Listening is crucial, says new community relations director Mary Power

By Ken Gewertz

Gazette Staff

Mary Power, a public official with experience in city planning, community development, and education policy, has been hired as Harvard's new director of community relations for Cambridge.

Currently serving as School Committee chairman for the town of Belmont, Power has had a broad range of experience that includes chairing Belmont's fair housing committee, helping to restore the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles, and working to save historic landmarks in Portland, Ore.

Power believes that if there is one constant priority in her working life, it is the importance of an involved community.

"I think that issues of community are an essential element in the policymaking process," she said. "An important part of what I've done throughout my career is to make sure the concerns of the community are heard and understood."

Power said that she looks forward to the challenge of working as a community relations director and to representing both Harvard's needs and those of the Cambridge community.

"Sometimes it can be frustrating to be in the middle, but one of the things I do well is listen, and I think I've been able to help groups of people with competing interests to find solutions to meet diverse needs."

James Rowe, Vice President for Government, Community, and Public Affairs, said that Power's background is ideal for the position she will occupy.

"Mary's prior achievements as a student, city planner, community volunteer, and chair of Belmont's fair housing and school committees made her the most compelling candidate for this position," Rowe said.

Power joins Kevin McCluskey, Director of Community Relations for Boston, and Mary Ann Jarvis, Associate Director, in heading the University's Central Administration community affairs operations. The office represents Harvard in a range of municipal, institutional and civic activities of mutual concern to the University and its host communities.

Peter Holland, superintendent of schools for Belmont, called Power "an absolutely first-rate person. She's very articulate and skilled at hearing people's concerns and creating good public policy. Harvard is very lucky to have her."

Power was elected chairman of Belmont's school committee in 1995 and has been a member of the committee since 1991. As chairman, she acts as spokesperson for the board, which sets policy and budgets for the Belmont public schools. She has also negotiated collective bargaining agreements, shaped a community-wide effort in strategic planning, and worked to identify new ways to preserve the quality of programs within a severely constrained budget.

From 1989-91, she served as chairman of Belmont's housing partnership and fair housing committee, working to ensure equal access to existing units in Belmont.

Before moving to Belmont in 1988, Power lived in London for three years, where her husband helped establish a consulting office. The couple's two children -- twins: a boy and a girl -- are now 12.

From 1977-85, Power lived in the Los Angeles area, where she held a number of positions in planning and community development. As a city planning associate of the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, she helped to develop design and policy recommendations for several large areas in and around the Central Business District.

As vice chairman of the board for the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corp., she helped shape the multi-million dollar effort to reconstruct and revitalize this historic landmark and recreation center. She also helped develop planning studies for the Hollywood Revitalization Plan and the Anaheim Stadium Master Plan for the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Before this, Power worked for the city of Portland's department of urban design, helping to designate and preserve historic landmarks.

Born in Chicago, Power earned her bachelor's degree in 1978 from the University of California at Santa Barbara, specializing in environmental studies. While still an undergraduate, she attended the Lund Institute of Technology in Sweden, studying in the School of Architecture and the Department of Environmental Protection.

During 1993-94, she studied at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and in 1995-96, she was a fellow in the Education Policy Fellowship Program with the Institute for Educational Leadership.