Healey, Lt. Gov. Driscoll swear in inaugural Governor’s Youth Advisory Council at State House

Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Driscoll on Wednesday welcomed and swore in the inaugural Governor’s Youth Advisory Council at the State House, saying the group will play an active role advising the administration on policy affecting young people.

Lieutenant Governor Driscoll opened the event by inviting new council members to the steps to take their oath and take an official photograph with the governor and lieutenant governor. Driscoll said the council was created so "when we hear your voice, we know we're hearing a voice of the future," and stressed that members were selected from across every county of the commonwealth to surface local challenges and ideas to the administration.

The governor thanked staff in the Office of the Governor’s Access and Opportunity team by name — Marconi, Gerlene Spilliman, Jordan Crispin, Lula Costas and Art Gordon — and acknowledged state legislators in attendance. "This is the State House. We call it the people's house," Healey said, urging the youth to consider public service and to involve peers in the council's work.

Healey framed the council as substantive work rather than a resume line. "What we ask of you is that you go to work. This isn't just something to have on a resume," she said, charging members with helping shape policy responses to the state's key challenges, including threats to the climate, access to health care and education, and mental-health strains among young people.

The governor cited state demographics during her remarks: "There are approximately 7,000,000 people in Massachusetts. 20% or 1 and a half 1000000 people in Massachusetts are under the age of 21," underscoring the scale of the population the council represents. She also linked the initiative to Massachusetts’ civic history and said next year the state will mark 250 years of its founding experiment in democracy.

Healey closed by asking members to thank the family members who supported them, to meet legislators and staff, and to assemble for the oath and a group photograph. Event staff were asked to organize council members immediately after the remarks so the swearing-in and official photo could proceed.

The ceremony was largely celebratory and ceremonial; no votes or formal policy decisions occurred during the event. The administration described the council as a working advisory body that will be tasked with participating in working groups and consulting on policy topics affecting young people.

The next procedural step announced at the event was the swearing-in and group photo; the council's operational schedule, meeting cadence, and formal deliverables were not specified at the ceremony.