Julio Mejia ’27 Made History as Massachusetts’ Youngest Elected School Committee Member. And He’s Not Done Yet.

Julio Mejia ’27 is knocking on doors in the Lawrence, Massachusetts, neighborhood where he grew up. But these days, his mission is different from when he was a kid looking to ride bikes or hang out with friends after school. Instead, he is hoping to get young people involved in local government, something Mejia is familiar with as the youngest person in the state’s history to run for — and win — a seat on a school committee. He was elected just two-and-a-half weeks after his 18th birthday.  

“I originally wanted to be a public school teacher or administrator, but after an internship at the office of Mayor Dan Rivera and then Joe Kennedy’s campaign for U.S. Senate, I felt that I could have broader impact on the community through local government,” Mejia says. 

It was in 2023, when Mejia was only 17 years old, that he kicked off his historic campaign to represent the Lawrence community as a member of the Greater Lawrence Technical School Committee.

“Among the top initiatives that I advocated for were reliable and secure technical infrastructure and adequate resources to help our teachers teach effectively, help our students learn and help build diversity and inclusion among teachers and students,” Mejia says.   

He also stood in support of a proposed aviation program that would allow students to learn airplane engine maintenance and learn to fly. “I can closely relate to the students in the Greater Lawrence area, and I believe they all have a right to quality, technical education. They deserve a stronger future.”  

An inside look at Julio Mejia’s political path.

Mejia had just turned 18 when the election was held on Nov. 7, 2023, and he beat out a 38-year incumbent. He was sworn in a couple months later, and his social media post about it was shared in both English and Spanish: 

“Today marks a truly special moment for me as I am honored to be sworn in as the youngest School Committee Member for the Greater Lawrence Technical School! I am incredibly grateful for the trust and support of the Lawrence community, and I am deeply committed to serving and representing our students, families, and community with dedication and integrity. Onward!” 

It was January 2024, a few months after his arrival at Bentley as a first-year student majoring in Public Policy. 

A PATH INTO POLITICS 

Mejia was 14 years old when his political career began to take shape through his early work with Lawrence Mayor Rivera and on Joe Kennedy’s U.S. Senate campaign. Though Kennedy lost his bid for the Senate seat, the impact that Mejia’s campaigning left on the community was evident. His personal story resonated with many residents. 

“Lawrence is an immigrant city — one of the most Dominican-populated cities in the country,” Mejia says. “My mother came to the U.S. from Puerto Rico and my father immigrated from the Dominican Republic. I understand the challenges and barriers that an underperforming public school system places on families because the local high school was in state receivership — taken over by the state due to bad performance assessments — which led to my decision to attend a private, Catholic high school. For a while, I was just a Dominican kid with ADHD in the back of the room until my mother worked hard to pay for me to attend Notre Dame Cristo Rey High School in Methuen.” 

The community and local politicians appreciated Mejia’s voice during that election, and many encouraged him to remain on the political scene. “I stayed very open-minded when I was learning about the political system, always telling myself I wanted to help people in Lawrence and beyond,” says Mejia, who would often head straight from school to City Hall. “While I was working for these various campaigns, I realized the power that politicians can have as voices of the community. I talked to voters who were retired teachers, doctors, firefighters — just listening and learning about their experiences and challenges — and made a connection to how a candidate could help positively change that.” 

That’s when Mejia got involved with Massachusetts High School Democrats of America and became regional coordinator, overseeing over a dozen chapters. “I found that other students were also engaged in local campaigns, and that taught me a lot about the power that local politics has at the municipal level," he says. “It gave me a boost of confidence to get more involved, and I continued to learn and educate myself on the political systems especially at the local level.” 

But it was in 2021 when Mejia’s path in local government really took off as he accepted a youth coordinator position for Brian DePeña’s mayoral campaign. DePeña won the election, which saw a significant boost in participation from voters aged 18-25, and Mejia went on to serve as the new mayor’s special assistant in City Hall. Other community-focused roles included youth organizer for the Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance and deputy campaign manager for Estela Reyes’ campaign for state representative. 

When he started at Bentley in fall 2023, Mejia continued to intern, working mornings before commuting to campus for evening courses. “I chose to attend Bentley because of its location and because I got an amazing financial aid package. It gave me the opportunity to look at the bigger picture in terms of my Public Policy major by learning about the business aspect.” 

He was also campaigning for the upcoming September primary and November election for the Greater Lawrence Technical School Committee.  

“When I went to the voters they said, ‘We want young people,’ and I also got the endorsement of every single former Lawrence mayor, every state representative, the district attorney and members of city councils across the state, including Boston,” Mejia recalls. “I even got support from national organizations like Run for Something — even though I wasn’t expecting any of that. But I ended up topping the ticket and winning the election.” 

EXPERIENCE IN ACTION

Since arriving at Bentley, Mejia has found ways to bridge his coursework with his personal and career interests. “There are so many classes that connect with what I enjoy, and I appreciate the fact that so many professors bring their professional experience to the classroom,” he says. “In the course Social Problems (SO 242) I learned about the way that different social systems and political systems impact social problems in our communities.” 

Since it was an embedded service-learning course through the Bentley Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Center, Mejia served as a tutor for the afterschool program at Whittemore Elementary School in Waltham. Specifically, he helped English language learners with math, reading and writing homework. “I remember one student from Guatemala who said he wouldn’t be able to get by without the support of the program. The work became very personal to me.” 

Another standout course, Mejia says, was Business Law (LA 100). “We talked a lot about our different judicial systems and how it connects business and government. We tackled issues like defamation, liability and intellectual property. Aside from politics, I want to be a lawyer, but it all connects to government and the public system.”

Mejia is taking advantage of experiences outside of the classroom, too, including participating in Bentley’s Entrepreneurship Society meetings. “I’m getting a lot of lessons on how entrepreneurship impacts capitalism and how it impacts our economic systems,” says Mejia, who also recently launched a political consulting business.  

On campus, the Multicultural Center Lounge is Mejia‘s home base. He recalls his first time there. “I’m a commuter and I had a break between classes; I remembered seeing people in the Multicultural Center Lounge, so I decided to check it out. I figured it was just a place to hang out, but the students I met told me that it’s much more than that. They host events, do community outreach and have conversations about diversity and inclusion. That’s important since Bentley has a diverse population of people who come from different countries. I have friends who are from Dubai, Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Italy and more.” 

He adds, “I see an energy from Bentley’s faculty and staff working in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Multicultural Center, Bentley Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Center and Office of International Education. They are committed to creating inclusive spaces so everyone has a seat at the table, versus just fulfilling this checklist of diversity priorities. It’s incredible.” 

He will apply that kind of approach as a school committee member. 

“Learning how Bentley has been able to create change through diversity goals is going to prepare me for success on the Greater Lawrence Technical School Committee because it’s going to help me respond to the diverse population of students that I serve,” says Mejia, who was appointed as vice chair of the school committee just three months after being sworn into office. 

Aside from his work on the school committee, he has also submitted a petition to the Lawrence City Council to reduce the municipal voting age to 16 years old and serves as a member of Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey’s Youth Advisory Council. “Different kinds of experiences — like those I’ve had at Bentley, in the community and with my family — can help people learn how to create change in the world,” he says. “I am committed to bringing my passion and leadership to the table, addressing important issues and working toward a brighter future.”