Director, Special Projects & Initiatives – Office of Violence Prevention, Boston Public Health Commission
Founder/Lead Organizer, Black Male Artist Collective
Matthew Parker, born and raised in the historic South End/Lower Roxbury of Boston, Massachusetts. From his early experiences of violence and traumatic events, worked as a youth agent for change with various programs and initiatives. Matt has been in direct service for over two decades in capacities from directing summer camps, training case management staff, developing frameworks for positive behavior reinforcement, creating peace workshops & performance spaces for artistic expression, working with gang involved youth and anti-violence campaigns. Matt has founded and joined many arts-based collectives and collaborations through fellowships, residencies, and being in community-most recently in 2018 as founding member of the Black Male Artist Collective & in 2025 joining the Black Speculative Arts Movement. Currently, Matt works as Director of Community Engagement & Initiatives for the inaugural Office of Violence Prevention in Boston, MA – working with city departments, nonprofit anchor institutions, and resident leaders in empowerment areas that are resilient to violence and trauma.
Matt holds an Undergrad credential in School Age Youth Development from UMass-Boston and Master’s in Community Development Policy & Practice at the University of New Hampshire.
Follow Matthew
LinkedIn @mattaparker