YW Boston is pleased to announce that in November 2019, Marguerite Fletcher was elected to the role of YW Boston Board Chair. She succeeded longtime YW Boston Board Chair Mim Minichiello. Marguerite is an expert in workplace diversity and has brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to our Board. Prior to her appointment, Marguerite had served as YW Boston’s Vice President of the Board of Directors. In 2018, Marguerite graduated from YW Boston’s inclusive leadership program LeadBoston, the same year she was elected to the YW Boston Board of Directors. We are thrilled that she will be leading our efforts as Board Chair.

Marguerite, who was born in Kingston, Jamaica, is a graduate of the Harvard Law School and the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. She is currently the President of Fletcher Consulting, LLC. In her role, she serves as a diversity consultant, keynote speaker and executive coach, and has been active in diversity work for over twenty years. Previously, she has served as a Senior Consultant with the Vernā Myers Consulting Group and Ibis Consulting Group, Corporate Counsel at Lotus Development Corporation/IBM, and as an attorney with Hale and Dorr (now known as Wilmer Hale).

With her incredible enthusiasm, we know Marguerite is the perfect person to serve as the face of our Board. To learn more about Marguerite and her vision for YW Boston, check out our interview with her:

How did you first become involved with YW Boston?

In 2017, my friend Vernā Myers recommended me to Beth (Chandler) as a possible speaker at a YW Boston event. Beth found another speaker for that event, but she invited me to meet with her and Annie (Garmey, YW Boston’s CDO). Beth had me at “Eliminating racism and empowering women.” I was thrilled to be invited to join the Board. At the same time, I was in the process of applying to participate in LeadBoston. 2018 was my year of YW Boston immersion and it was an excellent year for me.

Why is YW Boston’s work so important for the city?

Boston isn’t where it should be with regard to equity, inclusion and access for all of Boston’s citizens. People of color, women and particularly women of color do not have equitable access to positions, places and power in our city. Boston cannot maintain its position as a world class city if it doesn’t recognize and utilize the talent of all of its citizens. YW Boston has been working on racial and gender equity since our founding in 1866 and we won’t stop until our mission has been accomplished. YW Boston is uniquely positioned to work with the public, private and non-profit sectors to help make Boston equitable and accessible for all.

Has your involvement with YW Boston changed your approach to gender and racial equity work? In what way?

My involvement with YW Boston has deepened my appreciation of the need to tackle gender and racial equity on multiple fronts simultaneously in order to be successful. YW Boston empowers individual leaders through LeadBoston, engages organizations through InclusionBoston and educates our youth on these issues through F.Y.R.E. Complementing all of this is our advocacy work to help drive change at the City and State level. Underlying it all is our research and strategic thinking. Our ability to collaborate and partner with other organizations is helping us to reach broader audiences.

As Board Chair, what is your vision for YW Boston in the year 2020?

In 2020 we will see the results of the strategy work done by YW staff over the last two years. Under Beth’s leadership, we have focused our energy on three primary programs: InclusionBoston, LeadBoston and F.Y.R.E. We will increase our presence in the corporate space while continuing to support non-profits and educational institutions. We will focus on building an endowment that will be able to support our mission until it is accomplished. Through our advocacy and educational programs, we will continue to establish our reputation as a thought leader on racial and gender equity issues in Boston. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as the Board Chair of YW Boston. We have a very strong team and under Beth Chandler’s leadership, I have no doubt that we will make great strides toward our mission.

Welcome, Marguerite! We are thrilled that you will be leading YW Boston as Board Chair.

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About YW Boston

As the first YWCA in the nation, YW Boston has been at the forefront of advancing equity for over 150 years. Through our DE&I services—InclusionBoston and LeadBoston—as well as our advocacy work and youth programming, we help individuals and organizations change policies, practices, attitudes, and behaviors with a goal of creating more inclusive environments where women, people of color, and especially women of color can succeed.