total time: 16.56 minutes
total words: 831
[XXXXXX00138_SPEAKER_01]: Hey listeners, this is Danielle. And Shelley. Shelley is a radical Dravidian and racial equity activist.
[Chelli Keshavan]: And Danielle is a community mobilizer and change maker. And this is the Medford Bites podcast. Every two weeks, we chew on the issues facing Medford and deliver bites of information about the city by lifting the expertise of our guests.
[XXXXXX00138_SPEAKER_01]: Join us in discussion about what you hope for the future of Medford. And as always, tell us where you like to eat.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thanks so much for joining me tonight. If you don't mind just introducing yourself with your name, pronouns, and a bit about who you are.
[Liz Mullane]: Sure. Thank you so much for having me. Liz Mullane, she, her. I am a nonprofit development professional who's been in the nonprofit world for I currently work at Northeastern University, where I am an assistant vice president for advancement. And in that role, I manage and oversee 6 different units that cover kind of a variety of different areas. With our families, I work with individuals who want to leave Northeastern in their estate plans and I do fundraising for our athletic athletics and our libraries. So, a lot of different programmatic support across the university. I've been in this role for about two years, but I've been involved with Northeastern since about 2020. I was hired as an adjunct faculty member in their graduate nonprofit management program. So a lot of my time is spent working with adult learners and basically sharing with them how to build out a nonprofit from the financial, legal, and strategic planning side of it. I have been in Medford since 2018. I live here with my husband, and we have two rescue dogs. We were fostering throughout the pandemic. We ended up finding out about a bonded pair of older dogs that the adopter had dropped out. And my husband's a big Bruins fan and they had lost that day. He was very vulnerable. So we decided to bring the foster, the bonded pair up with us. And we were not able to find another family that wanted to adopt an older two dogs. So we have them. So they're lovely additions to our home. And I have been involved with the Medford Democratic City Committee and that's kind of how I first started getting a little bit more engaged within Medford. And I've been involved as a member, since about when I moved here. and have served as the chair for Ward 2 for the Medford Democratic City Committee for the past couple of years. And in that role, trying to get people more aware of and more locally politically engaged here in the democratic process. And now I'm trying to turn some of that information and some of that experience into running for city council.
[Danielle Balocca]: Oh, excellent. I learned a lot about you there. So we are going to talk like more about your campaign for City Council. Before we do that, I'm just going to ask you the question that I ask everybody on the podcast, which is what is your favorite place to eat in Medford? And what do you like to eat there?
[Liz Mullane]: Sure. Um, so this actually is a tough one. There are a lot of great places. But I would say there's a restaurant right across the right around the corner from us called nappies. Um, I don't know if people have been, but, um, I took my husband there in one of our first dates and there is nothing more amusing than the fear of someone realizing there is no menu and you have to listen to the servers go through every single type of pasta and sauce and meat combination. Um, I will say it was so humorous, uh, to witness this firsthand. And his answer was spaghetti and meatballs. Which he still gets, even though he's been there several times. I would say mine is Penny Vodka with chicken from there.
[Danielle Balocca]: I've never done that piece. I'm so intrigued by it, but also I feel like I've heard their Cash Only, which I wasn't planning ahead that well. So yeah, I gotta try it though. Keep hearing it.
[Liz Mullane]: Yeah, it's really good. And it is funny. You are like, you gotta listen.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, I'll have to add that to my bucket list. Well, thank you. So yeah, you know, you mentioned that you're running for city council. So I'm wondering if you could share a little bit more about what helped you decide to run, kind of what motivated that choice for you?
[Liz Mullane]: Sure. So, as I mentioned, I've been here since 2018. I've been a renter. until that point, but bought here in Medford. And so I'm really seeing a lot of things happen over the past couple of years really started to kind of push me to want to get more involved, especially within the city council. I'm seeing, certainly seeing a lot of the things happening on our pedestrian walkways that we had nearby. I live right here on the Fells Way. So I'm constantly seeing people getting near accidents or accidents here. Our streets, I'm someone that I think I may have now officially popped all tires on Grant Street coming up because of the roads and conditions. And really, as I was starting to think about how to get more engaged as the world has been going nationally, I really wanted to make sure I can make an impact here locally. So all of these things kind of helped to push me to really start wanting to get more involved and to really take a positive action forward for Medford. And hopefully after I go through some of my experience and some of the things I think I can bring to the city council will kind of help kind of demonstrate where I think I might have the skill sets to really move Medford and continue to move Medford in a positive direction.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, and you mentioned in your intro that you've been kind of a non-profit management space for a while, and I feel like that non-profit management seems in line with what someone as a political leader in Medford would need. You know, I think what we've been through a lot in terms of budgets and talking about budgets and talking about revenue, and I think we're in this position as a city where we could move in a really positive direction with that and good leadership will be helpful. But I guess I'm wondering, yeah, what your priorities would be, sort of what you're seeing right now, maybe any critiques you have, and then what you would hope to bring in terms of change.
[Liz Mullane]: Sure. I got my start in fundraising working at Emily's List, which raises money for pro-choice Democratic women running for Congress. And in that role, I really started understanding how important fundraising was in order to move the needle on a lot of these different revenue generating initiatives. And it kind of stuck with me ever since I've seen what that impact could look like. So Since then, I've worked at organizations where I've really used a lot of my budgeting, strategic management, and understanding of how to find revenue streams for each of these different nonprofits that I've worked with. So I started working at the Advertising Council, which some people might recognize as Smokey Bear. but essentially working within the advertising and media to help push the needle around campaigns for public service and really trying to drive people on how to get more involved and engaged. In that capacity, I learned how to write foundation and corporate grants. I've done capital funds and endowment funds around education, around mental health. I helped to create a facility within the BILH system for one of their hospitals around behavioral health, especially for our youth and being able to provide the right services that they would need. And I've also worked and managed a research campaign for the Alzheimer's Association. So again, working within medical research and treatments and advancement And during all of this I served as a consultant for nonprofits, and I was going in and out of different nonprofits and seen. where there could be improvements around how they're budgeting, how they're running their finances, what that looked like. And I realized at that point in time, I didn't really have a lot of that training to provide more of that support. So I ended up going back to school to get my MBA at Texas A&M. And when I was there, that's actually where I started working on federal and government grants. And I was working within Texas to help provide mobile medical support for low income and rural communities and learning what it meant to write federal government grants. So throughout my career, I've kind of worked in a variety of different ways in which you can drive revenue and felt like, you know, seeing some of the things that were happening within the budget and with what Medford's trying to do, thought that I could utilize some of those skill sets in order to really help improve some of these areas within Medford. So that was kind of how my background kind of pieces came to it. And, you know, when I was looking at some of the budgeting pieces of it, you know, knowing that at Northeastern and within another university, I've worked within the library systems in terms of building out revenue and generating support for technology for programs. I know we've got an amazing library here, but I know they're, they also need more staff support and more support around the incredible programming they do. I'd love to be involved and engaged in doing those types of services, certainly around mental health and providing more mental health services and Councilors in Medford to be able to stabilize and deescalate in situations. I think that's critically important. So those were some of the areas where I felt like I have direct past professional experience within how to kind of work and serve in some of those industries that would be helpful within Medford and kind of moving the needle on some of these different programs.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, that's a really big scope of things that you've had, sort of had your hands in. That's, I'm hearing just like a lot of, I'm hearing that addressing a lot of different sort of things that Medford is lacking. Yeah, I guess, yeah. I wonder if there's any particular parts of that that you're kind of most passionate about or that you see as like, you know, moving Medford into being a more kind of equitable city.
[Liz Mullane]: Sure, absolutely. I mean, you know, as I mentioned, some of the reasons why I got involved, I also wanted to think of what are some of the things that I could bring to the table? What are some of the things that I could help to do? when we're talking about pedestrian safety, looking to do an audit across the city with hopefully organizations like Walk Massachusetts that has done this in other areas. So not just what I'm seeing because of where I live, but even different neighbors that I've spoken to, there's a variety of different places where we could address that. I think that we should look at that holistically instead of kind of piecemeal in different areas. Um, you know, I've, I've also, as I mentioned, have the two dogs and no backyard. So I am a huge proponent of green space, more open walkable areas. I know Medford is going to be starting their new strategic plan for 2026 around open space and recreational needs. And that's something that I want to advocate and be a part of to help make sure some of those initiatives still move forward. One of the areas that I think I've been very impressed with is the Affordable Housing Trust. And certainly, trying to provide affordable housing is going to come in a variety of different ways. I don't think there's one specific thing that'll get it all done. but what I really appreciate about the Affordable Housing Trust is that it's a first step in a way to move the needle and to be able to identify how we can find new funds in order to make it more affordable to live within Medford. Certainly, I know that they receive grant funding, but there are other different ways to drive revenue into the Affordable Housing Trust that I think could dig a little bit deeper into as well. I also think about bringing in more small businesses into Medford. You know, I've had conversations with some small business owners about how difficult the process is to navigate and there's a lot of roadblocks and how can we streamline that process and incentivize it to make it a more an easier place for small businesses to engage with us. I think there's a lot of opportunity and we just have to figure out ways in which we can make it more feasible for more businesses to be able to do that. And certainly, you know, someone as I work in higher ed, I work with families, I teach, making sure that we're making our education a priority and supportive of Medford Public Schools and being the partner with the school committee as well to ensure that a lot of their initiatives and the things that they're seeing to help drive improvements for our students is important for the entire community. So, I think it's something that we all need to be behind and be supportive of. So, these are all just a couple of different areas that. I'm passionate about, that I think with my experience, you know, having more of an understanding behind working within kind of complex, larger institutions, understanding some of the nuances around the budgetary process for some of these different larger departments and what that looks like, and really being able to help identify ways to encourage growth, I believe are things that could be helpful in this role on the City Council.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah. And so, you know, I think one of the things we haven't talked about yet is that you're running with as part of our revolution. And, you know, I'm hearing in working in the spaces that you've worked where there's, you know, a huge bureaucracy, probably lots of different opinions you're managing, like, you know, probably lots of different types of folks and trying to get everything done, which I think does translate well to the role of a city councilor. I'm wondering though, like, you know, I think it's not a secret that there's a group of folks in Medford that won't vote for people because of their affiliation with Our Revolution. And so I guess I'm wondering, like, what you would say to those people about how you would represent them, even if they're not sort of on board with that platform?
[Liz Mullane]: Sure. So I think for me, what I have really come to see with OR and the work that they've done is my connection to the progressive issues that they represent and they stand for. And I think if you really do look at those different areas, I think many of us want, I would hope, better school systems for our students, that they would want to have Recycling, composting, greener spaces, open spaces. If there's one thing I have learned, I've learned how to negotiate and to work with people that have a variety of different ideas and opinions. And I think I think that's an area where I've been able to excel within my career to be able to navigate some of those difficult conversations and to be able to, you know, be able to express. These are the issues that I'm really pushing for and really wanting to see change. within Medford, and I think our revolution has done a really great job moving the needle on a lot of these things. And I also think that, you know, they're all individual people as well that come at it in a different perspective, and I think are all working in the same direction, which is trying to make the city better. But having, you know, working with a large group of people and having to navigate those kinds of conversations, I feel confident that I'll be able to continue pushing through on these areas that I see need improvement within Medford and to try to bring people to the table. I think, you know, what I've been seeing and hearing as I've talking with people on the streets is just being able to listen and being an open ear and having a conversation. And maybe we won't always agree on everything, but I want to be here to get a better understanding of where people are coming from, and to be able to see how best to navigate some of those difficult conversations with them if we may not be on the same page. But I do think it's important to listen to everyone and to provide a space and an opportunity for them to share some of their ideas and thoughts as well.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thank you. Yes, I'm wondering if there are any topics that we haven't covered or anything that you were hoping we would talk about tonight.
[Liz Mullane]: No, I just, you know, I'm excited about the opportunity. I'm really looking forward to continuing to meet with people and having these conversations and door knocking. I have to say the people have been lovely. And have been sharing, you know, some of the things that are their concerns and sometimes they're in line and sometimes they're things that. haven't heard about before, which is great to take note of and to try to follow back up and see, you know, where myself or where the city council can be helpful in trying to help answer some of those questions. So I guess I would just say, you know, I hope as I meet more people that they feel willing and able to approach me and have these conversations and to talk through some of these different areas, because I think at the end of the day, we're all here trying to make a better place. And I think that if we can do that together, we can really see some great movement and change in Medford as well.
[Danielle Balocca]: Oh, thanks, Liz. And how can people get in touch with you? Or how can they get more information about your campaign?
[Liz Mullane]: Sure. So my website is Liz, number four, Medford. And my email address is the same Liz for Medford at gmail.com, the same Instagram and Facebook handles. Um, I try to update it as much as I can, but I'm not great at it. Uh, so please email me if I haven't gotten back or if you haven't seen anything posted in a while. Um, but yeah, I'd love to hear from people and, um, help in any way that I can.
[Danielle Balocca]: Well, thanks Liz. And thanks for, um, thanks for talking to us tonight and good luck with your campaign. Thank you. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. The Medford Bites podcast is produced and moderated by Danielle Balacca and Shelly Kisherman. Music is made by Hendrik Ydernees. We'd love to hear what you think about the podcast. You can reach out to us by email at medfordpod at gmail.com, or you can rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts. Thanks so much for listening. Guys, what's the name of the podcast? Medford Bites. Medford Bites. Go Dodge.
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total time: 16.56 minutes total words: 831 |
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