Haiti Place Senator Linda Dorcena Forry

Who Is Information

  • WHO IS_POSTED_BY: Haiti Place
  • WHO IS_POSTED_ON: Nov 19, 2014
  • Views : 833
  • Category : In the Diaspora » Public Sector Abroad
  • Description :

    State Senator, Massachussetts

    In April 2013, after a highly competitive special election, Linda Dorcena Forry was elected to the Massachusetts State Senate. Senator Forry, a native Bostonian, is the first woman and person of color to represent the Commonwealth’s 1st Suffolk District, a diverse and thriving cross-section of Boston which includes Dorchester, Hyde Park, Mattapan and South Boston.

Overview

  • State Senator, Massachussetts

    In April 2013, after a highly competitive special election, Linda Dorcena Forry was elected to the Massachusetts State Senate. Senator Forry, a native Bostonian, is the first woman and person of color to represent the Commonwealth’s 1st Suffolk District, a diverse and thriving cross-section of Boston which includes Dorchester, Hyde Park, Mattapan and South Boston.

    For almost two decades, Senator Forry has dedicated her professional life to a career in public service, working in various capacities in both state and local government. As a first generation Haitian-American, Senator Forry gained from her parents a strong work ethic and an understanding of the transformational power of education, and recognized the value of civic engagement from an early age.

    Elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 2005 for the Commonwealth’s 12th Suffolk District, Senator Forry chaired the Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Business, where she quickly became an authority on the concerns facing small businesses. During her tenure as a State Representative, Senator Forry was also the Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Service, as well as a member of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, and the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security.

    Currently, Senator Forry chairs the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government, and is a member of the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities; Joint Committee on Education; Joint Committee on Housing; Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse; and Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs. Senator Forry continues to play a leadership role on immigration issues at both state and federal level. As the only Haitian American elected official in Massachusetts, Senator Forry remains committed to rallying her colleagues, advocates and immigrant groups across the state relative to issues significant to ethnic communities.

    In June 2013, Senator Forry was honored by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce as one of Greater Boston’s 2013 Ten Outstanding Young Leaders. In May 2012, she received an Honorary Law Degree from Pine Manor College. Senator Forry serves on several boards, including: the National Haitian American Elected Officials Network (NAEHON), Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester, College Bound Dorchester, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Board of Overseers, and the Boston Foundation Haiti Relief and Reconstruction Fund Advisory Council.

    Senator Forry holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Boston College Carroll School of Management and has received her Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Senator Forry and her husband, Bill, are the proud parents of four children and live in the Lower Mills neighborhood of Dorchester.