Kenzie Bok

Priscilla MacKenzie "Kenzie" Bok (born June 30, 1989) is a member of the Boston City Council, representing District 8, which includes Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway–Kenmore, Mission Hill, and the West End.[1][2] She is also a lecturer on Social Studies at Harvard University, where she teaches intellectual history and history of philosophy.[3] Bok was elected to the City Council in the November 2019 election.[2]

Kenzie Bok
Kenzie Bok at September 2019 Boston City Council candidates' forum
Boston City Councilor for District 8
Assumed office
January 6, 2020
Preceded byJosh Zakim
Personal details
Born
Priscilla MacKenzie Bok

(1989-06-30) June 30, 1989
Boston, Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican
ResidenceBeacon Hill, Boston
Philosophy career
Alma materHarvard University (AB, History); University of Cambridge (M.Phil, 2012; PhD, 2016)
Era20th-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolAnalytic
Social liberalism
InstitutionsHarvard University
Main interests
Notable ideas
Affordable housing is a social and economic justice issue

Early life

Bok was born in Boston on June 30, 1989[4] and grew up in the Bay Village neighborhood.[5] Before her admission to Harvard in 2007, she had been educated at the John Winthrop School in Boston, the Park School, and Milton Academy (2007).[6]

Academic career

Bok served as student president of the Kennedy Institute of Politics while she was a Harvard undergraduate,[7][8] where in 2011 she earned her B.A. summa cum laude in intellectual history.[9] In 2010, she was awarded a Marshall Scholarship,[10] then continued studies at the University of Cambridge (St John's College), where she earned her M.Phil. in Political Thought & Intellectual History in 2012 and then her Ph.D. in History in 2016.[3] While at Cambridge, she was awarded for her academic work the St John's Benefactors Scholarship, the Quentin Skinner Prize, the Sara Norton Prize, and the Thirwall Medal and Prince Consort Prize.[11]

Bok is an intellectual historian who specializes in the young John Rawls and his path to writing A Theory of Justice. As a Harvard University lecturer on social policy and intellectual history, she also teaches a course on "Justice in Housing." She has published peer-reviewed articles on the philosopher John Rawls in Modern Intellectual History and the Journal of the History of Ideas.[12]

Political career

Bok interned for the Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign at its Chicago headquarters, then, following the election, was an intern in 2010 at the White House.[7] She later served as Budget Director for Boston City Councilor-at-Large Annissa Essabi-George, and Senior Advisor for Policy and Planning for the Boston Housing Authority, the city agency focused on the management, preservation, and creation of low-income housing.[13]

Boston City Council

Bok declared her candidacy for the Boston City Council in April 2019 following the decision of Josh Zakim to not seek a third term as councillor for District 8. PBS Boston affiliate WGBH described Bok as an "affordable housing expert and community leader" and as "senior adviser for policy and planning at the Boston Housing Authority and the former chair of Boston's Ward 5 Democratic Committee."[14] At Harvard, where she is both a summa cum laude graduate and a lecturer, she teaches a course in "Justice and Housing" and serves on the board member at the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance.[15] Before the preliminary election, Bok was endorsed by The Boston Globe,[13] U.S. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, and numerous local organizations and politicians.[16]

In the September 2019 preliminary election, Bok received the largest percentage of votes for District 8 (50%), followed by Jennifer Nassour, former head of the Massachusetts Republican Party.[17] In the November 2019 general election, Bok won the seat with 70% of the vote,[18] and took office on January 6, 2020.[19]

Personal life

Bok is a longtime member and vestry member at Trinity Church in Boston's Copley Square.[20]

References
  1. Valencia, Milton J. (2020-01-06). "Boston ushers in historic diversity with new City Council, leadership". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  2. Murphy, Dan (2019-11-08). "Kenzie Bok Triumphs in District 8 City Council Race". Beacon Hill Times. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  3. "Kenzie Bok". Committee on Degrees in Social Studies. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  4. "Kenzie's Blog". Archived from the original on 2020-01-07. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  5. Valencia, Milton J. (2019-10-08). "Boston's most unusual council race is between a Democrat and a Republican". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  6. "Alumna and Harvard Senior, Kenzie Bok '07, Wins Prestigious Marshall Scholarship". www.milton.edu. Milton Academy. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  7. Kete, Julia E. (2010-12-10). "P. Kenzie Bok". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  8. Koch, Katie (2010-11-29). "Two named Marshall Scholars". The Harvard Gazette. Harvard University. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
  9. "History - Kenzie (Priscilla) Bok". www.joh.cam.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2017-09-05. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  10. "Alumna and Harvard Senior, Kenzie Bok '07, Wins Prestigious Marshall Scholarship". Milton Academy. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  11. "Fall 2018 – Spring 2019 Seminar Dates and Speakers". www.kenan.ethics.duke.edu. Duke University. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  12. Bok, Priscilla MacKenzie (2017). "To the mountaintop again: The early Rawls and post-protestant ethics in postwar America". Modern Intellectual History. 14 (1): 153–185.
  13. "First-time candidate Kenzie Bok wows the District 8 field". The Boston Globe. 2019-09-17. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  14. "Local Politics: Boston City Council District 8 Candidates". WGBH News. 2019-09-20. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  15. "Bok, Kenzie". Mass Affordable Housing Alliance. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  16. "Endorsements". Vote Kenzie Bok. Archived from the original on 2020-01-07. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  17. "The unofficial results from Tuesday's Boston City Council preliminary elections". The Boston Globe. 2019-09-24. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  18. "Full results from Boston's municipal election". The Boston Globe. 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  19. "Boston's city council swears in most diverse body". Boston.com. AP. January 7, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  20. "P. MacKenzie Bok ('22)". Trinity Church Boston. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
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