John R. Connolly was elected to an At-Large (Citywide) seat on the Boston City Council in November 2007. At 35, John is the youngest member of the City Council.
As your City Councilor, John works every day to make Boston a livable, affordable, and safe city for all Bostonians. John believes Boston’s future hinges on a commitment to improving our schools and to making Boston the greenest city in the world.
John serves as Chair of the City Council’s Committee on Environment and Health and Acting Chair of the Education Committee. In January 2009, the Council President appointed John as Chair of the Special Committee on a Livable Boston, a newly formed committee with a one year mission to examine the impact of the recession on Bostonians and how to improve Boston’s livability to foster long-term investment by current and future residents. John also serves as a member of the Council’s Ways & Means Committee.
A former teacher, John has been a strong voice for improving Boston Public Schools, John is focused on closing the achievement gap, providing universal afterschool programs for every student, fostering parental involvement, and increasing community based learning models which link schools with community centers, libraries, and health centers to create a healthy and supportive learning environment for every child.
In October 2008, John was the lead sponsor of parental accountability truancy legislation aimed at helping chronically absent students who stand the highest likelihood to drop out and ultimately face incarceration, addiction, and limited job opportunities. The Boston Globe praised John’s proposal noting that he was addressing a problem whose consequences are “too dire to ignore.”
As Chair of the Environment and Health Committee, John has also been a leading voice on the Council for environmental justice and making Boston the greenest and healthiest city in the world. During his first term, John led hearings aimed at raising awareness of the potential environmental and health risks posed by bisphenol A, a chemical used to make baby bottles and other hard plastics. John also filed legislation on local strategies to combat global warming and the safe usage and disposal of energy-efficient CFL light bulbs; building a bike-share program in Boston; and the needs and challenges facing autistic children and their families in Boston.
John is married to Meg Kassakian Connolly. In April 2008, Meg and John welcomed their first child, Clare. A lifelong Bostonian, John grew up in Roslindale, and he and Meg are raising their family in West Roxbury. Meg is a former social worker and current doctoral student studying counseling psychology at Boston College. Meg has worked with Boston Public High School students as part of Boston College’s Tools for Tomorrow program that helps students stay on a path toward college.
After graduating college, John taught 6th, 7th, and 8th grade at-risk Latino youth at the Nativity Mission School in New York City from 1995-1997. John also ran Nativity Mission’s summer academic program. In 1998, John returned to Boston and taught sixth grade at the Boston Renaissance Charter School where John had the honor of teaching students and working with parents from every neighborhood in Boston.
An attorney since 2001, John has made pro-bono work a cornerstone of his legal practice. John has provided pro-bono services to numerous community-based organizations including Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD); The Teachers’ Loft, a resource center for public schools teachers; Humanitarian International Mission, a Boston based non-profit aimed at promoting oral health in the Latino community; and the PrideLights Foundation, a South End-based gay rights organization that is now part of the AIDS Action Committee.
John currently serves on the board of directors for Meridian Academy, a parent-founded alternative middle school in Roslindale.
John received his A.B. from Harvard University and his J.D. from Boston College Law School. John is also a graduate of The Roxbury Latin School.
