The value of sharing one’s story: The power to transform your life is very much within you and by sharing your story, you pull out that power. By being vulnerable, it is powerful. I try to demonstrate that by taking the action of sharing my story everywhere I go. It is hard, but I just do it. Of course along the way, when you tell your story, you are going to meet people who also share pieces of your story and who exercise the courage to share their story. Which is inspiration too. Sometimes, I’ll be in a space where I impart my story and someone will share theirs. That’s what keeps me going and I’ll remember that person, the next time I have to share my story.

Now, I'm in a space where I am telling my constituents you need to show up, otherwise they will ignore you. You don’t have the luxury of living your life without interacting with government. It plays such a key role in our daily life—in our schools, in our parks, access to good jobs and living wages, whether or not you can be a citizen of this country, who you can love, who you can live with, who's entitled to adopt children. All of this is determined by government. It is shocking to me many of our communities don’t realize the power governmental institutions have in our lives. My goal is to give that power back to the people and get them to understand that they need to show up and be partners in this work. That’s when we bring about transformative change for our communities, particularly our most vulnerable populations.

To learn more about Boston City Council President Campbell’s story, watch her TEDx Talk.