Catherine Zusy

Cathie Zusy, a 30-year Cambridge resident, was sworn into the Cambridge City Council in Fall 2024, to fill the late City Councillor, Joan Pickett’s seat.

Over the last 25 years Zusy has worked to build community in Cambridge. She led the dramatic revitalization of the City’s second largest park, Magazine Beach, founding a non profit to bring together city, state and neighborhood funding. Drawing on her training in art curation, she co-launched the restoration of St. Augustine’s African-Orthodox Church and originated the community art history event “If this house could talk…”

She has been a longtime advocate for open space, native plants and the arts. More recently, she’s worked to bolster our local news options. She was President of the Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association, and since 2022, has led efforts to preserve the legacy of Central Square folk artist Peter Valentine. She is known for her positive approach, collaborative style, and attention to detail.

A former museum curator, Zusy brings research, writing, and project direction skills to the Council. Zusy and her husband, Sam Kendall, live in Cambridgeport. Their son, Ben, is a 2016 graduate of CRLS. She grew up in the DC suburbs, one of seven children, the daughter of a nurse/writer and journalist.

Zusy has won awards for her activism from the Charles River Conservancy, Charles River Watershed Association, Cambridge Historical Commission, Cambridge Police Department, Garden Club of America and the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women.