Madison Toomey was born on March 15, 2000. She was raised in the small-town suburb of Pembroke, MA. At the age of 10, her parents decided to move to West Roxbury so she could have the privilege of possibly attending the prestigious Boston Latin School. This transition shaped Madison’s life for the better, as she was able to branch out of her “bubble” and meet all types of people with many different backgrounds and experiences.
Madison’s passion for public service was truly ignited the summer after 10th grade. She always knew that she wanted to help people, but wasn’t exactly sure how. That summer, she participated in the Social Justice Institute at local homeless shelter Rosie’s Place. She applied for this program because she was engaged in social justice issues and wanted to bring her passion to real life experiences. During this program, Madison was able to not only volunteer in her community through serving food and helping out in the food pantry, but was also able to attend seminars relating to issues facing the guests at Rosie’s Place. One of these seminars centered on public policy and how it affected these marginalized groups who sought refuge at Rosie’s Place. After learning about the influence of policy on its constituents, Madison knew that this While other students of this program dozed off in the policy related seminars, Madison was completely mesmerized. Finally making that connection between the policy itself and the people affected by it made her completely aware of the importance of constituent service, by reaching out to those under the jurisdiction of local government. This realization of the necessity of this process, really resonated with her as she became more and more intrigued in government.
Madison also strives to be politically active in her own community. This past January she attended the Women’s March on Washington. This experience taught her how important being politically engaged is, as when a bunch of people unite under a shared passion, they have the opportunity to incite change.
During her junior year, Madison took the AP US Government and Politics course at Boston Latin. In this course Madison learned all about the federal government, how it operates, the lawmaking process, as well as public policy. She is extremely excited to take this newfound knowledge and see how it applies to state and local governments this summer.
Outside of school, Madison is most likely spotted on the Charles River at BLS crew practice, training every day building up to the next big race.
In the future, Madison plans on pursuing a double major in political science and international affairs, and is interested in pursuing a career in the public sector
This summer, as a Ward Fellow, Madison is extremely excited to be working for her City Councilor, Matt O’Malley. She hopes to take her experiences from this program with her well into the future as she pursues a career in politics.