The MMOC is delighted to announce its new leadership team and congratulate Kelly Brilliant for her unanimous election to the post of MMOC Chair. The former Treasurer of the all-volunteer committee that oversees the historic Muddy River Rehabilitation Project and life-long advocate for urban greenspace, Kelly serves as co-executive director of The Fenway Alliance, a consortium of 21 prestigious cultural, academic, and community institutions. She spearheaded a year-long process that culminated in the designation of the Fenway by the Massachusetts Cultural Council as one of the first Cultural Districts in Massachusetts—and the first in Boston.
Under Kelly’s leadership, the Fenway Alliance has become a vital cultural convener for the community. She founded the Opening Our Doors festival (the City’s largest free arts event, now in its 21st year); TEDxFenway; and Public By Design, a public art series that features MA-based public artists. She founded the Fenway Alliance Corporate Partners Program, Leader2Leader Program, and, in partnership with her co-executive director Genevieve Day, the Fenway Alliance Salon Series.
Of her new position at the helm of the MMOC, Kelly enthuses, “Our organization is an exceptional and unique model for stewardship and oversight. Our successes have been built on a determined emphasis on public participation. I am honored to be serving with the new team—Kay Mathew, Vice Chair; Elisabeth Cianciola, Clerk; and H. Parker James, Treasurer—as we look ahead to new milestones in environmental restoration and resilience.”
Prior to leading The Fenway Alliance, Kelly directed Healthy Malden 2000, a nonprofit organization established to serve the health of the city through a variety of public health initiatives. She was Managing Director and co-author of FLASHPOINT: Life Skills through the Lens of Media Literacy and FLASHPOINT II: Close-Up on Civil Rights curricula, initiated by the Eastern District Attorney’s Office of Massachusetts, and Director of Curriculum for Harvard University’s Program for Young Negotiators. She has extensive experience researching, writing, and developing youth curricula that address substance abuse, violence prevention, prejudice, and hate crime reduction.
Kelly received a B.A. from Vassar College and an M.A. from Boston University. She lives in Brookline with her husband Michael Kim.
