What makes the city of Boston great is the mix of people... all different people from every race, religion, walk of life and from every field of business living in one city. My job, as I see it, is to make sure it remains diverse - that this city remains a great home for teachers, nurses, factory workers, working families, students, and the like.
- Josh Zakim
I recently sat down with Boston City Councilor, Josh Zakim during a visit to Boston City Hall. Josh represents District 8 in Boston which includes the neighborhoods of Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway, Kenmore Square, Mission Hill, Audubon Circle, and the West End. Born from a family very much focused on community activism, this Back Bay resident began his career as an attorney for Greater Boston Legal Services where he represented families who were losing their homes to foreclosure at the hands of predatory lenders. It is from his time spent working with disempowered residents coupled with growing up in a household where he watched his dad, Leonard Zakim, build coalitions among Boston's neighborhood groups, that Josh was engrained with an overwhelming need to empower everyday citizens to build a stronger community-based Boston.
Josh was elected to the Boston City Council in 2013 and re-elected in November of 2015. He's young, powerful, humble, and he's driven by an unapologetic deep-seeded love for the city of Boston. What does it take to empower the disempowered? What does it take to carry a deeply passionate responsibility for retaining the city's diversity on one's shoulders? What does it take to be a voice for so many? Here are four powerful lessons from Josh Zakim on how anyone can make a positive dent in the universe.
Don't Turn Your Head: Zakim has spent his entire career, both as an attorney and as a City Councilor, making sure he does not turn his head when the truth is hard to face, as many tend to do. Zakim says that to make a difference, you must be willing to deal with really hard truths head on. For example, Zakim says that, like everyone else, he's excited when the Boston skyline changes with new developments like the new Four Seasons being built in the Back Bay. However, he also recognizes that such developments can also pose a threat to the diverse greatness of the city. He says that when he sees a new tower being built for the affluent, it becomes his duty to dig in and make sure that there's also new housing being built for the city workers, teachers, and nurses. Zakim says that the city depends on people like Arthur Winn, the award winning developer who has transformed several projects, including Mission Main, from traditional housing into affordable housing complete with green spaces and community centers, because these types of developments ensure that the diverse fabric of the community remains unchanged. The easy thing to do is to turn one's head when problems seem overwhelming. Zakim says there's only one way to deal with hard issues, and that's head on.
Think Outside the Box: Zakim says that in times like these, where government budgets are lean, the only way to create massive positive change is to think outside the box. He says that you cannot depend on using money to fix problems simply because the money just isn't there. Zakim says that he's been forced to think outside of the box when it comes to fixing difficult issues such as the lack of affordable housing stock, which potentially forces blue collar citizens to move to the suburbs. Zakim says that he's learned to find other ways to fix these problems, like offering tax relief or zoning relief to encourage affordable building. As well, he has been instrumental in helping affordable developers find land opportunities on plots that are currently underutilized. Zakim says that if he spent all of his time trying to find the money to fix the larger problems, there'd be no progress. Therefore, moving the ball forward requires finding the answer that nobody else has yet considered. Significant change cannot be realized by focusing on finding easy answers, it requires a unique perspective, which is always outside of traditional thinking; and outside the box.
Listen Like the Future of Boston Depends on It :Josh feels that the easiest way to change the world is to surround yourself with an army of people who are as passionate as you. From his very first day as City Councilor, Josh has been the guy who has his ear to the ground. In fact, he feels that listening is so important, that he has public office hours in all of his neighborhoods every week. As well, he's available by phone, email, and social media 24/7. He says that he listens to his constituents like the future of Boston depends on it, because it does. Josh says that the people who reach out to him are people just like him; living, working, playing, and raising families in the city. They have their own challenges and concerns about the city and the only way change can be perpetrated is if he knows and understands the problems. Josh is the first to admit that he can't take care of every issue facing the city, but he equally acknowledges that nothing will ever change or improve if he isn't aware of it. He depends heavily on his army of feet on the ground to keep him apprised of what's happening throughout the main streets and back allies of the city because change always starts with awareness.
Start Small: His last piece of advice for anyone who wants to positively change the world is that little changes matter almost as much as the big ones. Zakim spends much of his time working on big ticket issues in order to help people fight for social justice. He says that while being a leader on big issues is important, it's also important to be the guy that sees equal value in making small changes, because over time, those small changes add up and sometimes they create a movement. For example, Zakim says that his office receives calls all the time about smaller issues, like a pothole that needs repair, or a street sign that needs to be fixed. These may appear minor, but they are not. Josh says that it's vitally important to act on these small issues because it instills faith in the government. It says to the citizens, "I hear you. I'm listening." And the reason this matters, says Josh, is that when people feel like they are heard, that's when they become your partner... that's when they begin to see that their role in making Boston great is just as important as his. Josh is the first to admit that he can't be the soul voice of positive change in Boston, because it takes an army. He sees it as his job to empower his army to keep raising their voices so that he can continue to do what he does best, listen.
As you enter the city of Boston from the North you will inevitably cross over the now famous bridge, the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, named after a man that made a dent in the universe, Leonard Zakim, father of City Councilor, Josh Zakim. It isn't until you get right into the city, roll up your sleeves, and talk to the people living and working amongst the glass and steel skyline that you realize there is someone out there unassumingly carrying on a legacy of changing the world. His name is Josh Zakim, and he is quietly serving as the ears, the eyes, and most importantly, the voice, of the people of the city of Boston.
Photo shared courtesy of Josh Zakim from an article featuring Councilor Zakim in Boston Magazine.