When Renande Loayza’s mother brought her and her older brother to Hyde Park from their home in Cap Hatien, Haiti, in 1984, the eight-year-old third-grader certainly had no idea about the path she would take as a community advocate, organizer, and leader. When her family moved to Milton, Renande had already transferred from the Boston Public Schools to private school. In high school, she decided to become a pharmacist and began college with that in mind, but then switched to business administration and planned to open a daycare center. Still with no inkling that she was about to begin a life of advocacy, she went to work on the campaign of Marie St. Fleur, the first Haitian-American to run for and win a seat in the Massachusetts House. Marie St. Fleur was running for re-election when Renande joined her campaign. Once Rep. St. Fleur was re-elected, Renande went to work as her as her Legislative Aide in the State House.
Although former Rep. St. Fleur represented a small portion of Boston’s Haitian community, she was very sensitive to the needs of the Haitian community at large, which still needed a wide range of support in health care, education, housing, and financial assistance. Taking Rep. St. Fleur’s lead, Renande became an activist and advocate for community resources.
After leaving the office of Rep. St. Fleur, Renande went to work for Project Hope in Dorchester, a shelter and education program for women. Renande was the Office Manager and Tech support for a program called Transition to Work, at the same time maintaining her involvement with Rep. St. Fleur’s Haitian constituents. At the time, she was living in Bridgewater but still maintained her support of residents in the Mattapan-Dorchester area. In 2009, Renande moved to Peru for a few years with her husband and young daughter.
After returning to the U.S. in 2012, she eventually moved to Newton in 2017. Even after she moved here with her husband and two daughters, Renande continued to work with and for the Haitian residents in Dorchester and Mattapan. At the same time, she began working at Bentley University in Waltham, where she is now Senior Academic Coordinator in the Provost’s office and a Staff Advisor to the student group NABA. Having been involved in various campaigns, she pursued her growing interest in politics by volunteering with Newton’s Democratic party. In that experience, she discovered another opportunity for her ability to connect with people and to connect them to one another. As an activist Democrat and resident of Newtonville and West Newton, Renande joined the Ward 3 Democratic Committee and soon was voted its chair — a position she holds to this day.
Expanding her role as advocate and organizer, Renande joined local political leaders in opposing detention camps at the Southern border and was invited to speak at a Newton Lights for Liberty protest rally. Turning her attention to Newton’s communities of color, Renande applied her skills to participating in the Horace Mann Chapter of Families Organized for Racial Justice (FORJ) — and starting the Day Middle School Chapter of FORJ — to help promote equity and justice for BIPOC students in the Newton school system and to foster positive engagement among a diverse group of members and the larger community. As a FORJ leader in the Newton North High School chapter, she was instrumental in organizing Newton’s first successful Juneteenth celebration marking June 19th, the emancipation of slaves, first celebrated in 1865. She is a member of the Newton Coalition of Black Residents, which includes former and current Newton political leaders. As the Chair of the Ward 3 Newton Democrats, she says, “It’s good to be able to pull the community together to strategize and come up with solutions that will improve the quality of life for all of Newton’s residents,” and she is intent on attracting younger members to prepare for the 2024 election. But she says, “leadership is not easy, as you cannot please everyone.” As part of her community engagement, Renande has been appointed to the board of Newton Community Pride, where she helped plan and volunteered at the recent WinterFEST celebration.
Newton has been a good landing place for Renande and her family, and they decided to make it permanent by buying a house. Renande and her husband chose Newton for the schools, which have been fulfilling experiences for both her daughters. Horace Mann is a happy experience for her nine-year old, and “Newton North is a remarkable school with a lot of resources that other schools don’t have,” she says, explaining that the City’s public education has met and exceeded her expectations. She believes all children should have the resources and opportunities to thrive like her children have been fortunate to do, and this is the reason she supports the upcoming Override.
Renande is excited for her future in Newton and looks forward to continuing to making positive changes for the community.