Discovering Justice is excited to welcome Matt Wilson as our new Executive Director.

Wilson has a three-decade history as a nonprofit executive in the Commonwealth, most recently finishing a seven-year stint as the founding Executive Director of MASSCreative, the state’s advocacy group for the arts and creative community.

“Matt brings a history of building and managing nonprofits that educate, prepare, and engage students and Massachusetts residents in civic actions,” said Tony Jordan, board president of Discovering Justice. “We are excited that he is bringing his energy, experience, and passion for positive change to Discovering Justice. Especially in the current environment, Matt is the kind of leader we need to take Discovering Justice into the future and best serve our constituents.”

For thirty-six years, Wilson built and ran community-based initiatives for a healthier and more vibrant Commonwealth. As a community organizer, public advocate, fundraiser, and trainer, Wilson has worked with residents to help them envision, realize, and build their capacity and power for change. He has led campaigns for a cleaner environment, affordable and accessible health care, and increased investment in the arts.

“I am excited about the opportunity to help grow Discovering Justice’s programs that help students understand how the legal system works and how they can act to create a more just Massachusetts,” said Wilson. “There has never been a more important time to engage in civic action and ensure that our democracy is vibrant and holds our leaders accountable. I look forward to working with our dedicated staff to continue Discovering Justice’s two-decade-long history of working with judges, teachers, lawyers, and civic leaders to teach students about the judicial system and to work for justice.”

Wilson was the founding Executive Director of MASSCreative, the statewide advocacy voice for Massachusetts’ arts, cultural, and creative community. Under his direction, MASSCreative grew to more than 400 organizational members with 25,000 individuals taking part in public education and advocacy actions. In his tenure, arts funding in the Commonwealth doubled and his advocacy work helped implement state policies to increase access and participation to quality arts education.

As the Director of Toxics Action Center from 1989 to 2005, Wilson built the organization from scratch to a New England-wide resource for hundreds of neighborhoods working to protect themselves from pollution threats.

Wilson graduated from Dartmouth College earned a Masters of Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.