston’s diverse 13th Suffolk District. Walsh also made his mark as a labor leader. Beginning in laborers local 223 in Boston, he rose to head the Building and Construction Trades Council of the metropolitan district from 2011 to 2013. Born and raised in the neighborhood of Dorchester by immigrant parents, Mayor Walsh is driven to make sure Boston is a city where anyone can overcome their challenges and fulfill their dreams. At age seven, he survived a serious bout of Burkett’s lymphoma thanks to the extraordinary care he received at Boston Children’s Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute. His recovery from alcoholism as a young adult led to his lifelong commitment to the prevention and treatment of addiction. While working full-time as a legislator, Walsh returned to school to earn a degree in political science at Boston College.