Ruthzee Louijeune, an attorney and advocate, has launched her campaign for Boston City Council.
“Today, I am announcing my candidacy for Boston City Council At-Large,” Ruthzee Louijeune said. “I have the experience and conviction needed to lead this city forward. We must do more to care for our residents, our children, and our businesses, and we must do so with urgency. As an attorney and advocate, I’ve focused on issues and campaigns that center working people and Black and Latinx communities. I’m running for all of us, and this campaign will need all of us, together, to create an equitable Boston. We can achieve this vision: a city where all feel welcome, a city that is more prosperous, a city that is more just, a city where all are valued and treated with dignity.”
Ruthzee brings seven years’ experience working on political and advocacy campaigns, fighting for working people and Black and Latinx communities on issues of housing, education access, and civic participation. Most recently, Ruthzee started her own legal and advocacy business, The Opening PLLC. Previously, Ruthzee served as Senior Counsel for U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign. Prior to that, she was a lawyer at Perkins Coie LLP.
Since the pandemic hit, Ruthzee has been working with the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance (MAHA) to expand homeownership opportunities in the city for first-generation homebuyers, particularly Black and Brown residents. She has also been volunteering with the Guild Works in Dorchester, delivering food and supplies to Boston residents quarantining with COVID-19 or struggling with food insecurity.
“Ruthzee will be a great addition to the Boston City Council. Ruthzee’s background of advocacy will make her a solid decision maker and City Councilor for the people. Ruthzee will be a leader who matches great negotiation skills needed for systems change with great constituent services, and that is what I look for in my City Councilor,” said Marie St. Fleur, Former State Representative. Fleur spent 11 years in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and was the first Haitian-American elected to state office in the United States. “Ruthzee’s candidacy is historic for the Haitian-American community. If elected, Ruthzee would break barriers.”
Ruthzee, 34, is the daughter of Haitian immigrants, born and raised in Mattapan and Hyde Park. She is a trained attorney and advocate. She graduated from Columbia University, Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Law School. She is also a proud graduate of Boston Public Schools: Charles H. Taylor Elementary School, the John W. McCormack Middle School, and Boston Latin School. She resides in Hyde Park, and is fluent in French, Haitian Creole and speaks conversational Spanish.
Ruthzee would be the first Haitian-American City Councilor. In 2019, the Boston City Council elected its first majority-female city council in Boston’s history.