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Gina Marie Raimondo (; born May 17, 1971) is an American businesswoman, lawyer, politician, and venture capitalist who has served since 2021 as the 40th United States secretary of commerce. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the 75th governor of Rhode Island from 2015 to 2021, and was the first woman to serve in the role. Born and raised in Rhode Island, Raimondo began her career in venture capital after law school. In 2000, she co-founded Point Judith Capital, Rhode Island's first venture capital firm. Raimondo entered politics in 2010, when she was elected general treasurer of Rhode Island. During her first year in office, she prioritized reforming Rhode Island's public employee pension system. In 2014, Raimondo was elected governor in a three-way contest with 41% of the vote. While in office, Raimondo was elected to serve as vice chair of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) for the 2018 election cycle. Reelected in 2018, Raimondo was tasked with overseeing the state's initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2020 presidential election, she served as co-chair of Michael Bloomberg's 2020 presidential campaign. Described as a "moderate technocrat" by The Washington Post, Raimondo is often characterized as a centrist within her party. Chosen to serve as Secretary of Commerce by President Joe Biden, she played a leading role in negotiations for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021. Early life and education 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 moved its operations to China, shuttering the factory in Providence. Raimondo is a childhood friend of U.S. Senator Jack Reed. Raimondo graduated from LaSalle Academy in Providence. She was one of the first girls allowed to attend the Catholic school, from which she was graduated as valedictorian. She went on to Harvard College, graduating magna cum laude in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics. While at Harvard, Raimondo resided in Quincy House and served on the staff of The Harvard Crimson. She played rugby at the Radcliffe Rugby Club, later joking that the experience "was good training for a career in politics". Raimondo attended New College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar, where she received a Bachelor of Arts (later promoted to Master of Arts by seniority) and Doctor of Philosophy in 2002 in sociology. Her thesis was on single motherhood and supervised by Stephen Nickell and Anne H. Gauthier while she was a postgraduate student of New College, Oxford. Raimondo received her Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School in 1998. She has said that her experience working at housing and poverty clinics inspired her to attend law school. Early career After graduating from law school, Raimondo served as a law clerk to federal judge Kimba Wood of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Later, Raimondo acted as senior vice president for fund development at the Manhattan offices of Village Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and backed by Bain Capital and Highland Capital Groups. Raimondo returned to Rhode Island in 2001 to co-found the state's first venture capital firm, Point Judith Capital. Point Judith later relocated to Boston, Massachusetts. At Point Judith, Raimondo served as a general partner covering health care investments; she retains some executive duties with the firm. Under her leadership, Point Judith grew to over $100 million in assets and reportedly helped grow over 20 businesses. General Treasurer of Rhode Island (2011–2015) 2010 election In 2010, incumbent general treasurer Frank T. Caprio chose to run for governor rather than seek a second consecutive term in office. Describing the position of general treasurer as “a professional job, not a political job", Raimondo announced her candidacy for the position, her first campaign for elected office. In April 2010, former Democratic primary opponent Tom Sgouros dropped out of the race and endorsed Raimondo, leaving her as the only Democratic candidate. Running a campaign that emphasized her business credentials, Raimondo pledged to "use the power as the chief investment officer to lean on banks to invest again". Her platform called for financial empowerment programs at senior centers and schools, and for protecting consumers from predatory lending and mortgages. On November 2, Raimondo was elected general treasurer, defeating Republican nominee Kernan F. King by a margin of 62% to 38%. Tenure During her first year as general treasurer, she prioritized reforming Rhode Island's public employee pension system, which was 48% funded in 2010. In April 2011, Raimondo led the state retirement board to reduce the state's assumed rate of return on pension investments from 8.25 percent to 7.5 percent. In May 2011, Raimondo released "Truth in Numbers", a report that advocated benefit cuts as the solution to Rhode Island's pension problems, and she helped lead the effort to cut pensions, along with then-Speaker of the House Gordon Fox. The Rhode Island Retirement Security Act (RIRSA) was enacted by the General Assembly on November 17, 2012, with bipartisan support in both chambers. The next day, then-Governor Lincoln Chafee signed RIRSA into law. RIRSA's legality was challenged in court by the public employee unions, but a settlement was reached in June 2015. Under Raimondo's tenure, the pension fund was criticized for underperforming when compared with its peers. Raimondo's critics attributed the underperformance to a sharp increase in fees paid to hedge fund managers, while her supporters argued investments in hedge funds stabilize investments during market downturns for more consistent returns over time. OSIP program Raimondo created the Ocean State Investment Pool (OSIP), designed as a low-cost investment vehicle intended to help the state and municipalities better manage and improve the investment performance of their liquid assets, which are used for day-to-day operations including payroll and operating expenses. $500 million in funds could be eligible for the program, which would enable Treasury "to extend its expertise to municipalities and improve investment returns by creating economies of scale". The program officially launched on April 23, 2012. As of November 2021, the OSIP program is managed by Fidelity Investments. Payday lending During the Rhode Island General Assembly's 2012 session, Raimondo advocated for a decrease in the maximum allowable interest rate on payday loans in Rhode Island. She hosted a roundtable discussion with then-Providence mayor Angel Taveras and members of the Rhode Island Payday Reform Coalition. Raimondo submitted lette.... Discover the Gina Marie Long popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Gina Marie Long books.