I’ve lived in Brookline for over 30 years. With my wife Elizabeth Skavish, a professional classical pianist, we have raised our two children here; both attended the Heath (now Hayes) School. In 2011, I sold the software and services startup I co-founded with my brother in 1985 and built into a successful global business employing almost 400 people. In 2014, I deepened my leadership skills at the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative alongside other accomplished leaders from all over the world. Subsequently, I became wholeheartedly involved in public service at the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization and as a trustee of two schools providing opportunity for underserved students. Currently, I am a Town Meeting Member in Precinct 13, and I led the Yes! in Brookline coalition to forge meaningful compliance with the MBTA Communities Act, expanding housing and economic development in our transit corridors.

Civic Leadership In Brookline

I was inspired to run for Town Meeting through my involvement with the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization’s Housing Justice campaign. I joined a slate of like-minded candidates in my precinct, and together we were all elected in May of 2023.

In fall of 2023, Brookline faced a major legislative issue: Massachusetts required our community to pass zoning and land-use reforms to comply with the statewide MBTA Communities Act (MBTA-CA) before the required December 31st deadline. Failure by Town Meeting to pass any plan would likely result in costly lawsuits brought by the state, and could imperil funding for important services and programs.

I formed the Yes! in Brookline coalition to bring together residents, businesses, and community leaders to not just comply with the law, but use it as a chance to meaningfully permit housing and economic development on our major transit corridors.

Throughout summer and fall of 2023, I met with dozens of Town Meeting members to listen to their views on the matter, and advocated at public meetings for meaningful compliance, allowing more homes to be created. As a leader of the Yes! in Brookline coalition, I clarified information about the new law and zoning rules for Town Meeting members and other concerned citizens. I closely followed the work of the MBTA Multi-family Permitting Committee, and helped advise the negotiation team that crafted the consensus warrant article.

In the end, the final Warrant Article passed with the support of a broad coalition of 84% of Town Meeting Members, who voted yes on the MBTA-CA Consensus Warrant Article in November 2023. Last December, along with the other leaders who forged the consensus, our work was honored by the Brookline Community Development Corporation.

Since Town Meeting passed the MBTA Communities Act Consensus Warrant Article, I have continued to work to uncover and facilitate opportunities to create more housing to help solve the affordability challenges, property tax burdens and fiscal pressures that we face in Brookline.

Over a Decade of Public Service

My public service career of more than a decade has given me an understanding of the many complex challenges in the public sector, as well as afforded me the opportunity to develop skills that I can bring to bear as a candidate for Select Board.

• As a leader in the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization and Co-Chair of its Health Care Campaign, I helped to lower hospital and MassHealth prescription drug costs and improve access to affordable mental health care.
• As a school trustee of two schools serving under-resourced students in the region, I ran Governance and Facilities Committees, where I created durable systems to improve Board Governance as well as leading the effort to find, purchase, and renovate a new school.

These efforts included tackling systemic challenges, bringing people together and making measurable impacts to improve people’s lives.

An Entrepreneur Turned Community Organizer

My ability to identify and solve complex problems dates back further, and includes my career as an entrepreneur of a tech start-up that became a successful global business.

In 1985 I moved to Boston and founded CambridgeSoft with my brother. Using the new graphical user interfaces that everyone takes for granted today, we provided software for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and chemical industries to help them innovate and communicate efficiently. Over the next 25 years we grew our two-person startup into a thriving software and services business providing work for almost 400 people.

Drawing on my background in computer science, I developed the first broadly used electronic notebook for pharmaceutical research that was later used by large companies to improve scientist productivity by 17% and reduce costs. This experience taught me how to look for creative solutions that increase efficiency while meeting the requirements of a diverse set of stakeholders. CambridgeSoft was acquired in 2011.

In 2014, I attended Harvard University as a fellow in the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative. I joined a cohort of 37 leaders with decades of experience in business, government, education, law, medicine and other fields. We developed understanding and skills necessary to lead in situations where goals are unclear, roles are undefined and direction and vision are lacking. I also completed coursework at the Kennedy School to learn more about how our government works, and a class in the Business School on intersection of business, energy, regulation and the environment.

My experiences leading a large company and my training in community organizing both taught me a valuable lesson for public service: engaging stakeholders and building effective teams to deliver results are critical to making durable change.

My Roots and Family

My wife Elizabeth Skavish and I have lived in Brookline for over 30 years. We raised our two children, who attended the Heath (now Hayes) School. Elizabeth is a professional classical pianist. She has also taught and coached musicians of all ages for more than 40 years.

In my own life, I was fortunate to have received a diverse education: public elementary school in California, middle school at the International School of Bangkok, Thailand when my father moved abroad to bring economic opportunity to a rural village outside of Bangkok, high school studying piano and theater at an arts academy, and graduating from Oberlin College with a degree in technical theater and computer science.

However, despite growing up in many different places, Brookline has become my home. This diverse, historic, and welcoming Town has given so much to me and our family. Now I am thrilled to have the opportunity to offer service in return.