Priscilla MacKenzie "Kenzie" Bok (born June 30, 1989) is a member of the

Boston City Council The Boston City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is made up of 13 members: 9 district representatives and 4 at-large members. Councillors are elected to two-year terms and there is no ...

, representing District 8, which includes

Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and t ...

, Beacon Hill,

Fenway–Kenmore Fenway–Kenmore is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. While it is considered one neighborhood for administrative purposes, it is composed of numerous distinct sections (East Fenway, West Fenway, Audubon Circle, Kenmo ...

, Mission Hill, and the West End. She is also a lecturer on Social Studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, where she teaches

intellectual history Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual histor ...

and

history of philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

. Bok was elected to the City Council in the November 2019 election.

Early life

Bok was born in Boston on June 30, 1989 and grew up in the Bay Village neighborhood. Before her admission to Harvard in 2007, she had been educated at the John Winthrop School in Boston, the Park School, and

Milton Academy Milton Academy (also known as Milton) is a highly selective, coeducational, independent preparatory, boarding and day school in Milton, Massachusetts consisting of a grade 9–12 Upper School and a grade K–8 Lower School. Boarding is offered ...

(2007).

Academic career

Bok served as student president of the Kennedy Institute of Politics while she was a Harvard undergraduate, where in 2011 she earned her B.A. summa cum laude in intellectual history. In 2010, she was awarded a

Marshall Scholarship The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is widely considered one of the most prestigious sc ...

, then continued studies at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

(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. 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. Bok is an

intellectual historian Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual histor ...

who specializes in the young

John Rawls John Bordley Rawls (; February 21, 1921 – November 24, 2002) was an American moral, legal and political philosopher in the liberal tradition. Rawls received both the Schock Prize for Logic and Philosophy and the National Humanities Medal in 1 ...

and his path to writing

A Theory of Justice ''A Theory of Justice'' is a 1971 work of political philosophy and ethics by the philosopher John Rawls (1921-2002) in which the author attempts to provide a moral theory alternative to utilitarianism and that addresses the problem of distributiv ...

. As a Harvard University lecturer on

social policy Social policy is a plan or action of government or institutional agencies which aim to improve or reform society. Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize soci ...

and

, 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''.

Political career

Bok interned for the

Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign The 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama began on February 10, 2007, when Barack Obama, then junior United States senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for President of the United States in Springfield, Illinois. After winning a ma ...

at its Chicago headquarters, then, following the election, was an intern in 2010 at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

. 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 Boston Housing Authority (BHA) is a public agency of the city of Boston, Massachusetts that provides subsidized public housing to low- and moderate-income families and individuals. In the federal government model of the United States Depart ...

, the city agency focused on the management, preservation, and creation of

low-income housing Subsidized housing is government sponsored economic assistance aimed towards alleviating housing costs and expenses for impoverished people with low to moderate incomes. In the United States, subsidized housing is often called "affordable housin ...

Boston City Council

Bok declared her candidacy for the

in April 2019 following the decision of

Josh Zakim Josh Zakim (born December 16, 1983) is a Boston politician, attorney, and community activist. He formerly served on the Boston City Council representing District 8, which includes Boston's Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway–Kenmore, Mission H ...

to not seek a third term as councillor for District 8.

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

Boston affiliate

WGBH WGBH may refer to: * WGBH Educational Foundation, based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States ** WGBH (FM), a public radio station at Boston, Massachusetts on 89.7 MHz owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation ** WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), ...

described Bok as an "affordable housing expert and community leader" and as "senior adviser for policy and planning at the

and the former chair of Boston's Ward 5 Democratic Committee." 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. Before the preliminary election, Bok was endorsed by

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

, U.S. Congresswoman

Ayanna Pressley Ayanna Soyini Pressley (born February 3, 1974) is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 7th congressional district since 2019. This district includes the northern three quarters of Boston, most of Ca ...

, and numerous local organizations and politicians. 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. In the November 2019 general election, Bok won the seat with 70% of the vote, and took office on January 6, 2020.

Personal life

Bok is a longtime member and vestry member at Trinity Church in Boston's

Copley Square Copley Square , named for painter John Singleton Copley, is a public square in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, bounded by Boylston Street, Clarendon Street, St. James Avenue, and Dartmouth Street. Prior to 1883 it was known as Art Square due to it ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bok, Priscilla Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Harvard College alumni Harvard University faculty Historians of philosophy Historians of the United States People from Beacon Hill, Boston Milton Academy alumni Boston City Council members 1989 births Living people Women city councillors in Massachusetts 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American women academics