A champion for our families and our neighborhoods.
Meet Mary Lupien
Mary Lupien is a proud Rochesterian, a dedicated public servant, and a visionary leader who believes in a brighter, more equitable future for all. As a member of the Rochester City Council, Mary has worked tirelessly to champion the needs of our residents, fight for housing as a human right, and advocate for a city that puts our people and planet first.
Transforming Public Safety
A trailblazer in reimagining public safety. Mary played a key role in establishing the Person-In-Crisis Team and the Peacemaker Fellowship violence prevention program—initiatives that make Rochester safer and more resilient. These programs take the burden off police by assigning trained professionals to handle non-violent emergencies, freeing officers to focus on the most serious calls. Mary has gained national recognition, being tapped to advance this work through the Council of State Governments.
Champion for Housing Justice
A steadfast advocate for housing as a human right. Mary fought to pass Good Cause Eviction Protections and has championed quality, affordable housing and pushed for energy efficiency measures that lower costs for residents while advancing sustainability.
Dedicated Educator
A committed teacher in the Rochester City School District. Mary focuses on meeting students’ social and emotional needs, creating an environment where they can thrive both in and out of the classroom. Mary’s experience gives her a deep understanding of the challenges facing our youth and the critical role education plays in building a stronger, more equitable future for our community.
Trusted Leader
Leads with integrity, prioritizes transparency, and puts the needs of the community at the center of every decision. By being present in the community, accessible to constituents, and unafraid to challenge the status quo, Mary has shown that she is a leader who can be trusted to do what’s right—even when it’s difficult.
A Champion for Our familes and Neighborhoods
Whether it’s for her family, neighbors, students, or her community, Mary has always been a fighter.
Mary graduated from RIT in 2003 with a degree in Information Technology. She was working as a software engineer in 2004 when the Indian Ocean tsunami killed nearly 230,000 people across fifteen countries. Compelled to act, Mary began training to provide disaster relief while searching for a way to make her professional life align more with her values.
This search led her to become the assistant director of St. Peter’s Soup Kitchen. There she worked with materially disadvantaged community members and learned that there wasn’t a dividing line between her and Rochester’s most vulnerable. Our lives are about opportunities and circumstances too often beyond our control. Learning this in such a visceral way inspired her to dedicate herself even more to identifying and fighting systemic injustices that deny people the chance to flourish.
From St. Peter’s Soup Kitchen, Mary deepened her connection to Rochester through the Catholic Family Center, Black Lives Matter, and Mothers Out Front to mobilize against climate change. In 2015, she joined the Bernie Sanders campaign after his people-focused agenda resonated with her own experiences and aspirations. Not only did this campaign train Mary as an organizer—it showed her that she could do more than advocate to those who make decisions. She could be a decision-maker herself.
Watch her 2017 TEDx Talk “From Charity to Justice” that describes her journey.
From Activist to City Council
Building on her community activism, experiences as an organizer for the Bernie Sanders campaign, and participation in the Parent-Leadership Training Institute (PLTI), Mary launched her first campaign for City Council in 2017. Her campaign was powered by a wave of energy from supporters who also understood that if we want our government to represent us, we need to participate. Undeterred, Mary ran again in 2019, where she won 62% of the vote in a 5-way district race. This overwhelming support demonstrated how much Rochester was ready and eager for the progressive ideas that have been at the center of Mary’s work from the beginning.
Today on City Council, Mary draws on her training as an organizer to fight for social justice, whether it be through providing care-focused alternate responses to mental health calls, establishing the Person-In-Crisis team, being one of the first proponents of Good Cause Eviction Protections, and more. She has also drawn on her IT background to spearhead a legislative management system that will make legislative records easier to access and, as a result, encourage civic engagement.
Outside City Council, Mary advocates for the causes dearest to her, teaching Social Emotional Learning in the Rochester City School District. Working with a bilingual student population, she helps meet the emotional needs of children, supports them in learning to identify and regulate their emotions, and provides guidance during these challenging times.
Now, Mary is ready to take her commitment to Rochester further by running to become our mayor.