James Brett

James T. Brett (born December 22, 1949) is an American former politician who is the current president and CEO of The New England Council. From 1981 until 1996, Brett was a Democratic Party member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Brett was the runner-up in the 1993 Boston mayoral election.

Brett has been an advocate for people with disabilities. Brett has twice served as chairman of the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities, first as chairman during the Obama administration, and currently during the Biden administration. He also served as a member of the commission during the presidencies of George W. Bush and Donald Trump. Brett has also been a member of the National Council on Disability, and has served as the chair of both the Massachusetts Disabled Persons Protection Commission and the Massachusetts Intellectual Disability Commission.

Early life, education, and early career Brett was born December 22, 1949 in Boston. Brett is a first-generation American,

Political and government career

Brett was an unsuccessful candidate in the 1979 Boston City Council election.

In 1993, he was a candidate in the Boston mayoral election. He finished second in the nonpartisan primary, but lost in the general election to Acting Mayor Thomas Menino.

New England Council Brett (right) in 2022 with U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, who had been Brett's successor in the Massachusetts House of Representatives

Brett is the president and CEO of the New England Council, a position he was appointed to in October 1996.

President George W. Bush appointed Brett to the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities, with Brett serving from 2002 into 2006. In May 2011, President Barack Obama named Brett the committee's chairman. His tenure as chair lasted into 2013. That June, Biden selected him to again serve as chairman of the committee. Biden also had Brett travel as part of the official delegation he appointed to represent the United States government at the 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Berlin.

On May 12, 2016, the U.S. House of Representatives appointed Brett to the National Council on Disability, with Brett being nominated by Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Brett has also served as chair of the Massachusetts Disabled Persons Protection Commission, and chair of the Massachusetts' Governor’s Commission on Intellectual Disability. Brett as served on the advisory councils of the Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps and the New England Center for Children. he was a current trustee of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, which he has served on for many years. and the advisory board of the Irish International Immigrant Center.

Brett served as the co-host of D.C. Dialogue, a public affairs program broadcast monthly on New England Cable News. and honorary degrees from Franklin Pierce University and Merrimack College. In 2023, Brett was the first-ever recipient of the Cultural Centre of Greater Boston's Brian J Donnelly Award. Brett has also received Action for Boston Community Development’s Lifetime Public Service Award, Massachusetts Special Olympics' Distinguished Leadership Award, and Hospice of Boston's Humanitarian of the Year Award, In 2021, EP Magazine (formerly Exceptional Parent Magazine) named Brett to the "50 for 50 Advocate Heroes" list compiled for the publication's 50th anniversary. In 2013, the University of Massachusetts Boston established an endowed chair named for Brett. The James T. Brett Chair in Disability and Workforce Development is the only endowed chair in disability and workforce development in the United States, the nation's only endowed chair for disability and workforce development. 2007, 2023, and 2024.

Votes % Votes % Lawrence DiCara (incumbent)

Christopher A. Iannella (incumbent)

Raymond Flynn (incumbent)

Frederick C. Langone (incumbent)

Louise Day Hicks (incumbent)

James T. Brett

Terence P. McDermott

Barbara A. Ware

Stephen C. Farrell

Charles Yancey

Edward Brooks

Richard M. Lane

David Joseph McKay

Jeannette L. Tracy

Phyllis Igoe

Stephen Michael Cidlevich

Eugene A. Cavicchi

Peter K. Hadley

Massachusetts House 1981

Boston mayor 1993 Boston mayoral electionCandidatesPreliminary election General election Votes%Votes% Thomas Menino (acting incumbent) 30,060 26.89 74,448 64.45 James T. Brett 25,052 22.41 41,052 35.54 Robert Rufo 22,517 20.14 Rosaria Salerno 19,605 17.54 Bruce Bolling 6,564 5.87 Christopher Lydon 3,630 3.25 Francis Roache 3,362 3.01 Diane Moriarty 991 0.89