Yusufi Vali, Wu’s outgoing deputy chief of staff, bids bittersweet farewell to Boston City Hall - The Boston Globe (2024)

When Vali recently announced he is stepping away from his role to help his wife care for her parents, the news was met with an equal mix of heartbreak and understanding by people who know or work with him.

“It was a hard decision, but there’s moments in life where you just have to put family first and so this is one of those moments, and I’m hoping I can continue my service and continue public service in some form,” said Vali, whose last day with the city is Friday. “Being in this role has felt almost like a miracle at times, and has meant just a lot to my family and me, and I think is the best of the American story in some ways.”

The Globe conducted more than a dozen interviews with city officials, community members, organizers, and religious leaders who all said his impact on Boston cannot be understated, and that he will leave behind a legacy of making the city a more welcoming and supportive place for marginalized communities.

“I have now lived and worked in Boston for 10 years, and having someone with the values and priorities that Mr. Vali brought to City Hall is extraordinarily rare,” said Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, the executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights. “He was in tune with community needs, he genuinely cared about developing community relationships, and he cultivated these relationships while wearing many different hats during his tenure in City Hall. The city is better for it.”

Vali said his work is intensely personal. After moving from India to Kansas City at 9 years old, he watched his immigrant parents struggle to navigate a new language, country, and culture, with little support or understanding of how to access government resources.

Guided by his faith, the Fulbright and Marshall scholar dedicated himself to civic duty. During his time at City Hall, Vali ensured the voices of marginalized communities were heard.

“He does unapologetically open doors and opportunities for people who ordinarily would not get those invitations and who ordinarily would be left out, and the significance of that is major,” said Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, executive director of the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Vali’s leadership has also had a profound impact on young Muslims in Boston, many of whom describe Vali as a gracious, humble, compassionate, and deeply spiritual mentor. They call him a role model who has inspired many other young people from immigrant backgrounds to become civically engaged or give back to their communities by going into public service.

He is especially known for his role as a bridge builder, not only bringing together the diverse Muslim community but also strengthening ties with other religious groups.

Jeremy Burton, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, who has known Vali for more than 13 years and considers him both a trusted colleague and friend, said Vali consistently approaches difficult conversations with curiosity, respect, and a desire to understand.

Those relationships helped Vali lead interfaith, united responses to several tragedies, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh in 2018, and the attack on two New Zealand mosques in 2019.

“What we were trying to do after the Marathon bombings was help people just understand that we too, were Bostonians,” said Vali, emphasizing the unity and solidarity the city demonstrated.

The marathon bombing is just one of many crises Vali has navigated as a religious and political leader in Boston.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Vali “immediately jumped into action,” proactively reaching out to nonprofits and other community-based groups to coordinate housing support, and access to food, health care, and other resources, said Espinoza-Madrigal of the Lawyers for Civil Rights.

Vali also relied on his connections to guide the city’s response to the ongoing migrant crisis, creating the infrastructure to connect service providers and organizations with immigrant communities, and help migrants access legal representation, shelter, and basic services.

When migrant families were taking shelter and sleeping at the Boston Medical Center emergency department, Vali brought critical stakeholders to the table to ensure organizations on the front line of the crisis, like the nonprofit Immigrant Family Services Institute, were getting the support they needed, said the group’s executive director Geralde Gabeau.

“We’re really going to miss him in this role,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “His ability to pull everyone together and really redefine our internal ways of being on the same page, making a plan, and then building the best kind of infrastructure to be able to work effectively with the state, with community partners and service providers on the ground, has really made a big difference.”

Niki Griswold can be reached at niki.griswold@globe.com. Follow her @nikigriswold.