Good Bostonians

They're out there

By CARA BAYLES, CHRISTINE LIU, DAVID DAY, ELLEN PRZEPASNIAK, NICOLE JONES, SCOTT SAYARE

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We sat down and generated an enormous list of good-doers in a warm and fuzzy editorial meeting, where we realized, there are a lot of people who make this city amazing. That was the first hour. Then we spent some time whittling down the list, imagining super villains for our Good Bostonians to battle. It was a productive meeting.

So here you go. Nine extraordinary human beings who make this city a better place. These activists, environmentalists, truth-seekers and fun-lovers are jovial, hopeful and ridiculously hard to condense into 400 words ... but we did it anyway. They are leaders in their fields, innovators who draw connections between different issues and institutions, like youth programming and the arts, education and the peace movement, unemployment and environmentalism. They're already working actively to change the communities they live in, and they still have huge potential to completely change this city!

Yeah, we're excited about the work they're doing. You should be, too.

[goodbostonian08]

Politician-activist

Byron Rushing

Assistant Majority Whip Byron Rushing's political career stretches back further than his 26 years as state representative for the South End, Fenway and Lower Roxbury.

[goodbostonian08]

Make Music Cambridge Co-founder

Alexis Berthier

Sipping a drink at a chic Newbury Street café, sporting pinstripes, rimless glasses and square-toed shoes, Alexis Berthier, co-founder of the Make Music Cambridge festival, might come off a bit serious.

[goodbostonian08]

ICA Associate Director of Education

Rosanna Flouty

Art in Boston can be a dismal survey, with galleries continually closing, the MFA in a constant state of confusion and public art seen as more of a nuisance than an urban delight. But look to the youth

[goodbostonian08]

Boston Workers' Alliance Organizer

Aaron Tanaka

Tanaka spent much of college volunteering, maintaining his sense of reality while stuck in the Harvard bubble. He tutored at a juvenile prison and interned with American Friends Service Committee

[goodbostonian08]

The Food Project Executive Director

Margaret Williams

Founded in 1991, The Food Project is the first organization of its kind (and still the largest) in the nation, combining youth development, food and social justice.

[goodbostonian08]

Union Square Main Streets Executive Director

Mimi Graney

It seems to me that almost every installment of the Union Square Main Streets email newsletter spawns never-ending items of a new quirky boutique, a restaurant renovation or a so-crazy-it-might-work art event.

[goodbostonian08]

Iraq Veteran Against the War

Gabriel Payan

Gabriel Payan, 29, became a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) after deserting the Army last year, though he'd been following the organization's work before he decided to go AWOL.

[goodbostonian08]

Artists Foundation Executive Director

Kathleen Bitetti

Kathleen Bitetti can't understand why someone would call her a "fairy godmother."

[goodbostonian08]

Universal Hub Co-founder

Adam Gaffin

When Adam Gaffin, co-founder of Universal Hub, bought an exercise bike, he had to make sure it had a shelf for him to put his laptop on.