Massachusetts Convention Center Authority Board Appoints John Barros Interim Executive Director

The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) Board of Directors today voted unanimously to appoint John Barros as Interim Executive Director of the Authority, with a start date of January 14, 2026.  

Barros brings more than 25 years of leadership experience across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, with a dedicated career focused on economic development, equitable growth, and community impact. From 2014 to 2021, he served as Chief of Economic Development for the City of Boston, where he led the creation of a newly consolidated Economic Development Cabinet focused on equity and inclusion, and advanced initiatives to create jobs, strengthen tourism, train the workforce, and revitalize neighborhoods.

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MCCA board taps John Barros to be interim executive director

The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority board on Friday voted unanimously to hire former top City Hall aide John Barros to run the quasi-public agency as its interim executive director and bring some stability after two leadership shakeups there.

Starting on Jan. 14, Barros will lead a 400-person organization that operates three convention centers in Boston and Springfield as well as the Boston Common parking garage. He served as chief of economic development for then-mayor Marty Walsh from 2014 through 2021, before launching an unsuccessful bid for mayor, and has been working in commercial real estate since leaving City Hall. (Barros also ran for mayor in 2013, and led the nonprofit Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative before that.)

“A lot of our economic ecosystem of the state depends on tourism, and the MCCA is a big part of the infrastructure for that part of the economy,” Barros said in an interview. “I’m excited to help support the growth of jobs, [including] small businesses that are tied to tourism.”

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