Raimondo, Gina, 1971-

<p>Gina Marie Raimondo (born May 17, 1971) is an American politician and venture capitalist serving as the United States secretary of commerce. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the 75th and first female governor of Rhode Island from 2015 to 2021.</p>

<p>She served as General Treasurer of Rhode Island from 2011 to 2015. She was selected as the Democratic candidate for Rhode Island's governorship in the 2014 election. Raimondo won the election on November 4, 2014, with 41% of the vote, in a three-way race, against the mayor of Cranston, Republican Allan Fung, and businessman Robert Healey. She won re-election on November 6, 2018. She resigned as Governor in March 2021 to succeed Wilbur Ross as the United States secretary of commerce.</p>

<p>Gina Marie Raimondo was born in 1971 in Smithfield, Rhode Island, where she later grew up. Of Italian descent, she is the youngest of Josephine (Piro) and Joseph Raimondo's three children. Her father, Joseph (1926–2014), made his career at the Bulova watch factory in Providence, Rhode Island. He became unemployed at 56 when the Bulova company decamped operations to China, shuttering the factory in Providence. Raimondo was a childhood friend of U.S. Senator Jack Reed. Raimondo graduated from LaSalle Academy, in Providence, as one of the first girls allowed to attend the Catholic school, where she was valedictorian.</p>

<p>Gina M. Raimondo serves as the 40th U.S. Secretary of Commerce and was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris on March 3,2021. As Secretary of Commerce, she is focused on a simple but vital mission — to spur good-paying jobs, empower entrepreneurs to innovate and grow, and help American workers and businesses compete.</p>

<p>Secretary Raimondo was formerly the 75th Governor of Rhode Island and its first woman governor. She grew up in Smithfield in a tight-knit Italian-American family, the youngest of Joseph and Josephine Raimondo's three children. Her family history and her childhood experiences shaped her core beliefs in hard work, opportunity for all, and the importance of financial security.</p>

<p>After arriving from Italy at age 14, Secretary Raimondo’s grandfather learned English studying in the Providence Public Library and later lived with her family. Her mother was a homemaker, who dedicated her life to teaching her children about the importance of hard work and determination. Her father was a World War II Navy veteran from a family of butchers and became the first in his family to attend college thanks to the GI Bill. After working for 26 years in manufacturing, Joseph lost his job along with hundreds of others when the factory moved overseas, and the Raimondo family lost their sense of financial security.</p>

<p>Gina M. Raimondo is the 75th Governor of Rhode Island, its first woman governor.</p>

<p>Gina grew up in Smithfield in a tight-knit Italian-American family, the youngest of Joseph and Josephine Raimondo's three children. Gina's family history and her childhood experiences shaped her core beliefs in hard work, opportunity for all, and the importance of financial security.</p>

<p>After arriving from Italy at age 14, her grandfather learned English studying in the Providence Public Library, and later lived with Gina's family. Her father is a World War II Navy veteran from a family of butchers who was first in his family to attend college on the GI Bill. After working for 26 years at Bulova watch factory in Providence, her father lost his job, along with hundreds of others, when the factory moved overseas, and her family lost their sense of financial security.</p>

<p>As a teenager, Gina rode a RIPTA bus to LaSalle Academy in Providence, where she was valedictorian of her graduating class. Gina went on to graduate with honors from Harvard, where she was recognized as the top economics student in her class. She won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University where she earned a doctorate and met her husband Andy Moffit, and later graduated from Yale Law School. Gina clerked for US District Judge Kimba Wood, and served as founding employee and senior vice president at Village Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Williamstown, Massachusetts, that invested in high-growth start-up companies in at least 10 emerging cities across the country.</p>