Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu Nominated for EMILYs List’s Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award
For Immediate Release
March 1, 2018
Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu Nominated for EMILYs List’s Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, announced that Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu is a nominee for the fifth annual Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award.
“Michelle has been a champion for progressive action on the Boston city council and during her tenure as president of the council,” said Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List. “A trailblazer in more ways than one, Michelle has used her position to advocate for equality and protect the working families of Boston by achieving paid parental leave and banning health care discrimination based on gender identity. EMILYs List is proud to nominate Michelle for the Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award.”
Elected in 2013, Michelle is the first Asian American woman to serve on the Boston City Council and the first woman of color to become council president. Her legislative victories include paid parental leave, health care equity, language access, renewable energy, and procurement reform. She is proud that her sons, now 8-months and 3-years-old, will only know a world where moms lead.
Named in honor of the dedicated and courageous Gabrielle Giffords, the Rising Star Award celebrates an extraordinary woman serving in state or local office. The award honors a woman who demonstrates the sort of commitment to community, dedication to women and families, and determination and civility that have been the highlights of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ career, in and out of office. Previous Rising Star Award recipients include Georgia HouseMinority Leader Stacey Abrams in 2014, Boston City Councilwoman Ayanna Pressley in 2015, Colorado House Speaker Crisanta Duran in 2016, and Philadelphia City Councilwoman Helen Gym in 2017.
The Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award winner will be chosen with community input.
Michelle Wu is nominated alongside:
Kim Foxx, Cook County (Chicago, IL) State’s Attorney
Kristine Reeves, Washington State representative
Regina Romero, Tucson (Arizona) city councilor
Cora Faith Walker, Missouri state representative
Faith Winter, Colorado state representative
EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $500 million to support pro-choice Democratic women candidates – making them one of the most successful political organizations ever. Our grassroots community of over five million members helps Democratic women wage competitive campaigns – and win. We recruit and train candidates, support strong campaigns, research the issues that impact women and families, and turn out women voters. Since our founding in 1985, we have trained nearly 10,000 women to run and helped elect 116 women to the House, 23 to the Senate, 12 governors, and over 800 to state and local office. Forty percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color – including every single Latina, African American, and Asian American Democratic congresswoman currently serving.
