Framingham Council Confirms Maritsa Barros As Diversity Director

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Framingham officially has its first diversity and equity director.

The City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved Mayor Yvonne Spicer's candidate for the job, Maritsa Barros. She will take over as Framingham's chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer after holding a similar position at Lesley University in Cambridge.

Barros thanked Spicer and the Council for picking her, and said she would get to work creating diversity goals in the next six months, and as far out as three years.

"I'm looking forward very much to doing collaborative work, helping to improve communication, and I'm looking forward to having some one-on-one conversations with each of you," she told the Council.

Spicer has been trying to hire a diversity chief ever since she took office in 2017 as Framingham's first mayor. After some debate, the City Council agreed to raise the salary for the position up to $125,000. Spicer has said the city lost out on a previous candidate due to a higher salary offer at elsewhere.

Barros, 38, previously served as assistant director of admissions and multicultural recruitment at Framingham State University, the same position at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and an admissions counselor at Northeastern University, according to her LinkedIn profile. She earned a PhD in education at Northeastern, and is a graduate of UMass Dartmouth.