As Cultural Planning Project Manager (Community Engagement), Anita Morson-Matra (pronouns: she/her) serves as the key point of contact between communities, arts and culture stakeholders, and Boston’s cultural spaces and other assets. Her role is dedicated to equitable civic engagement and public participation in service of cultural planning efforts.

Anita Morson-Matra is an urban planner, creative, place leader, and organizational strategist. A former nonprofit leader, Ms. Morson-Matra has spent the last few years working as a consultant with Massachusetts cities and towns to identify opportunities for recovery and growth through the Rapid Recovery Program and supporting arts and cultural organizations throughout the state in the areas of nonprofit management and leadership development. Anita’s work is often at the intersection of urban planning and arts and culture, with a focus on equitable access to resources, opportunities, and spaces for artists, creatives, and cultural organizations. 

The throughline in Anita’s work is a commitment to a leadership approach that centers racial equity and social justice.  As evidenced in a brief article she wrote for the spring/summer 2022 Issue of the Boston Art Review, Anita captured some of the housing challenges that are currently experienced by artists in the City.

Anita is the Creator/ Founder/ Curator of Nubian Nights: the Sights and Sounds of Jazz in Roxbury and Baldwin in the Park. Anita was recently recognized by WBUR as one of The Makers, 15 artists and creatives changing the cultural landscape in the Greater Boston area and was a finalist for the National Public Housing Museums Artist as Instigator Residency.

Anita is a huge supporter of the work of our park stewards, including the City of Boston’s Department of Parks and Recreation, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, and the Rose Kennedy Greenway. You can often find Anita wandering through these beautiful greenspaces. Ms. Morson-Matra strongly believes that our parks spaces are some of the City's greatest assets, providing rare opportunities for exploration and healing in this dense urban environment.