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Avalos is the chief executive officer of Precise Management and Residence, a Lynn-based firm, and brings a background rooted in both the business and civic life of the North Shore. Her election to the NSWC presidency reflects a broader shift that has been gradually taking hold in Lynn and surrounding communities: the growing visibility of Latina and immigrant professionals in leadership positions that were once occupied almost exclusively by those from more established and homogeneous backgrounds.

Lynn has long been one of the most diverse cities in Massachusetts. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the city of roughly 104,000 residents is home to a significant and growing Latino population, alongside communities with roots in Central America, Southeast Asia, West Africa, and elsewhere. The city has been designated a Gateway City by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts — a recognition given to midsize urban centers that anchor regional economies but whose residents often face barriers to educational attainment and economic mobility.

Organizations like North Shore Women Connect have become vital connective tissue in this environment. By providing networking opportunities, professional development, and a platform for business owners and executives across the North Shore region, NSWC helps bridge the gap between communities that might otherwise operate in parallel rather than together. Avalos’s leadership brings those communities closer still.

Her rise also coincides with a wave of civic engagement in Lynn more broadly. In January 2026, Mayor Jared Nicholson was inaugurated alongside members of the City Council and School Committee, setting the stage for what city leaders hope will be a period of sustained investment in infrastructure, education, and community services. Ward 7 Councilor Jordan Avery, newly elected, was celebrated at a gathering in November that underscored the energy of a city that increasingly sees itself as a place of rising possibility rather than one defined by past struggles.

In the Lynn Public Schools system, advocates have long pushed for leadership that reflects the demographics of the student body — a majority of whom come from households where English is not the primary language. Programs like the Coordinated Family and Community Engagement initiative have tried to close the gap between schools and the families they serve, and figures like Ivanna Solano, who has been described by local media as an advocate for underserved women in Lynn’s immigrant community, have done grassroots work to amplify voices that might otherwise go unheard.

For Avalos, the NSWC presidency is an opportunity to continue that work on a regional scale. Her first meeting was held at Mangia Restaurant in Danvers, and the agenda — whatever it covered that evening — was framed by something larger: the simple, significant fact that the organization’s direction was now being shaped by someone whose story looks like the story of a rapidly changing North Shore.

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In July 2025, the newly remediated Lynn Harbor Park opened to the public for the first time. The 22-acre green space, built on the site of a former manufactured gas plant that had sat vacant for roughly four decades, now offers panoramic views of the harbor and the Boston skyline to residents who had never previously had access to that stretch of coast. The environmental cleanup, led by Charter Development in collaboration with the city and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, marked a major milestone in what officials hope will become a full-scale revitalization of Lynn’s South Harbor neighborhood.

The park is only the beginning. According to reporting by Boston 25 News, a private developer is preparing to break ground in 2026 on a project that would deliver 850 units of housing and approximately 26,000 square feet of commercial space — what city officials have described as the largest private investment in Lynn’s history. Mayor Jared Nicholson has framed the development as central to the city’s long-term future. ‘The opportunity that exists on the waterfront is absolutely critical to our future,’ Nicholson said. ‘That’s where the growth can and should happen.’

In a parallel effort, construction of 550 apartment units at the site of the former Lynnway Mart Indoor Mall and Flea Market has already been underway since 2022, with Connecticut-based developer Post Road Residential delivering what are marketed as luxury units along the South Harbor waterfront. Together, the two projects represent a concentrated injection of private capital into a neighborhood that planners have long identified as one of the city’s most promising yet underutilized assets.

The city is not leaving infrastructure to chance. Lynn is currently designing a new street grid intended to divert traffic off the congested Lynnway, and new construction standards will require buildings to be elevated above projected flood levels — a forward-thinking measure that accounts for rising sea levels along the Massachusetts coast. The harbor-facing edge of the South Harbor site is also being designed as a natural dune system capable of absorbing storm surge impacts.

Not everyone is celebrating without reservation. Community organizers, including the Lynn chapter of Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts, have raised concerns about affordability, noting that 85 deed-restricted affordable units out of 850 total in the planned development falls well short of what lower-income residents need. With Lynn’s median renter household income sitting at roughly $34,000 — less than half of the city’s median homeowner income — advocates argue that waterfront revitalization must do more to serve the full spectrum of the community, not just new arrivals drawn by harbor views.

Still, the consensus among city leaders and economic development professionals is that Lynn’s waterfront moment has finally arrived. The Economic Development and Industrial Corporation of Lynn (EDIC), which has been working for decades toward the transformation of the waterfront and downtown district into what it calls ‘bustling, pedestrian-friendly destinations,’ is actively engaged in the planning process. With a comprehensive master plan now in place and community input sessions ongoing, the city is moving with a deliberateness that earlier efforts often lacked.

For a city that has long been underestimated, the waterfront represents more than just new buildings and tax revenue. It represents a chance to rewrite the narrative — and, for tens of thousands of residents, to finally have a front-row seat to the water their city has always bordered.

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