Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced on Friday the official creation of an Office of Olympic Planning, as well as his choice of who will lead it. After alluding to the new form of government oversight of Boston 2024 earlier in the month, Walsh formally welcomed his newest attempt to get the struggling Olympic bid back on track. Sara Myerson, 31, whose bio most recently includes her post as the Chief of Staff and Director of Policy for Boston’s Preservation of Affordable Housing, will head Olympic Planning as its Executive Director.

Myerson heads the new office.

Here’s Walsh’s statement on the new office:

The Office of Olympic Planning is an important step forward in this process and it will build a bridge between the City’s planning  and the development of the Olympic proposal. Sara Myerson brings incredible experience to the table with a background in affordable housing, finance and urban planning and I am very excited to have her eyes on this process. Her top priority will be to ensure that Boston will benefit in the long-term from holding the Games and that any planning efforts are in line with the City’s overall goals.

Myerson’s education consisted of a Masters in Urban Planning from Harvard as well as Bachelor of Arts from Middlebury College. Her background also includes time at investment bank Goldman Sachs, where she was an Associate for the Urban Investment Group. She was also an analyst in their Merchant Banking Division and Investment Banking Division.

Her task, as well as that of her new office, will be an immense challenge, given that (though support has marginally increased in the last month) more Bostonians oppose the bid than favor it.

Image via Boston 2024 & City of Boston

A photo from the last time Marty Walsh and Charlie Baker (far left) tried to bring a big multi-billion-dollar enterprise to Massachusetts.
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