LYNN — Andreina Granado is the Board of Health’s newest member. With the Board only consisting of three people, her voice will not only be loud, but impactful to the residents of Lynn.

Granado was born in Caracas, Venezuela, but raised in Miami, Florida. She came to Lynn this past year with her fiancé Phil O’Conner, who is president of the Lynn Teachers Union and also a Lynn native.

“I very much consider myself more from Miami than anywhere else,” she said.

Over the years, work and education took her across the country. She has lived in New York, Oregon, and Los Angeles, returning to Miami briefly during the COVID-19 pandemic before moving back to New York.

Granado then decided to pursue a master’s degree in labor studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she met her fiancé.

For nearly a decade, she has worked as a labor organizer, representing and advocating for workers in different industries. Her work has included organizing with students, campus employees, and other labor groups including ones connected to health care.

Her undergraduate degree from Oregon State University is in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, which is a field she said continues to shape the way she understands social issues.

“I feel like my mom just thinks I’m weird,” she joked. “I like feminism.”

Inspired by figures like Gloria Steinem and other feminist leaders of the 1960s and 1970s, Granado shared that, within her experience in that program, she has been able to understand the social structures that shape everyday life.

“My mom… always (said), ‘Study whatever you like,’ so I studied something that I thought was interesting,” Granado stated.

Despite her experience advocating for workers, health care policy wasn’t initially her obvious career path.

“You can tell from my background (that) I don’t work in health care,” she said. “I’m not a nurse or anything of that nature.”

Still, she believes health is deeply connected to broader social issues such as economics, politics, and community resources.

Among the health issues she cares most about is access to care, something she understands from personal experience.

Growing up, transportation wasn’t as easy as in many other childhoods.

“My mom didn’t get her license until I was in middle school,” she shared. “We took the bus everywhere.”

She added, “Things like that make you think about, ‘I have a doctor; I just can’t get to that doctor,’ so access to care isn’t just the signing up and having the PCP (primary care physician), but it’s how we are getting there?”

Women’s health is another major concern. Granado pointed to ongoing national debates over reproductive rights and longstanding disparities in health care outcomes.

“Women’s health is so important,” she said. “And women of color are disproportionately affected in terms of receiving care and systemic racism in health care.”

Although she is new to the role, having just attended her first Board of Health meeting recently, Granado expressed that she is eager to learn from fellow Board members and City health officials.

Her professional experience negotiating union contracts may prove helpful in navigating policy  discussions.

“I live in contracts. I live in a language every day,” she said.

Reviewing ordinances or policy language does not intimidate her, she said, as “that’s something I’m very used to.”

But beyond technical skills, she said her perspective as a resident is equally valuable.

“I’m a community member. I live here.” she said.

Living in downtown Lynn, she sees the everyday issues that affect residents, from trash pickup to neighborhood maintenance.

“If you understand the issues, that’s the first step,” she said. “Then it’s how we work to make it better.”

Granado sees the role as a way to engage with the community that she now calls home.

“I want to be part of the community. I want to feel like I’m part of something,” she said.

At a time when many people feel frustrated with or disconnected from the government, she hopes participating locally can help channel that energy into something productive.

“There’s a lot of anger and frustration right now… and it’s valid,” she said. “… I have those same feelings.”

Serving on the Board, she said, is one way to respond.

“How can I channel my energy into doing something?” she stated. “Hopefully, leaving it a better place than I found it.”