Lorena Escolero Appointed As Medford’s Federal Funds Manager

MEDFORD, MA — Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn has appointed Lorena Escolero as Medford’s Federal Funds Manager.

Escolero had been serving as Head Clerk in the Office of Procurement since August 2021. In her new role, she will help allocate American Rescue Plan funding for eligible pandemic-affected programs and projects.

The open Federal Funds position was posted publicly as of July and formally offered to Escolero in August.

“Lorena has been an instrumental part of managing and securing our grant funding during her time at the former Office of Community Development,” Lungo-Koehn said in a statement. “Since transitioning to Office of Procurement, she has expanded her knowledge and competency on municipal finances and streamlined accounting and expense procedures across City departments. Her professional experience coupled with her deep understanding of Medford’s community-based needs makes her the ideal choice to lead our federal funds strategy.”

Upon the signing of the American Rescue Plan by President Biden in March 2021, the City of Medford was allocated nearly $50 million in federal stimulus funding over a four-year period. The funding must be allocated to eligible pandemic-affected programs and resources.

After allocating a percentage to existing fiscal needs such as revenue replacement, some of the over $20 million remaining will be invested directly into community projects, programs and initiatives as well as water and sewer infrastructure, open space need, and more.

The city released a survey in July in multiple languages to help gather community input and priorities for how to best allocate a portion of the remaining available funding. The survey will close on October 5 and the data will be used to determine future projects and programming.

“This federal funding has the ability to make a profound positive impact on the lives of everyone in our City,” Escolero said in a statement. “I am humbled to be able to help steer the City’s COVID response and ARPA strategy in conjunction with the Mayor and her administration and can’t wait to get to work.”

Digital versions of the survey can be found at medfordma.org/arpa.