Bostonians of the Year

2020 BOSTONIANS OF THE YEAR

The Front Line

In 2020, they stood up to fight the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and racial injustice. Meet the people leading us through a harrowing year.

THE COVID SCIENTISTS

Stacey Gabriel and the Broad Institute, plus Galit Alter, Lindsey Baden, and Ashish Jha

THE SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATES

Monica Cannon-Grant, Queen-Cheyenne Wade, Segun Idowu, and Sofia Meadows

THE COMMUNITY LEADERS

Gladys Vega and La Colaborativa

THE ESSENTIAL WORKERS

Health care workers, grocery store employees, delivery drivers, and so many more

THE HUNGER FIGHTERS

Erin McAleer and Project Bread

THE ROLE MODEL

Jaylen Brown, activist and athlete

More Standout Scientists

Ashish Jha: Speaking out for science and for public health in the pandemic
He didn’t want to be a TV personality, but Jha wanted Americans to be well-informed about COVID-19.

Galit Alter: Speeding up the COVID-19 fight by connecting scientists
By encouraging other researchers to share their work, Alter opened doors to new kinds of collaboration.

Lindsey Baden: Taking action on multiple fronts against COVID-19
Baden helped organize efforts to test treatments, co-led the development of a potential vaccine, and opened the floodgates to getting cutting-edge research published.

some Past honorees

Andrew Lelling, the US attorney for Massachusetts, and Rachael Rollins, the Suffolk County district attorney.

Meet the 2019 Bostonians of the Year: Andrew Lelling and Rachael Rollins

These fiercely dedicated prosecutors don’t agree on much, except this: Justice needs to be for everyone.

Meet the 2018 Bostonians of the Year: Ayanna Pressley and Alex Cora

She’s the first African-American woman to represent Massachusetts in Congress. He’s the first manager of color in Red Sox history. Both are blazing bold paths forward grounded in smart strategy.

From writing op-ed columns to messages on his sneakers, Celtics center Enes Kanter has been a voice of conscience in promoting freedom, no matter the cost.

The Celtics’ Enes Kanter stands tall for human rights

From left: Economists Michael
Kremer, Esther Duflo, and Abhijit Banerjee developed methods
that changed the global fight against poverty.

The Harvard and MIT economists finding new ways to fight global poverty

Ivan Soto; Rosemary Smedile; Martha Velez; Fire Chief Brian Moriarty; Kim Moriarty; and Mayor Dan Rivera in front of Lawrence City Hall.

The ordinary people who rushed to help when catastrophe struck the Merrimack Valley

Aly Raisman isn’t done fighting for sexual assault survivors

Samantha Savitz sits on her father Raphael’s lap, next to her mother, Glenda, as they and and more than two dozen
neighbors sign the word “friend.”

To make a deaf child feel welcome, this neighborhood learned sign language

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