Trahan, Lori, 1973-
TRAHAN, Lori, a Representative from Massachusetts; born in Lowell, Middlesex County, Mass., October 27, 1973; graduated from Lowell High School, Lowell, Mass., 1991; B.S., Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., 1995; attended Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 2013; businesswoman; staff, United States Representative Marty Meehan of Massachusetts, 1995-2005; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Sixteenth and to the succeeding Congress (January 3, 2019-present).
Citations
<p>Growing up in a working-class family in Lowell, Massachusetts, Lori Trahan experienced firsthand the principles of sacrifice, hard work, and grit. Her father was a union ironworker, and her mother, a domestic worker, juggled several part-time jobs while raising Lori and her three sisters.</p>
<p>The first in her family to graduate college, Lori earned a scholarship to play Division 1 volleyball at Georgetown University. Her four years as an NCAA athlete were rewarding yet challenging; what she would later highlight in Congress as the organization’s exploitative business model, she herself experienced, struggling to make ends meet because she was not allowed to earn additional income from endorsements or interviews. Like many, Lori was introduced to public service as a college student in Washington D.C. After completing her Bachelor’s in Comparative and Regional Studies in International Relations, she joined former Congressman Marty Meehan’s staff as a scheduler, eventually working her way up to Chief of Staff. She deeply enjoyed working to serve the people of Massachusetts, and was inspired by Congressman Meehan’s leadership and resilience; however, with Newt Gingrich as the Speaker of the House, she witnessed firsthand increasing partisanship that served wealthy special interests instead of the people.</p>
<p>Sickened by the deep polarization taking hold of Washington, Lori moved to the private sector as the only female executive at a tech company. Her passion for bringing women into leadership positions led her to be a cofounder of Concire, a women owned and operated consulting firm. In her years spent at Concire, she advised various companies on business strategy and how to create the ideal conditions for employees – especially women – to thrive.</p>
Citations
<p>Lori Ann Loureiro Trahan (/trəˈhæn/ trə-HANN; born October 27, 1973) is an American businesswoman and politician who serves as the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district, having been elected in November 2018. The district covers the Northwestern suburbs of Boston and includes Lowell, Lawrence, Concord, and her hometown of Westford. A Democrat, she previously served as chief of staff to former Representative Marty Meehan in Massachusetts's 5th congressional district.</p>
<p>Trahan was born on October 27, 1973 and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts. She grew up with three sisters. Trahan attended Lowell High School, where she would later be inducted into the school's Sports Hall of Fame. Trahan described her family as "living paycheck to paycheck". Her father, Tony Loureiro, had Portuguese parents. His father was from Porto in northern Portugal, and his mother was born in Brazil to Portuguese parents and moved to the Azores to live with relatives as a child following her mother's death. Trahan's mother is of partial Portuguese ancestry (from the Azores).</p>
<p>At Lowell High, she earned an athletic scholarship in volleyball to Georgetown University. She graduated from Georgetown's Walsh School of Foreign Service with a bachelor's degree in comparative and regional studies in International Relations.</p>