By Tariq Meyers MC/MPA 2026
Growing up in Dorchester, I used to drive past Harvard Kennedy School and imagine what life was like behind those brick walls. To a kid from my neighborhood, the campus felt simultaneously close and very far away. Close enough to see, but far enough that I didn’t always see people who looked like me—or students who came from the parts of Boston I knew best. Still, every time I passed by, I imagined myself walking across the courtyard one day. And I made a quiet promise to myself: If I ever made it inside those classrooms, I wouldn’t just be there for me. I would make sure that stories like mine weren’t the exception—they would become the norm.
Years later, after building a career in the private sector, including founding a venture-backed technology company, I made the decision to leave that world and return home to Boston. I wanted to give back to the community that raised me. And while parts of my hometown may not have been wealthy—the median net worth of a Black family in Boston is just $8—we were rich in a different way. Rich in resilience. Rich in culture. Rich in people who believed deeply in the future, even when the numbers suggested otherwise. Those values carried me forward, eventually bringing me to the Mid-Career Master in Public Administration Program at Harvard Kennedy School.
Today, as I approach graduation, I find myself reflecting on that promise I made as a kid from Dorchester and the bridges I’ve tried to build along the way.
Creating my own experiential learning opportunity
One of the things that drew me to HKS was the opportunity to connect classroom learning with real-world leadership. The School offers an incredible experiential program called Transition Term, where students spend January working with newly elected mayors, governors, or county executives to help them transition from campaigning to governing. These placements give students a front-row seat to the early days of leadership—translating campaign promises into operational plans and policy priorities.
But my own experience ended up looking a little different.
After the tragic passing of former Newton Mayor and Director of the Institute of Politics Setti Warren, I found myself reflecting deeply on the state of Black political leadership in Massachusetts. Setti represented something powerful: a generation of Black leaders stepping forward to lead cities and shape public life.
His loss made me ask a harder question: Who comes next? Who will be the mentors of the next generation of Black political leaders?
When I looked around the political landscape—and even at the ranks of those shaping political leadership on campus—I realized something: we needed more Black men stepping into public service. So instead of waiting for the perfect opportunity, I decided to create one. Rather than traveling across the country for a traditional transition placement, I started looking in my own backyard. That’s when I met Boston City Councilor Miniard Culpepper, who represents District 7, the heart of Roxbury, Dorchester, and the South End.
What began as a simple act of service—volunteering during winter break—quickly became something much larger. I saw an opportunity to build a bridge between HKS and the communities that shaped me. Before long, that volunteer role turned into a full-time position serving as Chief of Staff in the Boston City Council.
It has been one of the greatest honors of my life.
“When I looked around the political landscape—and even at the ranks of those shaping political leadership on campus—I realized something: we needed more Black men stepping into public service.”
Bringing the classroom into City Hall
What surprised me most about this journey is how often HKS shows up in my daily work. Almost every week, I draw on lessons from classes that challenged me to think differently about leadership and governance.
MLD-601: Operations Management taught by Professor Mark Fagan helped me understand how systems actually function and why implementation matters as much as ideas.
DPI-247: Justice by Means of Democracy taught by Professor Danielle Allen reframed governance as a project of shared power and civic trust.
MLD-223: Negotiating Across Differences taught by Professor Kessely Hong sharpened how I approach coalition-building and difficult conversations.
SUP-208: From the Bottom to the Top: Unequal Opportunities and Unequal Outcomes Across Generations taught by Professor Deirdre Bloome deepened my understanding of the structural forces shaping opportunity in cities like Boston.
HKS gives you frameworks, but the real test comes when you step into the messy, human reality of public service. Boston has been my classroom.
A day in the life
Balancing school and city government isn’t always simple—but it’s deeply rewarding. A typical day might include:
Morning meetings with community leaders in Roxbury or Dorchester
Policy discussions at City Hall on housing, civil rights, or economic opportunity
Afternoon classes back in Cambridge
Evening community meetings, hearings, or neighborhood events
It’s a powerful reminder that public policy doesn’t live in textbooks—it lives in neighborhoods.
Opening the door wider
As graduation approaches, I keep thinking back to that kid from Dorchester driving past HKS and wondering if he belonged there. The truth is, institutions like HKS become stronger when people from every neighborhood and every lived experience walk through their doors. My hope is that the bridges I’ve built between Boston and HKS will continue long after I leave. Because the future of public leadership shouldn’t only be shaped in classrooms—it should be shaped in communities. And sometimes, the most important thing you can do is hold the door open a little wider for the next person walking up the hill.
