For Immediate Release: November 27, 2001
Further information: Tom McNaught (617) 514-1662
Boston: The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation today announced that Anthony Galluccio, Mayor of Cambridge, has been selected as this year’s recipient of the Fenn Award for Political Leadership.
Co-sponsored by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation’s New Frontier Society and the Massachusetts Municipal Association, the Fenn Award is given annually to a Massachusetts elected official aged 35 years or younger who has demonstrated outstanding political leadership in addressing and resolving a specific public policy issue or need. The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation’s New Frontier Society is a non-partisan group of young men and women, aged 21 to 35, whose goal is to promote a greater understanding of local and national political issues, particularly those affecting this particular age group, and to encourage active participation in public affairs.
The Fenn Award will be formally presented to Mayor Galluccio at a private ceremony hosted by the New Frontier Society on Thursday, November 29 at 7:00 p.m. at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum.
Galluccio was selected, in part, for his leadership in involving youth in community affairs in Cambridge. At the start of the 2000-2001 school year, Mayor Galluccio established the Mayor’s Youth Council with groups of students from Cambridge Rindge and Latin Schools and the Cambridge Youth Centers. The group met with the mayor and as sub-committees to develop strategies to address issues important to youth. This is the first such initiative in Cambridge. Mayor Galluccio also worked to increase the number of students in the Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program, a program that focuses on youths entering the work force for the first time. He also worked to increase the number of employment opportunities for students in the program.
"The members of the New Frontier Society share President Kennedy's conviction that one person can make a difference and that every person should try," said Sarah Hast, coordinator of the program. "We are pleased to join with the Mass Municipal Association in honoring Mayor Galluccio."
Mayor Galluccio is a lifetime Cambridge resident who was educated in the Cambridge Public Schools. He graduated from Cambridge Rindge and Latin in 1985 and Providence College in 1989. In 1996 he graduated cum laude from Suffolk Law School. He attended Suffolk Law School at night while working for Vice Chair of the State Senate Ways and Means Committee Robert Wetmore. Galluccio was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in December 1997.
"The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation is committed to encouraging talented young people to become involved in public affairs," said John Shattuck, Chief Executive Officer of the Kennedy Library and Foundation. "We believe it is an appropriate way of honoring the memories of John and Robert Kennedy who believed deeply that the one’s community could be improved through involvement and active participation in politics and public service. Mayor Galluccio has demonstrated this commitment to public service. We take great pleasure in honoring him with the Fenn Award."
The annual award is named in honor of Dan H. Fenn, Jr. who served as the first director of the Kennedy Library, from 1971 to 1986, and has remained active in public affairs.
Previous Fenn Award recipients include Representative Jarrett Barrios of Cambridge; Representative Kevin Blanchette of Lawrence; City Councilor Larry Chretien of Quincy; City Councilor Patricia Doherty of Medford; Representative Barry Finegold of Andover; Representative Peter Forman of Plymouth; Mayor Patrick Guerriero of Melrose; Selectman James Harrington of Ludlow; Representative Rachel Kaprielian of Watertown; Senator William Keating of Sharon; Mayor Lisa Mead of Newburyport; School Committeeman Brian Murray of Milford; City Councilor John Timothy Phelan of Lynn; Selectman Charles Stevens of West Boylston; and Representative Warren Tolman of Watertown. Support for the award has been received from the Paul A. Dever Program for Education in Politics.
The Kennedy Library is a presidential library administered by the National Archives and Records Administration and supported, in part, by the Kennedy Library Foundation, a non-profit organization. The Kennedy Library and the Kennedy Library Foundation seek to promote, through educational and community programs, a greater appreciation and understanding of American politics, history, and culture, the process of governing and the importance of public service.