New Licensing Board chair takes over as Boston rolls out its new liquor licenses

The board that decides which Boston restaurants and bars can serve alcohol is getting a new leader.

Kathleen Joyce, a Dorchester resident who has chaired the Boston Licensing Board for eight years and also runs the city's Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing, is leaving city government, the Dorchester Reporter reported on Tuesday. Ava Callender Concepcion, 38, of Mattapan, will become chair on Nov. 4. Mayor Michelle Wu and Joyce were set to announce the change Tuesday in Mattapan Square, according to the Reporter. The paper did not say why Joyce is leaving.

If you have been waiting for a sit-down restaurant with a drink menu on your main street, this board is where that happens. It issues and polices liquor licenses, and it is in the middle of handing out a batch of new ones created by state law for neighborhoods that have had few.

Who is the new chair

Concepcion has been a Licensing Board commissioner since August, the Reporter reported. She was previously acting chair of the state Cannabis Control Commission and worked for the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office and the Legislature's Judiciary Committee, according to the paper. She grew up in Mattapan and graduated from Boston Latin Academy.

Wu said in a statement that Concepcion "knows our neighborhoods inside and out," the Reporter reported. Concepcion told the paper she wants more neighborhood businesses to use the board's resources, and pointed to a Mattapan cafe that won a license last summer as a model. The chair is a full-time city job.

What our records show

Joyce briefed the council's Ways and Means Committee on her office's budget on April 30 (watch at 24:48). In that presentation, she said:

• The Licensing Board is a three-member board appointed by the mayor.
• It had granted 75 of the 225 licenses created by the 2024 state law, with at least one in each of the 13 eligible ZIP codes (watch at 28:20).
• Rules passed in January let beer-and-wine licenses upgrade to full liquor licenses, and the board had approved 31 upgrades.
• The board hired its first outreach coordinator in fiscal 2026.

Later in the hearing, Joyce said much of the office's work is mandated by the state and that "our staff has not grown." She asked councilors to renew $100,000 for two temporary positions, including the outreach worker who goes door to door to explain the license process (watch at 59:52).

The Reporter said Joyce oversaw the distribution of more than 200 new liquor licenses in neighborhoods. That figure and the April count may measure different things or periods, and we could not reconcile them from public records.

The council has also weighed in on nightlife and alcohol rules this year:

• July: A resolution supporting a state bill for a summer pilot letting cities extend bar hours and allow drinking in designated districts passed 8-2, with Flynn and Murphy voting no and Culpepper voting present (docket 1344).
• March: A resolution to keep alcohol restrictions at all Boston Public Schools facilities, including the White Fund parcel in Franklin Park, failed 3-9, with Flynn, Mejia and Murphy voting yes (docket 0643).

What's next

Concepcion takes over Nov. 4. The board holds regular public hearings, listed on the city's public notices page, including a transactional hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 28. No council action on the leadership change is on Wednesday's council agenda.