MA Sec. of Housing and Economic Development Mike Kennealy sweared in

Governor Baker Swears in New Secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development

Governor Charlie Baker swears in Secretary Mike Kennealy.

BOSTON – Today, Governor Charlie Baker swore in newly appointed Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Mike Kennealy. Secretary Kennealy served as Assistant Secretary for Business Growth in the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development since 2015. In that role, he has played a critical part in advancing the administration’s strategy for job creation and business development throughout Massachusetts. Secretary Kennealy is preceded by Jay Ash, who served in the Baker-Polito Administration for four years, where he helped lead the administration’s economic development strategy and effort to transition homeless families out of hotels.

For more information on the appointment of Secretary Kennealy, click here.

About Secretary Mike Kennealy:

In early 2015, Mike Kennealy joined the Baker-Polito Administration as Assistant Secretary for Business Growth in the Executive Office of Housing & Economic Development. As Assistant Secretary, Kennealy has played an integral role in advancing the administration’s strategy for job creation and business development across the entire Commonwealth and has provided leadership in key sectors, including serving as co-chair of the board of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.

Kennealy combines a successful track record in the private sector with a strong commitment to the public good. He began his career in private equity at TA Associates, a Boston-based firm. In 1997, he joined Spectrum Equity, a private equity firm founded in 1994 with offices in Boston and San Francisco. During his more than 15 years at Spectrum, he helped grow the firm to become an established market leader with nearly $5 billion in assets under management and investments in over 100 high-growth internet, software and information services companies. After his career in private equity, Kennealy spent two years as Special Advisor to the Receiver at Lawrence Public Schools, where he worked with the state-appointed superintendent/receiver on strategic and financial initiatives to support the school district’s turnaround plan.

Kennealy and his family live in Lexington, Massachusetts, where they have been highly involved in town government, education and youth sports. He has served on the Board of Trustees of St. John’s Prep in Danvers since 2009 and currently serves as Chairman, and he serves on the Board of Visitors for The Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences at Dartmouth College.

Kennealy received a A.B. in Government from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.