BOSTON — Jeannette McGinn was inducted into the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women’s Commonwealth Heroines class of 2025, during a ceremony at the State House on June 26.
McGinn is co-founder and President of Newhall Fields and a very active volunteer. She was nominated by State Representative Thomas P. Walsh (D-Peabody),
While serving as the volunteer coordinator for Habitat for Humanity of the North Shore, McGinn earned the support of Lowe’s Home Improvement and started the Women’s Build Day for the local chapter of the non-profit housing organization.
McGinn also volunteered and later worked for Mass Audubon while also participating in activities with Scout Troop 19, spending many hours with the scouts as they learned valuable life skills.
McGinn currently serves as both President of the Board of Directors and Director of Newhall Fields, the non-profit community farm founded in 2019 in South Peabody.
The community farm supports local food pantries with fresh produce. Newhall Fields’ mission to provide organically and sustainably grown fresh, healthy produce and herbs to North Shore families facing food scarcity, while strengthening community bonds by offering volunteer farming and outdoor education opportunities, is critically important to hunger relief organizations on the North Shore.
McGinn earned her undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Vermont and later earned her MS in Ecological Teaching and Learning from Lesley University.
McGinn and her husband, Ward 2 City Councilor Peter McGinn, live in South Peabody and are the parents of four: Anna, Morris, Daniel, and Lydia.
She was lauded for her dedication to the community by Representative Walsh, “Jeannette’s love for the outdoors and passion for helping people came together with her founding of Newhall Fields in South Peabody. Thanks to the hard work of Jeannette and her team, every year thousands of food-insecure North Shore residents are provided access to fresh herbs and vegetables,” he said.
McGinn said she was “truly honored that Representative Tom Walsh nominated me for this recognition. I’m deeply grateful to be among the incredible women of Peabody who have received this award.”
She continued, “I love the work I do at Newhall Fields Community Farm — growing food for and with our community on this beautiful farmland in the heart of Peabody. I want to thank Representative Walsh for recognizing and supporting our farm’s mission. Newhall Fields is near and dear to my heart because of the people it brings together: a passionate, hardworking, and dedicated group committed to growing healthy food, cultivating a therapeutic herb garden, and learning about our local food system so we can make it stronger — together. I’d love for everyone to come visit us at Newhall Fields, located behind Tillie’s Farmstand. I promise, you’ll fall in love with it — just like we all have.”
Presented annually by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, Commonwealth Heroine honorees are women “who don’t make the news, but make the difference.”
