Mayor Yvonne Spicer

Framingham Mayor Yvonne Spicer received one of five Women of Courage and Conviction Awards given on Oct. 24 by the Greater Boston Section of the National Council of Negro Women.

The awards recognize women’s leadership and volunteerism, and the five recipients were honored for their contributions in areas such as medicine, public health, community activism and community service. Spicer received the Liberating Vision Award, and the organization noted her efforts in education and advocacy.

Spicer became the state’s first African-American woman to be popularly elected as mayor when she was elected as Framingham’s first mayor in 2017. She is also recognized as a trailblazer in science and technology education, having started her career as a teacher in Framingham public schools in the 1980s, and emerging as an educational leader when fewer women of color were represented in the science and technology fields.

The Greater Boston Section of the National Council of Negro Women started in 1992 as one of more than 200 local sections of the national organization, which was formed to lead, advocate for, and empower women of African descent, their families and communities.

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