Boston City Councilor-at-Large Ruthzee Louiijeune has served her community in a multitude of roles: as an attorney for the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, as the senior counsel for Senator Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign, as a Ward Fellow for then-State Representative Marie St. Fleur, and, as a teenager, as a tour guide for the local organization MYTOWN. She attended Boston Public Schools from primary through secondary school, including Boston Latin School, where she was class vice president and president of the Cape Verdean club. She received degrees from Columbia University and Harvard Law School. Some of her legislative goals involve regulating pregnancy crisis centers, the Human Rights Commission, and civil service departments. In her free time, she enjoys riding e-scooters around Boston.

Councilor Louiijeune grew up in Lower Mills on a diverse street of working-class families. As a frequent visitor of the Lower Mills library and playground, she recognized the importance of Boston’s public resources early on. She grew up with 3 sisters, a large extended family of aunts and uncles, her parents, who were working double jobs to take care of the family, and her grandmother, who traveled from Haiti to help raise her and her siblings for some time. Growing up, Ruthzee’s father often took her to protests related to Haitian politics, introducing her to the political space early on. Her favorite part of growing up in Mattapan was the basketball hoop in her family’s driveway: all the other kids in the neighborhood would come by to play, and she would squeeze lemonade for all the players. Her experience growing up in Mattapan has served as a backdrop for her understanding of community.