Senator Joanne M. Comerford Democrat - Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester

Jo has lived and worked in western Massachusetts since the late 1990s, arriving fresh out of New York’s Hunter College School of Social Work where she focused on homelessness policy, prison reform, and earned an MSW.

In the region, Jo led a crisis intervention outreach team through the Center for Human Development focused on creating a high-impact team capable of addressing the myriad and often intersecting root causes of crisis. She then organized for seven years as the director of the western Massachusetts American Friends Service Committee, moving to direct the programs of The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts where she worked to meet the immediate demands of hunger and launched a pilot program to reduce food insecurity in the region. After The Food Bank, Jo led National Priorities Project, a national budget and tax priorities research organization, as its executive director. NPP garnered a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in Jo’s final year. For the past four years, Jo has been a Campaign Director for MoveOn.

Most recently, Jo’s volunteer efforts have been based at Jackson Street School where she helped lead the fundraising campaign to build a new and expanded playground. She also currently serves as a founding board member of the Sojourner Truth School for Social Change Leadership. Jo’s wife, Ann, is a public school teacher and member of the Northampton School Committee. Jo and Ann have two children. They live in Northampton with their dog and two cats.