MassBudget elects civic leaders, Segun Idowu and Imari K. Paris Jeffries, to its Board to advance antiracist policy in the Commonwealth

For Immediate Release
Contact: Reginauld Williams, Communications Director
617-426-1228, x 102, rwilliams@massbudget.org

BOSTON — February 22, 2021 — The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, a leading policy think tank, today announced the appointment of two prominent civic leaders to its board of directors: Segun Idowu, Executive Director of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA), and Imari K. Paris Jeffries, Executive Director of King Boston. The additions of Idowu and Paris Jeffries accompany the board’s election of its new officers: Board Chair, Dr. Alexandra Piñeros-Shields, Vice-Chair and Clerk, Kalila Barnett, and Treasurer, Glenn Parker.

“We’re thrilled to have Segun and Imari join our board and to welcome our new slate of officers,” said Marie-Frances Rivera, the president of MassBudget. “They are all brilliant leaders who bring valuable experience and a deep understanding of social justice, economic inequities, and the policy levers that will help drive change at our organization and across the Commonwealth.”

Idowu, a Boston native and Boston Latin Academy alum, joined BECMA in 2018, where he has helped to triple the organization’s membership. Segun holds his B.A. in History from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and has a wealth of experience including his work with the office of former-District 4 City Councilor Charles C. Yancey and at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. Concurrently, he organized the Boston Police Camera Action Team (BPCAT) in 2014 with fellow Latin Academy alumna Shekia Scott, which resulted in the Boston Police Department’s body camera program implementation. In May 2020, Segun was recognized by Boston Magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the City of Boston.”

In 2020, Paris Jeffries joined King Boston, an organization honoring the legacy and values of the King family through the Embrace Memorial and creating economic justice for BIPOC communities through the King Center for Economic Justice. He has extensive experience in nonprofit management, community activism, education reform, and social justice. He has served in executive roles at Parenting Journey, Jumpstart, Boston Rising, and Friends of The Children. Imari currently serves as a Trustee of the UMass system, as well as on the boards of United South End Settlements, and the Governor’s Black Advisory Commission. He received three degrees from UMass Boston and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. through UMass Boston’s Higher Education Program.

MassBudget’s newest executive officers are longstanding community leaders with proven experience and fierce determination to improve the Commonwealth’s outcomes: Dr. Piñeros-Shields is Senior Lecturer on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Master of Public Policy program at Brandeis University and serves as the Executive Director at the Essex County Community Organization (ECCO); Barnett is the Climate Resilience Program Officer at the Barr Foundation and former Executive Director at Alternatives for Community & Environment (ACE); and Parker is an arts and technology impact investor, and trustee at the Parker Family Foundation.

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