{{short description|American politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Kenzie Bok | image = Kenzie Bok speaks at Boston's 2021 menorah lighting at Copley Square.jpg | caption = Bok in 2021 | office = Administrator of the Boston Housing Authority | term_start = 2023 | term_end = | predecessor = Kate Bennett | successor = | appointer = Michelle Wu | office1 = Member of the Boston City Council<br>from the 8th district | term_start1 = January 6, 2020 | term_end1 = April 28, 2023 | predecessor1 = Josh Zakim | successor1 = Sharon Durkan | birth_name = Priscilla MacKenzie Bok | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1989|06|30}} | birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | relatives = John F. Bok (grandfather)<br>Joan Toland Bok (grandmother)<br>Bart Bok (great-grandfather)<br>Priscilla Fairfield Bok (great-grandmother) | module = {{Infobox philosopher|embed=yes |region = Western philosophy |era = 20th-century philosophy |school_tradition= Analytic<br/>Social liberalism |main_interests = {{hlist| Political philosophy | Justice | Politics | Social contract theory | housing}} |notable_ideas = Affordable housing is a social and economic justice issue | alma_mater = Harvard University (AB, History); University of Cambridge (M.Phil, 2012; PhD, 2016) | institutions = Harvard University |awards = <!-- notable entries (have a Wikipedia page) that are supported by citation --> }} }} '''Priscilla MacKenzie "Kenzie" Bok''' (born June 30, 1989) is an American politician and historian who has been the administrator of the Boston Housing Authority since 2023. She previously served as a member of the Boston City Council, representing District 8, which includes Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway–Kenmore, Mission Hill, and the West End.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2020/01/06/boston-ushers-historic-diversity-with-new-city-council-leadership/aqiFXusPSmHDnAmNXyJf8N/story.html|title=Boston ushers in historic diversity with new City Council, leadership|last=Valencia|first=Milton J.|date=2020-01-06|work=The Boston Globe|access-date=2020-01-06}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://beaconhilltimes.com/2019/11/08/kenzie-bok-triumphs-in-district-8-city-council-race/|title=Kenzie Bok Triumphs in District 8 City Council Race|last=Murphy|first=Dan|date=2019-11-08|work=Beacon Hill Times|access-date=2020-01-06}}</ref> She is also a lecturer on Social Studies at Harvard University, where she teaches intellectual history and history of philosophy.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://socialstudies.fas.harvard.edu/people/kenzie-bok|title=Kenzie Bok|website=Committee on Degrees in Social Studies|language=en|access-date=2020-01-07|archive-date=2019-11-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114154912/https://socialstudies.fas.harvard.edu/people/kenzie-bok|url-status=dead}}</ref> Bok was elected to the City Council in the November 2019 election.<ref name=":1" /> In 2023, Mayor Michelle Wu appointed Bok to become the head of the Boston Housing Authority.
==Early life== Bok was born in Boston on June 30, 1989<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kenziebok.com/blog-1|title=Kenzie's Blog|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107033509/https://www.kenziebok.com/blog-1|archive-date=2020-01-07|access-date=January 7, 2020}}</ref> and grew up in the Bay Village neighborhood.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/10/18/boston-most-unusual-council-race-between-democrat-and-republican/qJN2al5HV9dItmY2smQ32I/story.html|title=Boston's most unusual council race is between a Democrat and a Republican|last=Valencia|first=Milton J.|date=October 8, 2019|work=The Boston Globe|access-date=January 6, 2020}}</ref> Before her admission to Harvard in 2007, she had been educated at the John Winthrop School in Boston, the Park School, and Milton Academy (2007).<ref>{{cite web |title=Alumna and Harvard Senior, Kenzie Bok '07, Wins Prestigious Marshall Scholarship |url=https://www.milton.edu/alumna-and-harvard-senior-kenzie-bok-07-wins-prestigious-marshall-scholarship/ |website=www.milton.edu |publisher=Milton Academy |access-date=5 October 2019}}</ref>
Bok's family had been involved in the Ward 5 Democratic Committee going back two generations.<ref name="Valencia1">{{cite web |last1=Valencia |first1=Milton J. |title=Boston's most unusual council race is between a Democrat and a Republican - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/10/18/boston-most-unusual-council-race-between-democrat-and-republican/qJN2al5HV9dItmY2smQ32I/story.html |website=Boston Globe |access-date=29 July 2023 |date=October 18, 2019}}</ref> Bok is the granddaughter of lawyer and civic activist John F. Bok<ref name="Valencia1"/><ref>John Fairfield Bok Obituary (published by the Boston Globe, Sept. 29 to Oct. 3, 2014)</ref> and his wife, energy executive and lawyer Joan Toland Bok. She is the great-granddaughter of astronomers Bart Bok and Priscilla Fairfield Bok.
==Academic career== Bok served as student president of the Kennedy Institute of Politics while she was a Harvard undergraduate,<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/12/10/people-politics-public-bok/|title=P. Kenzie Bok|last=Kete|first=Julia E.|date=2010-12-10|work=The Harvard Crimson|access-date=2020-01-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2010/11/two-named-marshall-scholars/|title=Two named Marshall Scholars|last1=Koch|first1=Katie|date=2010-11-29|website=The Harvard Gazette|publisher=Harvard University|access-date=2019-09-20}}</ref> where in 2011 she earned her B.A. summa cum laude in intellectual history.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/history-kenzie-priscilla-bok-phd-student|title=History - Kenzie (Priscilla) Bok|website=www.joh.cam.ac.uk|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905025720/https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/history-kenzie-priscilla-bok-phd-student|archive-date=2017-09-05|access-date=2020-01-07}}</ref> In 2010, she was awarded a Marshall Scholarship,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.milton.edu/alumna-and-harvard-senior-kenzie-bok-07-wins-prestigious-marshall-scholarship/|title=Alumna and Harvard Senior, Kenzie Bok '07, Wins Prestigious Marshall Scholarship|website=Milton Academy|access-date=5 October 2019}}</ref> then continued studies at the University of Cambridge (St John's College), where she earned her M.Phil. in Political Thought & Intellectual History in 2012 and then her Ph.D. in History in 2016.<ref name=":0" /> While at Cambridge, she was awarded for her academic work the St John's Benefactors Scholarship, the Quentin Skinner Prize, the Sara Norton Prize, and the Thirwall Medal and Prince Consort Prize.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fall 2018 – Spring 2019 Seminar Dates and Speakers |url=https://kenan.ethics.duke.edu/triangle-intellectual-history-seminar/ |website=www.kenan.ethics.duke.edu |publisher=Duke University |access-date=5 October 2019}}</ref>
Bok is an intellectual historian who specializes in the young John Rawls and his path to writing A Theory of Justice. As a Harvard University lecturer on social policy and intellectual history, she also teaches a course on "Justice in Housing." She has published peer-reviewed articles on the philosopher John Rawls in ''Modern Intellectual History'' and the ''Journal of the History of Ideas''.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bok|first1=Priscilla MacKenzie|date=2017|title=To the mountaintop again: The early Rawls and post-protestant ethics in postwar America|journal=Modern Intellectual History|volume=14|issue=1|pages=153–185|doi=10.1017/S1479244315000268|s2cid=147151539}}</ref>
==Political and government career== Bok interned for the Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign at its Chicago headquarters, then, following the election, was an intern in 2010 at the White House.<ref name=":2" /> She later served as budget director for At-Large Boston City Councilor Annissa Essaibi George and as senior advisor for policy and planning at the Boston Housing Authority (BHA).<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2019/09/17/first-time-candidate-kenzie-bok-wows-district-field/6HIVtlXa2zcpQCFCIdIDDN/story.html|title=First-time candidate Kenzie Bok wows the District 8 field|date=2019-09-17|work=The Boston Globe|access-date=2020-01-06}}</ref> Bok has long been an advocate in support of affordable housing.<ref name="PlatoffApril52023">{{cite web |last1=Platoff |first1=Emma Platoff |title=City Councilor Kenzie Bok to head Boston Housing Authority - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/04/05/metro/city-councilor-kenzie-bok-head-boston-housing-authority/ |website=The Boston Globe |access-date=5 April 2023 |date=April 5, 2023}}</ref> As a policy advisor at the BHA, (the city agency focused on the management, preservation, and creation of affordable housing),<ref name=":3"/> she led the successful effort to make an immensely impactful alteration to the manner in which the agency valued Section 8 housing vouchers. This moved the agency away from valuing the vouchers at a flat rate for every neighborhood in the Boston metropolitan area without factoring in market prices of different areas to varying those rates.<ref name="PlatoffApril52023"/> BHA data demonstrated in late 2022 that this change allowed more voucher recipients to move into more expensive neighborhoods, which are considered "high-opportunity" areas. This is expected to help integrate the city in regards to race and income.<ref name="PlatoffApril52023"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Kohli |first1=Diti |title=How a tweak to a popular rental voucher program is reshaping where people live in Boston - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/11/12/business/how-tweak-popular-rental-voucher-program-is-reshaping-where-people-live-boston/?p1=Article_Inline_Text_Link |website=The Boston Globe |access-date=5 April 2023 |date=November 12, 2022}}</ref>
===Boston City Council=== thumb|Bok at a 2019 city council candidate forum [[File:Governor-baker-participates-in-menorah-lighting-at-copley-square 51727345671 o (1).jpg|thumb|Bok with State Rep. Jay Livingstone, and Gov. Charlie Baker in 2021]] [[File:Fenway CDC Terrace groundbreaking (Ff20L-pWIAI6rSe) (Pressley and Bok) (b).jpg|thumb|Bok (right) with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley at the 2022 groundbreaking of the Fenway CDC Terrace housing project]]
Bok declared her candidacy for the Boston City Council in April 2019 following the decision of Josh Zakim to not seek a third term as councillor for District 8. PBS Boston affiliate WGBH described Bok as an "affordable housing expert and community leader" and as "senior adviser for policy and planning at the Boston Housing Authority and the former chair of Boston's Ward 5 Democratic Committee."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wgbh.org/news/politics/2019/09/20/local-politics-boston-city-council-district-8-candidates|title=Local Politics: Boston City Council District 8 Candidates|date=2019-09-20|work=WGBH News|access-date=2020-01-06}}</ref> At Harvard, where she is both a summa cum laude graduate and a lecturer, she teaches a course in "Justice and Housing" and serves on the board member at the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mahahome.org/person/bok-kenzie|title=Bok, Kenzie|website=Mass Affordable Housing Alliance|access-date=2020-01-07}}</ref> Before the preliminary election, Bok was endorsed by ''The Boston Globe'',<ref name=":3" /> U.S. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, and numerous local organizations and politicians.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kenziebok.com/endorsements|title=Endorsements|website=Vote Kenzie Bok|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107040153/https://www.kenziebok.com/endorsements|archive-date=2020-01-07|access-date=2020-01-07}}</ref>
In the September 2019 preliminary election, Bok received the largest percentage of votes for district 8 (50%), followed by Jennifer Nassour, former head of the Massachusetts Republican Party.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/09/24/the-full-results-from-tuesday-boston-city-council-preliminary-elections/4oyWdaIRiJg9eXWaLERTuM/story.html|title=The unofficial results from Tuesday's Boston City Council preliminary elections|date=2019-09-24|work=The Boston Globe|access-date=2020-01-06}}</ref> In the November 2019 general election, Bok won the seat with 70% of the vote,<ref name="General">{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2019/11/06/full-results-from-boston-municipal-election/lGxzJKT3BNqmngoCRNlMRN/story.html|title=Full results from Boston's municipal election|date=2019-11-06|website=The Boston Globe|access-date=2020-01-07}}</ref> and took office on January 6, 2020.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2020/01/07/bostons-city-council-swears-in-most-diverse-body/ |title=Boston's city council swears in most diverse body |agency=AP |website=Boston.com |date=January 7, 2020 |access-date=January 8, 2020}}</ref>
[[File:Childcare Roxbury FiIV1dQXoAAT om (a).jpg|thumb|Bok (second from right) poses in November 2022 with a group that includes U.S. Senator Ed Markey, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, U.S. Congresswoman Katherine Clark, and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren]] [[File:Elizabeth Warren at Nurtury FsuX6iLXwAA6FZj (1).jpg|thumb|U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (left) and Bok visiting a childcare center in the Mission Hill neighborhood in April 2023]]
Bok led the council's budget processes during part of her tenure on the Boston City Council. She was also the leading figure in addressing the council's input in the city's distribution of funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. In 2023, Emma Platoff of ''The Boston Globe'' described Bok as, "one of the council's foremost policy wonks and procedural experts – and often one of <nowiki>[Mayor]</nowiki> Wu's best council allies."<ref name="PlatoffApril52023"/>
Bok is believed to have attempted to secure support to be elected by her fellow councilors as the council's president for the session of the council that began in 2022. However, she was unsuccessful and Ed Flynn was instead elected.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McDonald |first1=Danny |title=Ed Flynn heads an increasingly diverse and progressive council – The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/03/26/metro/ed-flynn-heads-an-increasingly-diverse-progressive-council/ |website=BostonGlobe.com |access-date=June 23, 2022 |date=March 26, 2022}}</ref>
=== Administrator of the Boston Housing Authority === [[File:Governor-healey-celebrates-epa-greenhouse-gas-reduction-fund 53136335992 o.jpg|thumb|Bok (right) speaks to Mayor Wu, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan, U.S. Senator Ed Markey, and Governor Maura Healey in August 2023]]
In April 2023, Mayor Michelle Wu appointed Bok to serve as administrator of the Boston Housing Authority. She left the City Council to serve.<ref name="PlatoffApril52023"/> On April 5, 2023, Bok offered her letter of resignation to the Boston City Council effective April 28.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Blumfield |first1=Breadon |title=Boston City Councilor Kenzie Bok resigns – The Daily Free Press |url=https://dailyfreepress.com/2023/04/07/boston-city-councilor-kenzie-bok-resigns/#:~:text=Bok%20left%20her%20position%20as,longtime%20advocate%20for%20affordable%20housing. |publisher=Daily Free Press |access-date=14 June 2023 |date=7 April 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Murphy |first1=Dan |title=Councilor Bok To Leave Office To Lead BHA – Beacon Hill Times |url=https://beaconhilltimes.com/2023/04/13/councilor-bok-to-leave-office-to-lead-bha/ |website=Beacon Hill Times |access-date=14 June 2023 |date=April 13, 2023}}</ref> Bok began her transition into the office in May 2023 with plans to take office sometime in the summer of 2023 after her predecessor, Kate Bennett, departed.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gavin |first1=Christopher |title=City Councilor Kenzie Bok to lead Boston Housing Authority |url=https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2023/04/05/city-councilor-kenzie-bok-to-lead-boston-housing-authority/ |website=www.boston.com |access-date=5 April 2023 |date=April 5, 2023}}</ref> She is among the youngest individuals to ever head the agency.<ref name="PlatoffApril52023"/>
==Personal life== Bok is a longtime member and vestry member at Trinity Church in Boston's Copley Square.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.trinitychurchboston.org/people/413|title=P. MacKenzie Bok ('22)|website=Trinity Church Boston|access-date=2020-01-07|archive-date=2019-10-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191005203347/https://www.trinitychurchboston.org/people/413|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Electoral history==
{| class=wikitable !colspan=5|2019 Boston City Council 8th district election |- !colspan=1 rowspan=2 |Candidate !colspan=2 |'''Primary election'''<ref>{{cite web |title=City of Boston Preliminary Municipal Election - September 24, 2019 City Councilor District 8 |url=https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/embed/2/2019_-_09-24-19_-_city_councillor_district_8_ward_precinct_results.pdf |website=Boston.gov |date=2019}}</ref> !colspan=2 |'''General election'''<ref>{{cite web |title=City of Boston Municipal Election - November 5, 2019 City Councilor District 8 |url=https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/file/2020/01/2019%20-%2011-05-19%20-%20City%20Councillor%20District%208%20Ward%20%26%20Precinct%20Results.pdf |website=Boston.gov |date=2019}}</ref> |- !Votes !% !Votes !% |- | '''Priscilla Kenzie Bok''' | align="right" | '''2,035''' | align="right" | '''50.38''' | align="right" | '''3,666''' | align="right" | '''70.11''' |- | Jennifer Ann Nassour | align="right" | '''740''' | align="right" | '''18.32''' | align="right" | 1,540 | align="right" | 29.45 |- | Helene Vincent | align="right" | 589 | align="right" | 14.58 | colspan=2 bgcolor=darkgray | |- | Kristen Mobilia | align="right" | 512 | align="right" | 12.68 | colspan=2 bgcolor=darkgray | |- | Montez David Haywood | align="right" | 149 | align="right" | 3.69 | colspan=2 bgcolor=darkgray | |- | ''Write-in'' | align="right" | 14 | align="right" | 0.35 | align="right" | 23 | align="right" | 0.44 |- | '''Total''' | align="right" | '''4,039''' | align="right" | '''100''' | align="right" | '''5,229''' | align="right" | '''100''' |}
{{Election box begin no party no change| title= 2021 Boston 8th district City Council election<ref>{{cite web |title=City of Boston Municipal Election – November 2, 2021 City Councillor District 8 |url=https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/file/2021/11/2021-11-02-21-City%20Councillor-District-8.pdf |website=www.cityofboston.gov |publisher=City of Boston |year=2021 |access-date= April 1, 2024}}</ref>}} {{Election box winning candidate no party no change |candidate = Priscilla Kenzie Bok (incumbent) |votes = 7,038 |percentage = 97.90 }} {{Election box candidate no party no change |candidate = ''Write-in'' |votes = 151 |percentage = 2.10 }} {{Election box total no party no change |votes = 7,189 |percentage = 100 }} {{election box end}}
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bok, Kenzie}} Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Category:Harvard College alumni Category:Harvard University faculty Category:American historians of philosophy Category:Historians of the United States Category:People from Beacon Hill, Boston Category:Milton Academy alumni Category:Boston City Council members Category:1989 births Category:Living people Category:Women city councillors in Massachusetts Category:21st-century Massachusetts politicians Category:21st-century American women politicians Kenzie Category:21st-century American women academics Category:21st-century American academics