Cisnell Baez

Cisnell Baez is a seasoned advocate with 20 years of experience in leadership roles in the social sector, from public service in municipal government to grassroots community engagement. Prior to her selection, she served as Director of External Affairs for the office of Boston’s first Afro Latinx City Councilor at-Large Julia Mejia.

Through her work as Director of External Affairs, Cisnell led constituent services while supporting the creation and implementation of policy focusing on supporting immigrants, marginalized communities, small businesses, workforce development, civil rights and ending student debt. She created and piloted programs based on the trending data and needs from the constituents of Boston. Developing resources and direct access to funds for small businesses as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She is highly skilled in cultivating relationships and forming strategic partnerships with a broad cross-section of stakeholders to achieve goals and optimize results.

Cisnell is a first generation college graduate who holds a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from SuffolkUniversity in History. She was awarded the Stephens Phillips Community Scholarship for supporting first generation college students in their academic progress in partnership with several colleges in GreaterBoston. She co-founded Suffolk University’s “Club de Espanol” and participated in a community English exchange program led by John Cabot University in Rome, Italy.

Born and educated in Boston, Cisnell grew up in Boston’s Latin Quarter. She continues to support art and culture as a Boston’s Latin Quarter Advisory Committee member and Boston’s Latin Quarter World’sFair Committee member. She currently is an Advisory member at Boston Adult Technical Academy , aco-founding chair of Zero Debt Massachusetts, board member of ABCD Boston and co- founder ofFriends of The Blessed Sacrament.During her time as a National Urban Fellow she is most interested in developing stronger community impact skills that can be used as a tool for data and policy creation.