Gwendolyn Holbrow has lived in Framingham since 1998, and for many years represented Precinct 10 in Town Meeting, where she served on the Education Committee and the Real Property Committee. During that time, she also organized and represented neighbors in Precincts 10 and 11 in fighting development proposals that lacked appropriate buffer zones between commercial and industrial sites and residents’ homes.

As first a volunteer, then board member, and then president of the Board of Directors of the local public access channel, Access Framingham, Gwen led a reform process that included completely rewriting the policies, procedures and by-laws, and instituting financial safeguards and best practices for non-profit governance. Under her leadership, Access Framingham was able to raise the level of both staff and board professionalism, increase membership and original local content, address problems with hate speech and harassment, and initiate the search for a permanent facility, laying the foundation for in the superb community media center that Framingham enjoys today.

Gwen has worked as a freelance webmaster, website designer, and editor, and as web editor at the Wellesley Centers for Women; as a fine artist and art teacher, including six years of teaching both adults and children at the Danforth Museum School; and as a freelance writer with numerous publications, primarily on the subject of the visual arts, to her credit. Now semi-retired, she continues to enjoy her seasonal job as an Intricate Pumpkin Artist for the annual Jack-o-Lantern Spectacular at the Roger Williams Zoo.

During those years, she and her husband also reared four children, now adults, of whom she is extremely proud. The two youngest are graduates and beneficiaries of the Framingham Public Schools, and the excellent education they received here has served them well. Their participation in Framingham Park and Rec programs, and especially their years of swimming with the Framingham Frogs, have given the whole family a legacy of fond memories, for which they are eternally grateful.

Motivated by recent national events and a passion for social justice, Gwen would be honored to represent all Framingham residents, particularly those who are not currently well represented, as an advocate for progressive values and the common good on the Framingham Board of Selectmen.