Embrace Honors Honorees
Honoring the People Who Carry Legacy Forward
Across all of our activations Embrace recognizes leaders whose lives and work deepen belonging, advance justice, preserve cultural memory, and help build a more loving and equitable Boston. Together, each year’s honorees represent a living record of civic courage, community care, artistic power, public service, and long-term systems change.
Embrace honors mlk
Embrace honors mlk
Embrace Honors MLK recognizes leaders whose work carries forward the radical legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, and the Beloved Community. Each cohort reflects a commitment to racial justice, public service, civic courage, and the unfinished work of building a city where all people can belong.
2026
Chancellor Julie Chen & Susu Wong
Lady Luella Dickerson & Bishop William E. Dickerson II
Patricia O’Brien & Thomas O’Brien
Kathy & Richard L. Taylor
Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III
Marie St. Fleur
2025
Former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker & Former First Lady Lauren Baker
Former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick & Former First Lady Diane Patrick
Sandra Borders & Bishop John M. Borders III
Jill Medvedow & Richard Kazis
Dr. Thea James & Rev. Irene Monroe
2024
Demond Martin & Dr. Kia Martin
Paul Edgerley & Sandy Edgerley
Damian Wilmot & Dr. Yndia Lorick-Wilmot
Juneteenth Embrace Honors
Juneteenth Embrace Honors
Juneteenth Embrace Honors celebrates Black freedom, cultural memory, and the ongoing work of making liberation real. These honorees reflect the power of community leadership, institution building, cultural stewardship, and the long struggle to transform freedom from a historic promise into a lived reality.
2025
Tony Sr. & Juanita Richards
Joseph D. Feaster, Jr. & Phyllis D. Ellison-Feaster
Reverend Dr. Ray Hammond & Reverend Gloria White-Hammond, M.D.
Carol & Bernard Fulp
Barbara & Amos Hostetter
2024
Deborah Jackson & Duane Jackson
Angela Motley & Dr. Keith Motley
Charlotte Wagner & Herbert Wagner
drum majors for justice
drum majors for justice
Presented during Embrace Massó “¡Con Salsa!”, the Drum Major for Justice honor recognizes artists, culture bearers, and public voices whose work reflects moral courage, community service, and justice-centered leadership. Rooted in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to be remembered as a “drum major for justice,” this recognition lifts up people who use culture as a force for belonging, liberation, and collective power.
2025
Aja Monet
2024
Eddie Palmieri
embrace honors harry hom dow
embrace honors harry hom dow
Embrace Honors Harry Hom Dow recognizes Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander leaders whose civic contributions, advocacy, and community leadership carry forward the legacy of Harry Hom Dow. This honor lifts up stories too often pushed to the margins and celebrates those building justice, belonging, and multiracial democracy across generations.
2026
Frederick Hom Dow
Helen Chin Schlichte
Nick Chau
Paul Lee
Suzanne Lee
Tina Zhu Xi Caruso
Massachusetts Senator Vanna Howard