Completing a full circle, Boston GS '93 works for social justice

Joseph Alexander Boston III GS '93, Baltimore's new homeless services director, has his work cut out for him. Baltimore is one of the twelve "meanest" cities for the homeless people to live in, according to a January report by the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.

Boston has planned an ambitious schedule for his first few months on the job, which he started Feb. 25. He plans to act as a liaison between the business community, "every day citizens," and homeless people.

"The key is balancing and finding out what the real issues are," he explained. "I want to bridge some of these gaps."

To do this, the new director is personally visiting all service care providers in Baltimore, which include outreach and advocacy groups in addition to shelters and soup kitchens. His department doles out $20 dollars to 65 different nonprofits every year, and there are many more that don't receive government aid.

Boston is meeting with other officials including the police department, as he tries to "reach common ground" with the many sides vying for his department's attention.

"I want to make a positive impact by working collaboratively with people. The goal is helping people who are homeless," he said.

He stressed that any help may make a large difference in a homeless person's self-sufficiency, and that each person's goals are different from the next. He hopes that his work will ultimately improve Baltimore's system of accountability.

"I need to get a sense of what everyone is doing and what the concerns of the community are," he said.

As to the report ranking Baltimore as one of the toughest cities for homeless people to live in, Boston said the rankings are a question of "perception versus reality."

Boston also said he had the commitment of Baltimore mayor Martin O'Malley and Housing Commissioner Paul Graziano in helping the cause of the homeless.

"Everyone is interested in seeing that homeless people are not left behind. There is work to be done but Mayor O'Malley and Commissioner Graziano are committed," Boston said.

He added that this claim does not reflect the great work that the city has done over the past few years to combat homelessness.

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Although he has no prior experience in this particular area, he hopes to build on his lifelong experiences of working to achieve social justice.

Boston is originally from the Baltimore area where he now resides with his own family — his wife Sia and two young sons. For his undergraduate education, he attended Yale and majored in political science. While on campus, he participated in protests against South Africa's apartheid system and did different community service projects though his fraternity. Along with his major, these activities helped spark Boston's interest in political and social affairs.

After graduating in 1988, Boston applied for admission to law schools and public policy schools. He deferred his admissions to both the Wilson School's graduate program and Harvard Law School while he tried to decide what road to take.

Ultimately, however, he would end up pursuing both.

"I worked at a law firm as a paralegal for a year to see if my interest was there," Boston explained. "I was interested in pursuing a law degree, but I decided I didn't want to work in a firm."

"It just didn't impress me as being particularly interesting. It just didn't excite me," he added.

After his year at the firm, Boston began his first year at Harvard. In addition to the core classes required, he focused on human rights and international law there.

With his first year finished, Boston switched modes and started studying at the Wilson School.

Boston received his master's degree in public affairs from the University in 1993 and his law degree the following year.

Boston filled his summers with experiences that would build on both his legal and policy-oriented studies. He spent the summer of 1991 researching training experiences for black elected or appointed officials for the Ford Foundation.

"That summer working for the foundation really solidified the notion that I wouldn't end up working at a law firm," Boston said.

He traveled to Nigeria for a summer internship with the Civil Liberties Union after finishing his second year at Harvard Law. "I worked on preparing literature for a campaign to get political activists freed," he added.

He accompanied the group's lawyers to the trials and helped with bail procedures as well.

Another experience Boston enjoyed was his work with the Urban League of Trenton. He helped with their project "The State of Black Trenton."

"Having a legal background helped my perspective on the job. This was the kind of work that I wanted to do," he said.

With degrees from three prestigious universities, Boston was ready to return home, study for the bar exam, and find work that would utilize his years of study. He ended up working for a year in the Baltimore office of the Enterprise Foundation on Neighbor-hood Transformation, focusing on education issues that affected the 10,000 residents of the area.

But after a year there, Boston was on the move again. Having passed all sections of the Foreign Service exam, he gained an administrative position in Pakistan.

"The job was a good way of getting some management experience immediately," he commented. "I was supervising thirty Pakistanis who worked for the United States government. It was the most management experience I had ever had."

He also took a position in El Salvador and used it as an opportunity to get a working level of fluency in Spanish. When Boston's father passed away, he wanted to return to his home base in Baltimore. This time, however, the job market was tough.

Instead, he relocated to North Carolina and helped a businessman there set up a foundation to provide surplus schoolbooks to children in South Africa. When the task was complete, Boston was ready for something new.

He received a one-year fellowship from the Andrus Family Foundation based in New York. He researched foster care and transitions to independent living while commuting between New York, Philadelphia, and his home in Baltimore. Boston used his research to develop a better approach for the situation, and in turn, worked with the grantees to implement it. This position ended this past December.

Boston's new job is really a culmination of his varied studies and his love for his hometown. Boston said he wanted to tackle a new project, even one where he had no prior experience.

"Having worked in the Foreign Service, I was able to perform jobs in which I had no specific experience," he said. "But, I learned to manage people, which has served me well."

Boston had never directly worked with the issue of homelessness, but he is ready and willing to work with the community on this issue. It also helps that he is "surrounded by people who know much about the issue."

These traits made Boston an attractive candidate for the position of director of homeless services.

First deputy housing commissioner Otis Rolley said in the Baltimore Sun, "We need someone with a clear track record of being able to manage and problem-solve. His lack of direct, quote-unquote 'homeless experience' made him more attractive to me."

Although busy with his new job, Boston is content to be back at home with his family. He tries to read some books about history and politics in his spare time, although he admits that lately he has not had that much time.

"Regardless of where I have been, the thing that has driven me is the idea of social justice," he reflected. "It has been the driving force in the choices that I have made—even if at some times they may seem contradictory to each other."

"I have put the skills that I have learned to good use to try and do positive and pro-active things and further social justice," he said.