Nelson will play a vital role in leading efforts to foster citywide dialogue and executing the City's resilience strategy, Resilient Boston: An Equitable and Connected City, to acknowledge and combat the root causes of these divisions, helping the city to unite and build the collective capacity for change. "I am honored to welcome Lori as our new Chief Resilience Officer," said Mayor Walsh. "Her experience as a life-long public servant makes her a perfect fit for this position. From her first job out of college working as the Executive Director of the Black Caucus at the State House on the CORI Reform Bill, to directing constituent services at the Boston Housing Authority, Lori's mission has always been to give back to her community by increasing access and opportunity to every Bostonian. This role and mission is critical to the success of our city, and I look forward to working with Lori to achieve our resiliency and equity goals."

Nelson was most recently the Director of Communications and Constituency Services for the City of Boston's Housing Authority. Alongside that role, she commits time to community work, serving on the Advisory Council for the Barbara Lee Foundation; chairing the Political Action Committee for the Black Ministerial Alliance since 2013 where she was appointed to the executive leadership team in 2017. She also served in leadership as the first Vice President of the NAACP Boston branch from January 2017 through April 2018 and now continues her advocacy as a member within the branch. Before joining the City of Boston's Housing Authority, Nelson was the Deputy Chief of Staff for the MBTA. Prior to joining the MBTA, she worked for Governor Deval Patrick as the Deputy Director of Community Affairs and Special Projects, where she served as a liaison on community related affairs, particularly concerning youth, ethnic groups and coalitions across the Commonwealth, faith-based initiatives, and worked with Public Safety and Health and Human Services on youth violence reduction Nelson specializes in coalition and partnership building, as well as political strategy in urban areas. Nelson studied English Literature and African American Studies at Northeastern University.

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