Rep Lewis Nominates Cynthia Villanueva for Commonwealth Heroine Award

On June 23, 2023, Framingham resident Cynthia Villanueva was named a recipient of the 2023 Commonwealth Heroines of Massachusetts award. Villanueva, nominated by Representative Jack Patrick Lewis (Framingham & Ashland) was celebrated at a reception on Friday, June 23 at the State House in Boston.

“It is an honor to have worked closely with Cynthia and to have the privilege of nominating her for this award,” said Representative Lewis. “Cynthia has spent her career serving Framingham’s youth. For over two decades, she not only taught English as Second Language, but she fearlessly stood up for LGBTQ+ youth as the Gender & Sexuality Alliance faculty advisor. She has worked tirelessly to make FHS a welcoming place for all. Cynthia is a commonwealth Heroine in every sense of those words. Congratulations, Cynthia, and thank you for all of your admirable work.”

Cynthia recently retired after having served the Framingham community as a high school bilingual educator. She taught science in English and Spanish for the Science and ESL departments. She later became the Bilingual/ESL Department Head at Framingham High School, where she worked for 22 years. She used her platform as an educator of Immigrant children and her fluency in Spanish to advocate and strengthen diversity, equity, and inclusion and to ensure academic success for her students. During the COVID-19 lockdown, she represented the high school by organizing her fellow teachers to call families that didn’t speak English and help them access food and medical services.

“I am so honored to have been nominated as part of such a distinguished group of women who are the MCSW Heroines of the Commonwealth. These women with whom I share space today have made Massachusetts a great place to live and work,” said Cynthia Villanueva. “I look forward to a brighter future where hate is replaced with love, and where all people have a voice and a place at the table! Thank you to all these kind and generous spirits!”

During her time at FHS as the faculty advisor of the Gender & Sexuality Alliance (GSA), Villanueva continuously worked to counter bullying and identity-based discrimination. She worked with her students, the School Committee, and Central Administration to have LGBTQ+ History Month officially recognized in the Framingham School District, to create two non-binary bathrooms at the high school, have the LGBTQ flag flown at the high school year-round, and be flown at all the schools in the district during Pride Month. In 2022, she was presented the Advancing Equity & Justice Award by the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth.

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