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Joshua Ostroff biography

Summary

See also Community Achievements

Personal History
My family lives in a house on Erlandson Road (just north of the former gravel pit) that we bought when we moved to Natick in 1988, and have since renovated and expanded. I am the co-owner of a research company in Natick Center, Virtual Media Resources; my wife Jeanne Williamson Ostroff is an artist and web designer and Town Meeting member. Our son Jonah (NHS 2004, Carleton College BA 2008) is a Math PhD graduate student at Brandeis University in Waltham, lives and votes in Somerville, teaches at The Math Circle and plans to teach mathematics. 

I was a native of Fall River, where my parents were raised, and was rasied in Providence, Rehoboth and Brookline. My late father Earl was an insurance executive and a scholar in Mediterranean Studies. My mother Elaine started a children's theatre company in Providence in the early 1960s, and went on to work at the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, and founded the Adaptive Environment Center in Boston (now the Institute for Human Centered Design), which is a worldwide resource in the area of Universal Design. Today my mother lives in Westport, Massachusetts where she is a member of the local Planning Board and is very active in the local community.

I enjoy cooking, learning games from my son, art, whitewater rafting, writing and public speaking, roasting and brewing coffee, and participating in community events and government.

Work experience
I am co-owner of Virtual Media Resources,Virtual Media Resources, a research company in Natick Center that specializes in using media research and analysis to support change in public health and public policy.  Our clients the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, whose mission was to measure the amount of alcohol advertising that reaches kids, and to work with alcohol marketers, government regulators and other influencers to reduce kid's exposure to alcohol ads. Our company motto is "intelligence for change."  We are also active in reforming the marketing practices for unhelathy food products, deceptive health insurance marketing and other issues that relate to public health policy.

My professional background is in advertising media planning and research,  As a teenager and during college, I worked as a prep cook, deli man, hardware clerk, stationers’ deliverer, advertising intern, custodian, taxi driver, newspaper business manager, bicycle parts clerk/repairman and busboy.  All good experience for understanding people from different walks of life.

Community (See also Achievements)
Not long after I moved to Natick, I started volunteering to help where I could, and to apply my skills and interests to serve our community, as do thousands of people in Natick. I believe that government works best for the people when the people work to improve government. The same is true for schools, non-profits, charities, sports leagues, etc. People must get involved, know what is going on and organize effectively if they want to change things for the better.  Among the things I have been involved with are the Natick Education Foundation from 1996, the successful Middle School campaign in 2000, Town Meeting since 1998, the Pay-As-You-Throw program in 2003, Natick.info, a community web site since 2002 that is now largely dormant, as well as various projects with the Natick Service Council, the Morse Institute Library, the Kennedy Senior Center, NHS and other public schools in Natick, and much more.

I am fortunate to have made some wonderful friendships in Natick with people of every generation and many walks of life. I love many things about our town, and for those that are not what they could be, my first reaction has always been: what can we do to fix it? I have tried to bring that constructive approach to the Board of Selectmen.

I welcome your questions and comments at joshua@ostroff.net or 508 654-3330.