Formerly the Chair of the GBIO Criminal Justice Reform Team, Ms. Williams organized and successfully led campaigns to reduce the rate and harm of incarceration. This helped lead to the state's 2018 Comprehensive Criminal Justice Reform Law and the 2020 Police Accountability Reform Law. Her work broadened GBIO's internal base of leaders and led to many strong partnerships, including ACLU and The Working Group for Criminal Justice Reform.
Currently, Ms. Williams has organized a local Boston community GBIO task team to help educate hesitant community members on COVID vaccination and increase community turnout. She is an active member of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Boston, a wife and mother of two adult sons. She has one granddaughter who she hopes is learning how to give something of herself to the betterment of the community. Dear Governor Charlie Baker,
The world is in crisis and now more than ever we appreciate your resolute leadership. 74 of Greater Boston Interfaith Organization Friends and allies representing civic sector institutions – communities of faith, unions, social service providers, healthcare centers and schools – are deeply committed to assisting in the fight against COVID-19. Though we are no strangers to crisis, this one is truly unprecedented. In this time of crisis, we are called by our faith to honor the sanctity of human life and to exercise our Prophetic voice with the most vulnerable among us. We are writing to you for two purposes. The first is to extend an offer of help during this unprecedented crisis. We are willing to step up in a range of ways, including mobilizing our people for any job that keeps us safe and pursuing any other possible ways to help. We will do anything in our power to slow the spread of this epidemic, treat the sick and aid in the recovery. 836 strong, GBIO joined the MA Senate President, Senate Health Care Finance Chair, and Secretary of Health and Human Services on Monday, November 4th to push for progress on health care in Massachusetts. All three politicians have released, or committed to, legislation that addresses the 3 priority issues in GBIO’s health care legislative campaign:
During Monday night’s action, leaders from across GBIO shared personal stories of struggles connected to these issues:
Bonny Gilbert and Michael Rubenstein, co-chairs of the GBIO Health Care Action Team, reviewed the policy goals of GBIO’s legislative campaign, and the politics it would take to win. Senate President Karen Spilka, Senator Cindy Friedman and Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders spoke of their commitment and their actions to address our issues. Both Spilka and Sudders shared their own stories of struggling with mental health care of family members. Before the action closed in prayer, GBIO leaders committed to holding in-district meetings with members of the House of Representatives to push for legislative action in the house, with the goal of passing legislation this session. Over 85 people from 43 guest organization, including the Boston Teachers Union, St. Cecelias Catholic Church, Unite Here Local 26 and Hyde Park Seventh Day Adventist, to name a few, joined GBIO in action. These institutions are looking to engage with GBIO, either as allies or as prospective new members, as part of GBIO’s refounding. Last May, current GBIO leaders voted to Refound GBIO by 2021, with the goal of bringing in 10-20 new institutions.
GBIO is pushing for real reform in the 2019-2020 session of the Massachusetts Legislature by:
GBIO and coalition partners recently scored our first win in this campaign - saving $140 million in prescription drug costs in the 2020 state budget.
This day of action was part of a broader GBIO Health Care legislative campaign that will span the legislative session and build on past victories in health care. In this legislative campaign, GBIO is pushing for real reform in the current session of the Massachusetts Legislature by:
Massachusetts consumers and taxpayers will save over one billion dollars of healthcare costs over the next seven years as a result of price caps established in response to action by the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO). The cost savings are based on a report by the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission, a state research agency established by a law championed by GBIO in 2012.
Beth Israel and Lahey Health Systems and a combination of 13 hospitals have been attempting to merge into a single healthcare system since the beginning of 2017. By forming the second largest healthcare system in Massachusetts, BILH believes it will be better able to compete against Partners Healthcare, the dominant healthcare system in Massachusetts. GBIO has been fighting for consumers and taxpayers to ensure that the merger would not cause a dramatic increase in costs. When the Health Policy Commission predicted that the merger would drive up healthcare costs by as much as $230 million dollars per year, GBIO challenged Attorney General Maura Healey and other state agencies to protect consumers from this outrageous increase in cost. At a 1400-person action, held on October 22nd at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, GBIO leaders called on Attorney General Maura Healey to fight for conditions “with teeth” in the proposed merger, to protect consumers from increasing costs and declining access, particularly for low income and communities of color. On November 29th, she announced an unprecedented seven-year price cap to ensure that Beth Israel Lahey Health does not take advantage of its market power to increase its prices. The agreement between Attorney General Healy and BILH also addressed other GBIO demands, including improved access for the Massachusetts Medicaid population and $72 million in support of lower-cost settings for healthcare. In an interview with WBUR radio, Bonny Gilbert, co-chair of the GBIO healthcare action team, said, "We would like to see this kind of stronger language at least be the beginnings of more constraints on Partners and some of the other health care providers." And, says Gilbert, the caps must not be allowed to expire for BILH. WCVB Channel 5 highlighted GBIO’s involvement in this merger. |
