The Boston Phoenix
"AYANNA PRESSLEY, the council's only African-American woman, was elected two years ago after serving as an aide to former congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II and US Senator John Kerry.
Pressley has made her name advocating for families and the arts. Upon her election, Pressley had the imagination to form a new council committee on women and healthy communities.
Pressley sees neighborhood vibrancy as being inextricably interwoven with healthy, functioning families. And since single mothers lead so many Boston households, those women need policies and programs designed to help them keep their families together and flourishing.
Pressley's most remarkable achievement was her success in advocating for more up-to-date sex-education policies in Boston Public Schools. Teenage pregnancy erodes family stability and can lead to a host of other social ills. Pressley's quiet and common-sense advocacy helped Boston accomplish what many skeptics had previously thought was impossible."
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