MassVOTE works to register, educate and mobilize voters, with a focus on historically underrepresented communities in Massachusetts, especially people of color. We are working for a government that is accountable to all of us. Our work for electoral justice is one part of a larger infrastructure for social change...a movement for social, economic, and racial justice.MassVOTE works for a world where everyone votes. We are achieving our goals by:
registering and educating voters on a nonpartisan basis,
developing leaders, especially youth,
empowering nonprofits with knowledge, skills, and technology,
organizing and working in coalitions, and
fighting for election reforms
Board Members and Affiliations
Carmen Arce-Bowen, Organizer, Public Policy Institute
Celina Barrios Ponce (Chair), Northeastern States Organizer, National Immigration Council
Sonia Chang-Diaz, Massachusetts State Senator, 2nd Suffolk District
Rachael Cobb, Professor of Government, Suffolk University
Adam Friedman, Web Developer, Boston Herald
Maria Gonzalez, Television Reporter, Univision
Kim Janey (Chair), Director of BostonSchool Reform Project, Mass Advocates for Children
Hiep Nguyen (Treasurer), Former City Council At-Large candidate; Principal, HQ Nguyen CPA LLC
Avi Green is an experienced community organizer. A native of Pennsylvania, Avi graduated from Columbia University, where he studied Religion. He went on to teach World Cultures and kindergarten to school children in North Carolina. There, Avi became involved in promoting a stronger democracy in response to the Senator Jesse Helms' refusal to debate his opponent, Harvey Gantt. Avi moved to Massachusetts in 1997, where he earned a Master's Degree in Public Policy from the HarvardKennedy School in 1999. In 2000, Avi went to Florida to participate in the Presidential recount. He has served as Executive Director of MassVOTE since 2006.
Cheryl Crawford grew up in Boston and has worked for many years in the African American community here. Cheryl chairs the Membership Committee of the NAACP’s Boston Branch and is the Chair of the Board of Emerge Massachusetts. Before MassVOTE, Cheryl served as Chief of Staff to State Representative Willie Mae Allen. She graduated from LesleyCollege.
Sara Brady joined MassVOTE in January, 2010. Prior to joining MassVOTE, Sara worked for 5 years at Project Vote Smart, a national nonprofit that provides non-partisan political research. There she served, most recently, as National Director. Sara graduated from the University of California,Santa Barbara, in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Black Studies.
Ada Fuentes, began her social justice work at age 17 in East Boston, by fighting against a proposed power plant as part of the Neighborhood of Affordable Housing’s (NOAH) Environmental Chelsea Creek Crew. Later, she served as a lead canvasser for voter engagement for the East Boston Ecumenical Community Council. In 2008, Ada took part in the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition’s New Americans Project. In 2009, she served as a community organizer for Neighbors United for a Better East Boston.
Andrea Jamison recently graduated from Northeastern University with a degreein History and International Affairs. In 2009, Andrea worked as a community organizer with the nongovernmental organization Alianza por tus Derechos in San Jose, Costa Rica. In 2008, Andrea took part in a global activism training course in Grahamstown, South Africa.
Manolia Charlotin is an activist and community organizer who has worked in community development, immigrant civic engagement, political campaigns, youth organizing and cultural awareness for the last 10 years. Manolia speaks English, French, Haitian Creole, Spanish and Portuguese.