Gabriela Coletta

Gabriela Coletta
Coletta in 2023
Member of the Boston City Council from the 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office May 18, 2022
Preceded by	Lydia Edwards
Personal details
Born	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Education	West Virginia University University of Massachusetts Boston (BA)
Website	Campaign website

Gabriela "Gigi" Coletta is an American politician who represents District 1 on the Boston City Council. She was first elected on May 3, 2022. Prior to being elected to the Boston City Councilor, Gabriela Coletta served as Chief of Staff for former City Councilor Lydia Edwards until 2021 and then went on to serve as External Relations Manager for the New England Aquarium.

Early life and education

Coletta was born and raised in the Eagle Hill Historic District of East Boston, her parents being local journalists who would bring her to local events. She attended four different public schools before graduating from Boston Latin Academy. She then attended the University of Massachusetts Boston, graduating with a bachelor's degree in political science.

Political career

Coletta's first involvement in politics was as a volunteer for Obama's re-election campaign while she was attending college. She later worked on Adrian Madaro's campaign for state representative in 2015 as field director. After his victory, she was hired by Madaro as a community liaison. She was then the associate director of the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus, a nonprofit seeking to support pro-choice women running for office, until she left to become campaign manager for Lydia Edwards in 2017. When Edwards took her seat on the Boston City Council, she hired Coletta as her chief of staff, a position she held for three and a half years.

Boston City Council

Gabriela Coletta ran in a special election campaign against Tania del Rio to fill in former councilor Lydia Edwards seat. Voter turnout in the special election was low with only 4,923 ballots being cast; Coletta garnered about 57% of the votes, Del Rio received 33%, and Jorge Mendoza, who ran as a write-in candidate, got 10% of the votes. During her campaign, Coletta prioritized the need for more affordable housing in Boston's North End, East Boston and Charlestown neighborhoods.

As a City Councilor, Coletta started an anti-trash initiative in District 1. The initiative sought to reduce litter by increasing access to trash barrels, expanding civic waste awareness, and called for investments in funding for more community waste clean-ups.

Coletta ran unopposed for re-election in 2023. She received 94.7% of the vote.