Andrea Silbert Makes Her Case

[Blue Mass Group recently spoke at length with Lieutenant Governor candidate Andrea Silbert about her campaign. As is our practice David, Charley and I will post our reports without prior consultation. Full disclosure: Andrea and I went to college together and have been friends for almost 20 years. I think very highly of her and am supporting her campaign.]

Andrea Silbert, the leading fund raiser in the Lieutenant Governor's race, laid out her compelling case for the office with a characteristic mix of idealism, realism, determinaton and enthusiasm last week in an extended discussion with our Editors.

"My campaign is first and foremost about economic development, job creation, and urban development. Massachusetts is currently 48th out of the 50 states in job creation. I have a proven track record of having done that in the private sector -- the organization I co-founded, Center for Women & Enterprise (CWE), has helped companies create more than 14,000 jobs and $400 million in new wages in over 200 communities across the state," she said.

Economic development, however, will mean little if it does not flow through to the most disadvantaged members of society, Silbert said. "I believe in social justice for two main reasons. First, it is the right thing to do from a moral point of view. Second, as a practical matter we need everyone if we are going to succeed as a society," she said.

CWE, which Silbert started at her kitchen table, helps entrepreneurs -- primarily women, but also men -- start new businesses and expand existing enterprises by providing education, training, technical assistance and access to debt and equity capital. The non-profit employs about 30 staff, has offices in Boston, Worcester and Providence, and had revenues of approximately $2.5 million last year, according to Silbert.

Silbert said her development work has required frequent trips to Washington. "I have learned, to some degree, how to work with the system in Washington. I intended to bring that experience to bear if I am elected," she said. Development of the regional rail network, for example, is an area that should receive priority state and federal attention, she added.   

Silbert lives in Harwich with her husband, Craig Caldwell, and their three children. She earned a Master of Business Administration, a Master of Public Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Harvard. She was a financial analyst with Morgan Stanley in New York, then left the country in 1988 to serve in grassroots economic development in Costa Rica, Colombia, and Brazil.

She worked for Women's World Banking, an international network of micro-loan funds, in Latin America, and with the poorest of the poor at a non-profit organization serving "street children" in Brazil. She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.

Silbert's campaign fundraising total recently topped $200,000, which puts her first in the money race, Cape Code Today reported on 12 October. The Harvard MBA says most of that sum is still in the bank. Silbert, who is not independently wealthy, launched her effort with $5,000 of her own funds.

Silbert has been endorsed by former US Ambassador Swanee Hunt, State Representative Rachel Kaprielian, State Representative Matt Patrick, AIDS Action Committee Executive Director Rebecca Haag, John Kerry LGBT Finance Committee Chair Will Woodruff, former State Representatives Jim Collins and Peter Larkin, and business leaders such as realtor Chobee Hoy and venture capitalist John Cullinane, Jr.