Michelle Wu

Wu graduated with honors from Harvard College and earned her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. From 2014 to 2021, she served on the Boston City Council, the first Asian-American woman to do so, and was its president from 2016 to 2018. During her council tenure, she authored ordinances that became law: one preventing the city from contracting with health insurers that discriminate against transgender people, others protecting wetlands, supporting climate change adaptation, enacting a plastic bag ban, adopting Community Choice Aggregation, and providing paid parental leave to municipal employees. She also helped pass regulations on short-term rentals.

As mayor, Wu has pushed for a municipal Green New Deal and signed an ordinance to divest city investments from companies earning more than 15% of revenue from fossil fuels, tobacco, or prison facilities. A supporter of fare-free public transit, she funded a pilot program for free service on three MBTA bus routes, expanding an earlier single-route pilot. She also reached a contract agreement with the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association that secured union agreement to significant police reforms. Her work continues to shape the city's policies.