Nadya Okamoto
She/Her
- Currently
- Sophomore at Harvard
She/Her
Nadya Okatamo was born in New York City and attended high school in Oregon; she speaks openly about experiencing housing insecurity during her high school years. She moved to Cambridge, the home of her godparents, in 2016 to attend Harvard, and is the youngest candidate for Cambridge City Council at 19.
In 2014, while in high school, she co-founded PERIOD, a non-profit dedicated to providing menstrual hygiene products to those that need them. She has experience in grassroots organizing and leadership with E Pluribus.
Students increase the competition for affordable housing but most students are unaware that they are taking the best-priced units in Cambridge and creating difficulties for families.
I’m actually the only candidate that’s experienced housing instability, and I think the lack of understanding for that experience is causing harm to a lot of policies.
Also, I would be representing a whole demographic that has never had a seat on the Council before. We’ve never had student representation on the Council. I would be this unprecedented voice for what has never been represented on the Council before.
Housing affordability, and a lack of a climate change preparedness plan. City Council’s done a lot of work in identifying what severe risk we’re at. But there’s no movement on green infrastructure, and making sure that we’re ready for that.
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NO: I think Cambridge should be careful where these dispensaries are going, and what they’re in close proximity to. There are a lot of schools here, and I think Cambridge needs to be thinking about where these are going, and in proximity to what.
Nov. 1, 2017 — Lucy WangHousing affordability, and a lack of a climate change preparedness plan. City Council’s done a lot of work in identifying what severe risk we’re at. But there’s no movement on green infrastructure, and making sure that we’re ready for that.
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NO: I think Cambridge should be careful where these dispensaries are going, and what they’re in close proximity to. There are a lot of schools here, and I think Cambridge needs to be thinking about where these are going, and in proximity to what.
“Representative democracy is important because we need to have elected officials that can truly empathize with their constituents -- I believe that this applies on a base of race, gender, socioeconomic status, and even age,” wrote Nadya Okamoto, the 19-year-old Harvard student, in a questionnaire sent out to the nine female candidates.
Oct. 3, 2017 — Amy Saltzman“Representative democracy is important because we need to have elected officials that can truly empathize with their constituents -- I believe that this applies on a base of race, gender, socioeconomic status, and even age,” wrote Nadya Okamoto, the 19-year-old Harvard student, in a questionnaire sent out to the nine female candidates.
What are three specific new programs or changes you would make if elected?
A. Housing Affordability — If I were to be elected, my top priority would be housing affordability. I would do this through multiple pathways: (1) through enforcing the 20 percent inclusionary zoning of affordable housing units in new real estate developments; (2) pushing the council to actually invest in building more affordable housing for the purposes of affordability—we have an Affordable Housing Trust that we could be improving much more; and (3) really pushing forward more community-minded university relations in this well-known college town
What are three specific new programs or changes you would make if elected?
A. Housing Affordability — If I were to be elected, my top priority would be housing affordability. I would do this through multiple pathways: (1) through enforcing the 20 percent inclusionary zoning of affordable housing units in new real estate developments; (2) pushing the council to actually invest in building more affordable housing for the purposes of affordability—we have an Affordable Housing Trust that we could be improving much more; and (3) really pushing forward more community-minded university relations in this well-known college town