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Gina Raimondo has a plan to put Rhode Islanders back to work. Learn more at ginaraimondo.com/jobs
My name is Rich Scalzi, and I'm the ironworker in the new Gina ad. And yeah, that's my actual license plate.
Gina Raimondo helped expand Crossroads Rhode Island and eliminated a backlog in a treasury program to help crime victims.
Building on her business experience and the lessons learned from her life in Smithfield, Gina proposed innovative programs designed to create jobs through a municipal road and bridge revolving fund. The fund addresses key issues in Rhode Island through funding improvements to infrastructure, helping to repair roads and bridges, and creating jobs.
After reading a news article in late 2009 about further budget cuts to public libraries, Gina decided to run for public office for the first time. In November 2010, she was elected General Treasurer of Rhode Island, receiving the largest number of votes of any statewide candidate.
On December 1, 2001, Gina married her husband, Andy Moffit. They currently live in Providence, with their two children, Ceci, 9, and Tommy, 7. The kids are students at their local public school.
With a strong belief that policies that help women help all Rhode Islanders, Gina has long focused on causes to support women and their families. It is no secret that investing in the well-being of a woman – whether it is through quality health care, affordable housing, raising the minimum wage or equal pay for equal work – changes not only her life, but the lives of those around her, often her children.
Growing up, Gina had many different jobs: she babysat for neighborhood kids, worked at the Galilee Beach Club as a short order cook and server and as a telephone advertising sales representative for a real estate magazine. Despite working part-time, she still graduated college with substantial student loans.
Gina still remembers the day she got her acceptance letter from Harvard. She was excited – but her parents were cautious. It was expensive and they worried that she would be surrounded by kids who came from wealthy families and would have things they couldn't afford to give her. Her mother told her that they would find a way to help her get through but she needed to be prepared. By taking out student loans, working part-time and with her parents’ help, Gina was able to make it work.
Gina was born on May 17, 1971. She grew up in a three-bedroom house on Cider Lane in Greenville, R.I. with her older sister and brother, Marianne and Tom, her parents, and her grandfather.
