Advocate for Clubs
Advocate for Clubs
Please ask your legislators to support our work on Beacon Hill!
Please ask your legislators to support our work on Beacon Hill!
Engaging Our Legislators
Engaging Our Legislators
The Massachusetts Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs serves as the joint action agency for our 40 member Clubs. We serve as a single access point for state funding and bring a unified voice to policy issues that impact our Clubs, staff, and the 175,000 children and youth we serve across the Commonwealth.
The Alliance advocates for:
- State funding to support our Clubs, programs, and staff
- Legislation to protect the health, safety and welfare of our children and youth
- Policies that enhance the Afterschool, Out-of-School Time and Early Education fields in Massachusetts
Please consider reaching out to your local legislators to ask them to support the Boys & Girls Clubs and the work we are doing to across the Commonwealth.
Click here to find your local elected officials:
https://malegislature.gov/search/findmylegislator
MA Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs Advocacy Day
MA Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs Advocacy Day
The event featured remarks from State Representative John Lawn, State Senator Brendan Crighton, State Senator Michael Rodrigues, Boys & Girls Club of America Hall of Famer “Marvelous” Marvin McIntyre, and Haybi Garcia, 2024 Massachusetts Youth of the Year and alumnus of the Waltham Boys & Girls Club.
The event highlighted and celebrated the important role Clubs play in their communities: providing afterschool and out-of-school time programming, offering social and emotional support to kids and teens, serving hundreds of thousands of meals to those in need, and providing childcare to working families. The Alliance also took the opportunity to call upon the legislature to support our budget
request, which will help Clubs to continue serving nearly 112,000 youth kids at 63 Club sites across the Commonwealth.
As part of the event, the Alliance bestowed Representative Lawn and Senator Crighton with its 2025 House and Senate Champion of Youth Awards, in recognition of their tireless advocacy on behalf of Boys & Girls Clubs on Beacon Hill.
Born and raised in Watertown, Rep. Lawn has represented the 10th Middlesex District—which includes parts of Watertown, Waltham, and Newton—since 2011, and he currently serves as House Chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing. Representative Lawn is a long-time supporter of the Boys & Girls Clubs in his district and is an alumnus of the Watertown Club.
“I am truly humbled and honored to be named this year’s ‘Champion of Youth’ by the Massachusetts Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs", said Representative John J. Lawn, Jr. (D-Watertown). "As someone who spent so much of my own childhood at the Watertown Boys & Girls Club, I know firsthand how vital these organizations are. They provided me with not just a place to go after school, but the support,
guidance, and community that helped shape who I am today. This award means so much to me because it reflects the incredible work being done across the Commonwealth to give every child the same opportunities I had to grow, learn, and succeed. I’m proud to stand with the Boys & Girls Clubs and continue to fight for a future where every young person can reach their fullest potential".
Born and raised in Lynn, Senator Crighton attended Lynn public schools and is long-time supporter of the Boys & Girls Club of Lynn. After college, Senator Crighton joined State Senator Thomas McGee’s staff on Beacon Hill as a legislative aide before launching his political career in Lynn, winning a City Council seat in 2009. In 2014, Senator Crighton was elected to represent the 11th Essex District in the House of Representatives, where he served for three years. He was elected to the Massachusetts State Senate in 2018, where he currently serves as the Chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation and the Chair of the Senate Committee on Juvenile and Emerging Adult Justice.
“I am honored to be chosen as this year’s Senate Champion of Youth at the Massachusetts Alliance of Boys & Girls Club Legislative Reception,” said Senator Brendan Crighton. “Boys & Girls Clubs throughout the state work tirelessly to ensure young people have every opportunity to reach their potential and be successful, and I am proud to play a small part in the impactful difference they make. I am especially grateful for the incredible team at our club in the City of Lynn.”
The event also celebrated the Massachusetts Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs, which was named the 2024 State Alliance of the Year by Boys & Girls Clubs of America. The prestigious award is given annually to a State Alliance that has at least 90% of the non-military Boys & Girls Club organizations in its state participate in the Alliance and that demonstrates excellence in many of the following areas: oversight of state funding to assure public trust; promotes and strengthens Clubs’ relationships with public and private agencies throughout the state; expands quality youth development; develops and implements a comprehensive legislative strategy and grassroots advocacy campaign; increase and diversify State funding; and active and engaged Alliance Board of Directors and Clubs.
At the conclusion of the event, it was announced that Boys & Girls Clubs of America would be recognizing board chair Julie Gage with the Roy McBean Memorial State Alliance Board Member of the Year for demonstrated excellence in board service.