Gina Raimondo Biography

Gina Marie Raimondo (born May 17, 1971) is an American politician, businesswoman, and venture capitalist, and the Governor-elect of the State of Rhode Island. Raimondo, a member of the Democratic Party, will become the first woman to serve as Governor of Rhode Island. She has served as the General Treasurer for the State of Rhode Island since 2011. She is the second Rhode Island woman to serve as Treasurer. She was selected as the Democratic Party candidate for Rhode Island Governor in the 2014 election. Raimondo won the election with 40% of the vote on November 4, 2014.

Early life and education

Gina Marie Raimondo was born May 17, 1971 at Smithfield, Rhode Island, where she grew up. She is of Italian descent, and is the youngest of Josephine (Piro) and Joseph Raimondo"?s three children. Her father worked for a watch company. Raimondo graduated from La Salle Academy, as one of the first girls allowed to attend the Providence Catholic Institution, where she would go on to be valedictorian.

Raimondo graduated with a B.A. magna cum laude in Economics from Harvard University in 1993. She attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar where she received a Ph.D in sociology. Raimondo received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1998.

On November 1, 2001 Raimondo married Andrew Kind Moffit, at Providence, Rhode Island. The couple have two children. The Moffit Raimondo family currently reside in Providence.

Business career

Raimondo began her early career as a law clerk for U.S. Senior Judge Kimba Wood for the southern district of New York. After her service to the state of New York, Raimondo acted as Senior Vice President for Fund Development at the Manhattan offices of Village Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and backed by Bain Capital and Highland Capital Groups. Raimondo would later return to Rhode Island in 2000 to co-found the state's first venture capital firm, Point Judith Capital. Point Judith would subsequently relocate its offices to Boston, Massachusetts. At Point Judith, Raimondo would serve as a general partner covering health care investments; she retains some executive duties with the firm.

Political career

General Treasurer of Rhode Island

On November 2, 2010, Raimondo defeated her Republican opponent, Kernan King, for the office of General Treasurer. She defeated Mr. King by a wide margin of 62 percent to 38 percent. She received 201,625 votes, more than any other Rhode Island candidate during the 2010 elections. She is the second woman, after Republican Nancy J. Mayer of Bristol, to serve in that capacity since 1640.

Donation by Pro-pension Reformer John Arnold

John Arnold who funded a group to change pensions in Rhode Island donated a second $100,000 in October 2014 to Democrat Gina Raimondo's "super Pac" in her run for governor. He is a billionaire from Texas.

Pension policies

During her first year as General Treasurer, she headed the effort to change the funding structure of Rhode Island"?s state-administered public employee pension system, which was 48% funded in 2010. In April 2011, Raimondo led the state retirement board to reduce the state's assumed rate of return on pension investments from 8.25 percent to 7.5 percent. In May 2011, Raimondo released "Truth in Numbers"?, a report that described the state"?s impending pension crisis, and "offered a framework and possible solutions to help solve the pension crisis."? Raimondo played a central role in raising public support for pension reform. The Rhode Island Retirement Security Act (RIRSA) was enacted by the General Assembly on November 17, 2012, with bipartisan support in both chambers. The next day, Governor Lincoln Chafee signed RIRSA into law. A Brown University poll conducted in December, 2011 found that 60 percent of Rhode Island residents supported the pension reform. Rating agencies responded positively to the pension reforms. Following enactment of RIRSA, Raimondo held regional education sessions to educate public employees about how the reforms would affect their retirement benefits.

The Federal Security and Exchange Commission is investigating a fund getting the most fees from the Employee Retirement System of Rhode Island, Och-Ziff.

This same fund is also under investigation by the Justice Department and the SEC (about investments in Libya) and by the SEC for investments in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The legality of RIRSA is presently being challenged in court.

During the subsequent 2012 session, Raimondo expressed her opposition to legislation that would weaken the effects of RIRSA, arguing that these changes would "delay the system"?s return to a healthy funding level."? She opposed Governor Chafee"?s budget proposal to reduce the state"?s annual contributions, stating that the proposal would only provide "modest savings while delaying our efforts to return the pension system to a healthy funding level."?

RIRSA included provisions that required municipalities with locally administered pension plans to submit actuarial studies to a newly created study commission by April 1, 2012. Raimondo held workshops to assist municipalities with their pension reform efforts.

Municipalities

Raimondo created the Ocean State Investment Pool (OSIP), a low-cost investment vehicle intended to help the state and municipalities better manage and improve the investment performance of their liquid assets, which are used for day-to-day operations including payroll and operating expenses. $500 million in funds could be eligible for the program, which would enable Treasury "to extend its expertise to municipalities and improve investment returns by creating economies of scale." The program launched in April 23, 2012.

Transparency

In 2011, Raimondo led a review of the state's bond disclosure practices and updated the information statement and related bond disclosure information that will accompany future bond offerings. In conjunction with the changes to bond disclosure policies, Raimondo launched the state"?s first "?Investor Relations Portal"?, which includes financial information and related reports from the Office of the General Treasurer, the Employees"? Retirement System of Rhode Island, the State Budget Office, the Department of Revenue, and the State Office of the Auditor General.

But transparency in hedge funds is not that simple. After a struggle to get the information in August 2013 the Providence Journal got info from some funds "Among the information redacted: what companies the funds invest in, past returns and withdrawal rates, how much the partners earn and their personal stakes in their funds, even such details as the identities of traders and the funds"? outside auditing and accounting firms."

Payday lending

During the Rhode Island General Assembly"?s 2012 session, Raimondo advocated for a decrease in the maximum allowable interest rate on payday loans in Rhode Island. She hosted a roundtable discussion with Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and members of the Rhode Island Payday Reform Coalition. Raimondo submitted letters to the Senate and House Corporations Committees in support of payday reform legislation. She wrote, "Far too many families are facing financial challenges that might be mitigated or avoided through a greater understanding of personal finance"? and "payday loans exploit that lack of understanding"?With numerous economic challenges, Rhode Island should not permit the sale if a financial product that traps so many customers in a cycle of debt."? Raimondo wrote an op-ed in the May 29, 2012 edition of The Providence Journal in support of payday lending reform.

Governor of Rhode Island

Raimondo was elected Governor of Rhode Island on November 4, 2014, winning 40% of the vote, defeating challengers Allan Fung (R) and Robert J. Healey (Moderate Party).

Community service

Raimondo serves as vice chair of the Board of Directors of Crossroads Rhode Island, the state"?s largest homeless services organization. Until 2011, she was a trustee at Women and Infants Hospital and Chair of its Quality Committee. She has served on the boards of La Salle Academy and Family Service of Rhode Island.

Fellowships and awards

Raimondo is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow. Raimondo was awarded an Honorary Degree from Bryant University in 2012, and has received awards from the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce and the YWCA of Northern Rhode Island. Raimondo was elected Alumni Fellow at Yale in 2014.