Annissa Essaibi George, 48, a mom, former high school teacher, business owner, first-generation American, and lifelong Boston resident, was elected as a Boston City Councilor At-Large in 2015. Annissa ran for Mayor of Boston in 2021. Annissa is distinguished by her efforts to empower the voices of stakeholders directly impacted by public policy and her solutions-oriented approach to government.
As the first BPS teacher elected to the City Council and the first to serve as Chair of the Education Committee, Annissa’s unique experience as a former teacher and mother of four attending Boston Public Schools has fostered an inclusive environment for teachers, parents, and students. She has led the Council’s efforts to address their concerns through hearings on securing a full time nurse and a full time social worker in every school, improving school safety measures, increasing investments for vocational education, and increasing funding for our schools in the City’s budget.
When taking office in 2016, Annissa served as the founding member and Chair of Committee on Homelessness, Mental Health, and Recovery. Building from her education work, Annissa successfully increased funding in the City’s budget to support the almost 5,000 students in BPS experiencing homelessness and helped launch a Family Led Stability Pilot to house those students close to their schools, winning her the 2018 Navigator Award for her innovative approach to government. To best inform policy, Annissa hosted a monthly roundtable series that alternates between family shelter providers and mental health providers to connect the with policy-makers in government. Her efforts led to the expansion of access to treatment including filing an Ordinance Establishing A Mental Health Commission and an Ordinance Requiring Pharmacy Take Back for Sharps. In 2019, Annissa passed a City Ordinance forming a Special Commission to End Family Homelessness in Boston.
Annissa and her husband Doug George live in the same Dorchester neighborhood they grew up in. They are the proud parents of four boys: Douglas, age 18, and triplets, Charlie, Kayden and Samir, age 16.
