Boston Launches Working on Womanhood Program in Three Public High Schools

BOSTON — July 22, 2026 — Boston launches Working on Womanhood program in three BPS high schools, four years after community advocates first raised the need. Mayor Kim Janey announced the launch of Youth Guidance's Working on Womanhood program at a public ceremony July 22, naming Madison Park Vocational Technical High School, the Burke, and English High School as the inaugural sites for the fall 2026 school year, with a goal of reaching 1,000 young women across the city. Green Light Fund Boston Executive Director Melissa Luna cited 2019 data showing 45 percent of BPS girls reported feeling sad or hopeless for two or more weeks; Youth Guidance Boston Executive Director Sean Bradford presented WOW outcome data from Chicago and Kansas City showing 62 percent of participants experienced fewer PTSD symptoms and 98 percent were promoted or graduated. Janey drew a direct line from her own upbringing in Boston to the urgency of the program: "This investment is not so much a response to COVID-19, but rather a direct response to the needs of Boston's young women and girls."