Llyr Johansen Communications Director, MassINC

As Communications Director, Llyr Johansen is responsible for developing and implementing effective communication strategies that advance MassINC’s mission to help, “move the best ideas, supported by hard data, into public policy that provides a ladder to the middle class for Massachusetts residents.” Prior to his appointment, Llyr served MassINC as Digital Director as well as Online Communications and Development Strategist.

Before moving to Boston, Llyr made his mark in Hollywood as a production professional in the trenches of the film industry. There, he worked on the sets of numerous big-budget films including Inception, Shutter Island, The Dark Knight, and Zero Dark Thirty. During this time he volunteered, working on one Congressional and two Presidential races, engaging the community, canvassing, and managing get-out-the-vote operations. Prior to his work in Los Angeles, he served as a finance professional for Morgan Stanley and Raymond James Financial.

A Boulder native, Llyr holds a BS in Psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

 

ARTICLES By Llyr Johansen

Massachusetts government is stubbornly unrepresentative

Report calls on Legislature to remedy structural forces that keep women, people of color, and Republicans from winning elected office

A new report by the nonpartisan think tank MassINC demonstrates that elected leaders in Massachusetts fail to represent the state’s diversity, the capacity to make laws and policy is far too concentrated in a few leaders, and limited electoral competition, declining state and local news coverage, and the absence of a strong opposition party weaken

MassINC study finds Gateway City residents priced-out of public transit

Report says state must reduce rail fares in order to achieve more equitable growth

To address the state’s transportation woes, planners and policymakers are evaluating major upgrades to the Commonwealth’s rail network. At the same time, a report from the nonpartisan think tank MassINC argues state leaders must consider new methods of discounting train fares so that low- and moderate-income residents can afford to ride. The new report presents

The Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassINC) awarded $100,000

Boston nonprofit receives Cummings Foundation grant

BOSTON (June 5, 2019) – The Cummings Foundation has selected the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth to be one of 100 nonprofits to receive $100,000 through the Foundation’s 100 for 100k Grant initiative. MassINC was chosen from hundreds of applicants for the designation. The grant will support MassINC’s efforts to maintain the momentum of

Communities are not doing enough to hold their public schools accountable

MassINC report calls for increasing “local accountability” with new school-funding package

Massachusetts’ landmark 1993 education reform act placed more accountability on public schools to improve student outcomes in exchange for a sizeable increase in state funding. Beacon Hill leaders are debating another significant infusion of state resources in Massachusetts’ public schools. Accountability is, once again, at the center of this funding discussion. A series of new

New CommonWealth Hires

Betancourt and Metzger will join Mohl and Executive Editor Michael Jonas at CommonWealth

MassINC’s CommonWealth magazine is hiring two reporters – Sarah Betancourt and Andy Metzger. “At a time when most news outlets are shrinking, these two new hires affirm CommonWealth’s commitment to local journalism,” said Bruce Mohl, the editor of the online magazine. Betancourt is a bilingual journalist (English-Spanish) who has previously been a reporter for the

Study suggests Massachusetts’ “other” housing problem is worsening

Blighted and abandoned housing presents serious challenges for Gateway City neighborhoods

Boston – Skyrocketing costs and lack of affordable homes in Greater Boston’s strong housing market absorb the attention of policymakers and political leaders, yet Massachusetts also has many weak real estate markets, where low home values make it uneconomical to maintain older housing stock. This results in blighted and abandoned property, triggering further disinvestment and

Dr. Tracy Corley joins the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth’s (MassINC) Gateway Cities Innovation Institute

Will lead MassINC’s ongoing effort to tap into the promise and potential of transit-oriented development in Gateway Cities

BOSTON – MassINC welcomes Dr. Tracy Corley to the new role of Transit-Oriented Development Fellow. In this position—made possible with generous financial support from the Barr Foundation—Dr. Corley will lead MassINC’s ongoing effort to tap into the promise and potential of transit-oriented development in Gateway Cities. “Over the next several years, the state must make

Aimee Ward Weeden named next COO of MassINC

Appointment ensures a future of strength and stability for the nonprofit

MassINC has named Aimee Ward Weeden as its new Chief Operating Officer! Aimee currently serves as the Chief of Staff and Policy Director for Secretary of Housing and Economic Development (EOHED) Jay Ash. She previously served as Vice President of Finance and Operations at MassINC from 2009 to 2013. Weeden will replace former COO Lauren Louison

Lauren Louison Grogan named President and CEO of MassINC

Leadership transitions mark a new beginning for the Institute

Dear Friend of MassINC, We have big news! Lauren Louison Grogan has been named the next President of the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassINC), the publisher of CommonWealth magazine, and a member of The MassINC Polling Group Board of Directors. Ann-Ellen Hornidge, Chair of the MassINC Board of Directors, and outgoing President Greg Torres announced the appointment this
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