Former Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Launches Campaign for Governor of Massachusetts
Lexington, MA – Today, Mike Kennealy announced his campaign to be the next Governor of Massachusetts and get our Commonwealth back on track. As Governor, Kennealy will work to make Massachusetts more affordable and create great futures for everyone, with a government people can believe in. Kennealy’s extensive experience in the private sector and in public service is described in the accompanying video, titled “Let’s Get to Work.”
Mike Kennealy is a father, husband, business leader and public servant. Over the course of his career, Kennealy helped drive the turnaround of the Lawrence Public Schools, oversaw significant job creation and economic growth in Massachusetts while successfully weathering the COVID-19 pandemic, and helped lead a firm that invested in over 100 high-growth, job-creating companies in Massachusetts and beyond.
“Everything from gas to housing to taxes is too expensive. Too many kids aren’t receiving the education they need to compete in a global economy. Our transportation system is still broken. The unspeakable violence in migrant shelters is a human tragedy and a national embarrassment… Our beacon on a hill has become a beacon in the rearview mirror,” said Kennealy in the video. “I’m running for Governor because I believe in the unlimited potential of our state through the power of our people.”
In 2013, at the age of 45, Kennealy was called to enter public service. He left a 19-year career in private equity where he helped companies expand and create thousands of jobs to become Special Advisor for the turnaround of Lawrence Public Schools. Kennealy was part of a leadership team that reallocated funds directly to the classroom by cutting bureaucratic inefficiencies while bringing together community partners to support students and their parents.
Kennealy served in Governor Baker’s administration as Assistant Secretary for Business Growth before being named Secretary of Housing and Economic Development. During his eight-year tenure, Kennealy oversaw the creation of more than 215,000 jobs and co-led the charge to re-open Massachusetts’ economy. He led initiatives that created opportunities for residents, including significant investments in housing, community development, workforce training and small business support.
Most recently, Kennealy served as Senior Advisor and Chief Strategy Officer at Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston. He has spent the last two years focused on improving the lives of children and young adults from Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, South Boston and Chelsea with academic support and workforce preparedness programs.
“Massachusetts deserves a Governor who will work with its people, not against them. Who knows how to manage public finances, not derail them, and who is willing to build coalitions to do the work of the people,” said Kennealy for Governor Campaign Manager Ben Hincher. “Mike Kennealy’s lifetime of creating jobs and expanding opportunities and his commitment to making Massachusetts a state that is affordable with a government we can believe in makes him the only candidate who can defeat Maura Healey.”
About Mike Kennealy:
Mike Kennealy is a father, husband, public servant, business leader and lifelong Massachusetts resident. For years, Mike has built coalitions of business, government and community leaders to deliver for the Commonwealth. His unmatched range of experiences in the private and public sectors equips him with a profound understanding of the state’s needs and the unlimited potential of its people.
Mike’s campaign for Governor is about three priorities:
1: A state we all can afford
2: A great future for everyone
3: Government we can believe in
Mike grew up in Medford and Reading, Massachusetts. He learned the value of hard work from his mom, Terese, and his dad, Paul, a member of the local steelworkers’ union; after nine years of night classes, Paul earned an accounting degree, took a job at Roche Bros. Supermarkets, and rose through the ranks to become the chain’s CEO.
Mike’s parents created a pathway for their children to succeed. Mike went on to graduate from Dartmouth College and Harvard Business School, before embarking on a successful 19-year career in private equity as an Associate at TA Associates and Managing Director at Spectrum Equity. Spectrum invested in high-potential companies, helping them expand their operations and create thousands of jobs. Mike was pivotal in expanding the firm’s size thirteenfold, establishing it as a market leader with nearly $5 billion in assets and investments in over 100 companies focused on the information economy.
At 45, Mike was called to enter public service, becoming a Special Advisor for the turnaround of Lawrence Public Schools. As one of the worst-performing school districts in Massachusetts, LPS had been placed into state receivership. Over two years, he was part of a leadership team that cut bureaucratic inefficiencies by nearly 40 percent, reallocating funds directly to classrooms, and brought together community partners to support Lawrence students and their parents. These initiatives led to higher student achievement and a 20 percent increase in high school graduation rates. Over the past decade, thousands of kids in Lawrence have received a better education that has set them up for future success.
In 2015, Mike joined Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito’s administration as Assistant Secretary for Business Growth, playing a key role in shaping the administration’s strategies for business development and job creation. More than 215,000 new jobs were created in Massachusetts during Mike’s tenure.
In December 2018 he was appointed by Governor Baker as Secretary of Housing and Economic Development, a role in which he visited more than 150 cities and towns in Massachusetts and built relationships with local governments and community leaders. Mike led initiatives that would create more opportunities for Massachusetts residents, including significant investments in housing, community development, workforce training, and small business support. He also spearheaded Housing Choice, the most substantial housing policy reform the state had seen in decades. When COVID-19 shut down the Massachusetts economy, Mike co-led the effort to reopen small, medium, and large businesses across the Commonwealth. In his role as leader of the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, Mike utilized his private sector expertise to manage 1,500 employees and a $1.5 billion budget.
Mike most recently served as Senior Advisor and Chief Strategy Officer at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, where he has been key in supporting children and young adults with academic support and workforce preparedness programs, with a focus on kids from Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, South Boston and Chelsea.
Mike and his wife Trisha live in Lexington, where they have been deeply involved in local government, education and youth sports. His commitment to his community includes service on Lexington’s finance committee, chairing the Board of Trustees at St. John’s Prep in Danvers, and coaching 39 youth sports teams. Mike and Trisha have three adult children and all the Kennealys are Pan-Mass Challenge riders.
