About Gina-Louise

Gina-Louise (GL) Sciarra (she/her/hers) is proudly serving as the 45th Mayor of the City of Northampton. She was elected in November 2021. In 2024, she was honored as the Elected Official of the Year by the Massachusetts chapter of the American Planning Association.

Prior to serving as Mayor, she served four terms as a City Councilor: three terms as Ward 4 City Councilor from 2013 to 2019, then one term as City Councilor At-Large. In 2017, her City Council colleagues unanimously elected her Vice President of the Council, then in 2019 they unanimously elevated her to Council President. 

She was also the communications manager for Pathlight — the parent organization for several programs, including Whole Children, Milestones, Autism Connections, and Family Empowerment, which provide services and enrichment programs for people in western Massachusetts with developmental and intellectual disabilities and/or who have autism. (Pathlight is now part of ServiceNet.)

Headshot of a woman with shoulder-length dark and grey hair, black glasses, and an orange jacket. She is smiling, with one hand by her face with her thumb under her chin and index finger by her cheek, against a grey background.

Mayor Sciarra’s prior professional experience has spanned academia, development, and community preservation. After working for the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project, she earned a master's in sociology, studying gender and racial inequality in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Before running for office herself in Northampton, she was the Major Gifts Officer for the Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters, and the Capital Campaign Manager for the successful $2 million effort to repair and restore the historic First Churches of Northampton building and community space.

She has loved Northampton since her years at Smith College (‘96), and returned to settle here because she knew it was where she wanted to start her family. She soon became actively involved in the Northampton community.

In 2007, she started Knitting Liberally, as a partner group to the Drinking Liberally political social club that her husband, Bill, started in Northampton. From 2016 to 2021, she was the Ward 4 Chair for the Northampton Democratic City Committee, with which she worked on the very successful Take Back the House summit and regional organizing campaign for the 2018 midterm elections, as well as the Take Back Our Democracy effort for the 2020 election cycle.

She lives with her husband and their two daughters. They also share their home with two rambunctious and lovable cats as well as a dog who will absolutely kiss your face if you let her.

Mayor Sciarra serves on numerous city committees, statewide and regional boards, and activist coalitions, including:

Northampton

  • Northampton School Committee, Chair
  • Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School Trustee
  • Look Park Board of Trustees

State and Regional

National and Global

For additional information about Mayor Sciarra, please read, watch or listen to the following:

WHMP Talk the Talk Interviews 

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