Former State Representative Kay Khan has been named one of its six Distinguished Public Service Fellows at UMASS Boston’s Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy (CWPPP), in recognition of her thirty-years of leadership in advancing a broad range of mental and physical health services, programs to improve the lives of families, protect girls from child marriage, and programs to help women in prison.
During her tenure, Rep. Khan served as House chair of the Joint Committee on Children and Families and Persons with Disabilities. In her eighteen month fellowship, she will mentor women enrolled in the Gender, Leadership and Public Policy (GLPP) Graduate Certificate Program for Women in Politics and Public Policy and in its MPA program.
Recognizing Rep. Khan’s achievements in improving the lives and expanding the opportunities for women, CWPPP Director Dr. Nsiah-Jefferson highlighted her ”key legislative achievements such as the ban on conversion therapy for minors, the licensing of certified professional midwives and….the establishment of a special commission on maternal health.” She noted that Rep. Khan was responsible for establishing the country’s first legislative mental health caucus and was co-chair of the Task Force on Justice Involved Women. Having worked with Rep. Khan on a number of issues, Dr. Nsiah-Jefferson concluded her introduction, “…I’ll alway remember the incredible opportunity as a member of Massachusetts Legislature to address the most pressing needs and issues of our time…working toward fighting for justice for those whose voices have been silenced.”
Describing her perspective on leadership, Rep. Khan said, “…a leader really has to listen to different points of view and consider issues carefully and then speak up. And, don’t be afraid to say what you want to say…. You do want to try to help people reach common ground so problems can be solved instead of just arguing about the issues….”
Dr. Nsiah-Jefferson, a Newton native, has been the CWPPP Director in the UMASS McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies since 2019. “We are teaching individuals to be leaders in the public sector…but we also train a lot of nonprofit leaders as well,” Dr. Nsiah-Jefferson told Fig City News, emphasizing that “we teach from a decidedly intersectional, anti-racist perspective.” Among its research projects, the center evaluates health, social, and economic policies.
Research is one of the Center’s major functions, encompassing aspects of women’s leadership in civic and political life and the extent to which women of color in elected roles represent that segment of the population. It explores all aspects of challenges to low-income women including early child care, the impact of climate change, paid family leave, and the management role of women of color in non-profits. The Center also did an extensive study of birth equity for Black mothers.
CWPPP includes a summer “leadership academy” for undergraduate women who are interested in aspects of politics: campaign management, lobbying, and advocacy.
The Distinguished Public Service Fellows teach CWPPP students the importance of networking and how to master it. They focus on developing leaders in the non-profit organizations led by women. “What is the environment of these organizations, both from a fiscal perspective, but also in terms of how they run organizationally and what are the challenges and opportunities for these organizations as well as for the leaders of these,” according to Dr. Nsiah-Jefferson. In addition, the Center focuses on assisting grassroots organizations.
Dr. Nsiah-Jefferson received her undergraduate degree, M.A., and Ph.D. from Brandeis University and a Masters in Public Health from the Yale University School of Medicine. In addition to her extensive education and training, Dr. Nsiah-Jefferson brings her childhood experience to her job. Her father, Matthew Jefferson, was the first Black member of the Newton Board of Aldermen and its president for six years. He told her, “if you’re not satisfied, do something about it. …He knew how to get people to listen even if they didn’t agree.” Lillie Jefferson, Dr. Nsiah-Jefferson’s mother, was Newton’s METCO coordinator. “My mother would say people are doing the best they can with what they have. She gave them grace,” Dr. Nsiah-Jefferson explained that when she was growing up, her parents always had people staying with them who needed help and support. The family were active participants in West Newton’s Myrtle Baptist Church.
The originator of the Graduate Certificate Program for Women In Politics and Public Policy was another Newton political pioneer, Betty Taymor. When she founded the program in 1968, at Simmons College, it was called the Program for Women in Politics and Government, the first curriculum developed to train women to run for office. Although Ms. Taymor never won election, many succeeded as a result of her program. In 1971, the program became part of the Boston College curriculum and remained there until 1992, when it became part of the University of Massachusetts.
Dr. Nsiah-Jefferson, who met Ms. Taymor in “the ‘90s,” describes her as “gracious and with such elegance.” One of the highlights of her leadership at CWPPP was celebrating Betty Taymor’s 100th birthday, which also served as a fundraiser for the program, attracting over 200 sponsors, many of whom were graduates of the program. Since Ms. Taymor’s early influence, Newton has elected women to the City Council and State House for decades.
Susan Tracy, who represented Brighton-Allston after she graduated from the program, now lives in Newton and is principal in Strategy Group, political consultants. She attended CWPPP when Ms. Taymor was the director, and in 2023 was named a Distinguished Public Service Fellow. Ms. Tracy said that the program supported a network for women in the legislature. When she was a student in the program, her mentor was the long-serving State Senator Patricia McGovern. As a Distinguished Fellow, she was both a mentor and a strong supporter of the program’s oral history project, saying, “The only way to understand is through a first-person history.” Among the significant events of her State House career, she remembers the ribbon-cutting for the new women’s bathroom on the third floor! When she was elected in the 1990s, there was no peer network. People assumed young women politicians were staff.
