As Rhode Island’s first female governor, Gina Raimondo’s has consistently prioritized rebuilding the

middle class and creating opportunity for everyone. In her two years in office, she’s kick-started the

state’s economy to better attract entrepreneurs, create jobs, encourage business creation and growth,

and foster innovation throughout state government.

Since her swearing-in, Rhode Island has replaced every private-sector job lost during the Great

Recession. The Governor has attracted top companies like GE Digital, Johnson & Johnson, Virgin Pulse,

and the Cambridge Innovation Center to relocate to the Ocean State while also making critical

investments in existing companies like A.T. Cross to help them expand in-state. For most of the time she

was campaigning for Governor, Rhode Island had the highest unemployment in the county; now, the

state average is below the national average for the first time since 2005. The Ocean State ranks 28 th for

jobs and remains in the top 3 for its innovation economy.

Knowing the great jobs being created in Rhode Island need talented people—and wanting those jobs to

go to Rhode Islanders—Governor Raimondo has made education advancements central to her economic

growth plans and invested anew in early education, computer science, and public schools at every grade

level. She also proposed the Rhode Island Promise Scholarship, a first-of- its-kind program that would

provide two years of in-state college tuition at public institutions to every Rhode Island high-school

graduate.

Governor Raimondo is working hard to ensure that, together, we’ll meet the challenges and build a

stronger, better future for every Rhode Islander.

Stefan Pryor serves as Rhode Island’s first Secretary of Commerce. Appointed by Governor

Gina M. Raimondo and confirmed unanimously by the Rhode Island State Senate in 2015,

Secretary Pryor oversees and coordinates the State agencies and offices responsible for

economic development, business regulation, housing, and workforce development.

Pryor served for approximately five years (2006-2011) as Deputy Mayor and Director of

Economic and Housing Development in the City of Newark, NJ. Pryor and his team played a

key role in orchestrating plans for Newark’s first new downtown hotel in 40 years and first new

office tower in 20 years. They also helped recruit new commercial tenants to Newark including

Panasonic (North American headquarters), Manischewitz (world headquarters), Pitney Bowes,

Standard Chartered Bank, and Bartlett Dairy.

Before his work in Newark, Pryor was President of the Lower Manhattan Development

Corporation (LMDC). The LMDC was created in the aftermath of September 11th by the State

and City of New York to plan and help coordinate the physical rebuilding and economic

revitalization of Lower Manhattan including the World Trade Center site. From 2002-2006, Pryor

served in a number of leadership capacities at the agency, culminating in his service as the

LMDC’s President. Pryor previously served as a Vice President at the Partnership for New York

City, where he led the organization’s public education initiatives including a program which

worked in collaboration with two low-performing, high-poverty NYC school districts.

Pryor served as the Commissioner of Education for the State of Connecticut (2011-2015).

During his tenure, Connecticut passed landmark legislation aimed at closing achievement gaps,

improving chronically underperforming schools and districts, enhancing educator effectiveness,

and increasing rigor and raising expectations for all students. Pryor received his undergraduate

and law degrees from Yale University.

James J. Karam is President, CEO, and founder of First Bristol Corporation and

provides the leadership and direction for this 35 year old regional Real Estate

Development and Management Company. Mr. Karam’s commitment to

excellence is evidenced by the successful nature of the company’s varied

developments and his recognition for being in the forefront of this ever-

changing industry. Mr. Karam is also co-owner of WSAR and WHTB radio

stations, serving the Massachusetts Southcoast region.

Mr. Karam’s current and past professional and civic affiliations are extensive.

He has devoted many hours to civic and charitable endeavors, especially in the

area of public Higher Education, serving for ten years as a Trustee of the UMass

Five Campus System and four years as Chairman of its Board. He is currently

Chair of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate in Boston, MA.

Appointed by Cardinal Sean O’Malley, he was formerly the Chair of the Board

of the largest community health care system in New England, Caritas Christi.

Actively part of the Mass. Southcoast-Business community, he was a past Co-

Chairman of the Southcoast Economic Development partnership and is Chair

of the Advisory Board of the Mass. Accelerator for Biomanufacturing (MAB). In

the for profit area, Mr. Karam serves on the Board of Directors of Steward

Health Care System, a for-profit Boston based hospital system, which is a

portfolio company of Cerberus Capital and is Chair of the Board of its offshore

captive insurance company, TRACO Ltd.

Mr. Karam is an alumnus of the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. In

addition, he is also the recipient of numerous awards including: the Fall River

Chamber of Commerce “Outstanding Citizen” award, the University of

Massachusetts “Entrepreneur of the Year” award, an “Honorary Doctorate of

Business Administration” from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, an

“Honorary Doctorate of Law” from the Southern New England School of Law

(now UMass Dartmouth Law School), and Outstanding Trustee Achievement

Award from the New England Board of Higher Education.

Prior to his retirement on January 1 st 2015, Michael F. McNally was one of nine members of Skanska AB’s

Senior Executive Team responsible for Skanska’s $20 billion global operations. As President and CEO of

Skanska USA Inc., he was directly responsible for Skanska’s US Construction Operations, USA Building,

which specializes in building construction and Skanska USA Civil, which is focused on industrial and civil

infrastructure work. From 2009 through 2012, Mike was also responsible for Skanska’s US Commercial

Development operations and all Skanska activities of its 11,000 employee Latin American unit.

Under Mike’s leadership, Skanska grew and strengthen its presence in the U.S., with more than 9,600

employees in 39 offices and more than 800 active projects across the country, generating $7.0 billion in

construction revenue in 2014 making the US operation the largest and most profitable in Skanska. Under

Mike’s leadership Skanska USA grew to be the second largest domestic U.S. building contractor and third

largest domestic U.S. heavy civil contractor.

Mike holds a BSCE degree from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the University of Rhode

Island.

Mike currently sits on the board of directors for Granite Construction (GVA), Terracon Consultants and

Engineers, the US Green Building Council (chairman for 2017) and was appointed by the governor of

Rhode Island to sit on the board of the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation. He is also on the advisory

board of the Association for the Improvement of American Infrastructure (AIAI).

Prior to retirement he was on the national board of the ACE Mentoring Program and the Association for

the Improvement of American Infrastructure. He was Co-Chair of the YMCA of Greater New York

“Strong Kids” Campaign, Member of the Moles Association, Construction Industry Roundtable, Incident

and Injury Free CEO Forum, and the Construction Industry Safety Initiative, Vice Chairman of New York

Building Congress and member of US Chamber of Commerce “Let’s Rebuild America” leadership

committee.

Jesse serves Managing Director and Head of the Investments group and is a key member of the Commerce Corporation’s core executive team. He develops and executes a portfolio investment strategy across multiple asset types and sectors for investments at varying stages of maturity.

Professional Background

Prior to joining the Commerce Corporation, Jesse served as the director of the AIG Investment Program for the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In that role, he lead the unwind of the treasury’s $70-billion TARP investment in AIG and worked with the Federal Reserve to monetize its position in the federal government’s $182-billion commitment to AIG to stabilize the U.S. financial system during the 2008 financial crisis. Before joining the treasury, Jesse served as the head of business development for a boutique healthcare advisory and consulting business.

Jesse began his career as a mergers, acquisitions and restructuring investment banker, having executed approximately $75 billion of transactions across a wide variety of industries during his career at Morgan Stanley, Lazard and Evercore Partners.

Education

Jesse earned his MBA from Columbia University and received his undergraduate degree in finance and marketing from Georgetown University.

In 1984, at the age of 29, Joseph R. Paolino, Jr. achieved his childhood dream by becoming the

youngest mayor of a major city in the history of the United States. As mayor, Joe was a critical

component in changing the skyline of Providence by encouraging the development of large scale

projects such as the Providence Place Mall, the Providence Convention Center, and the river

relocation project. He served as mayor until January 1991. He was then appointed by Governor

Bruce Sundlun as the Director of the Department of Economic Development for the State of

Rhode Island.

In 1994, at the request of President Clinton, he became United States Ambassador to Malta. As

Ambassador, Joe worked with the U.S. intelligence agencies and helped facilitate the

investigation of the Pan Am 103 crash. Joe was instrumental in getting large American

corporations like General Electric and Boeing to do business with Malta. He successfully

managed to get U.S. Navy ships back into Malta’s waters — they had been banned by the

socialist government in 1971.

Following his Ambassadorship, Joe returned to Providence and shortly thereafter sold his first

property — the historic Turk’s Head Building. Since then, Joe has been responsible for the

development of the Vanderbilt Residences at Brown & Howard Wharf in Newport, a high-end

residential complex on the waterfront with a marina. He has also been instrumental in the

acquisition and development of the 77-acre Parkade Shopping Center in Cranston, RI at the

former site of the Narragansett Brewery.

Joe facilitated the development, construction and lease back arrangement of a new police station

for the City of Cranston and oversaw the construction of a new post-secondary technical school

for Katherine Gibbs. Paolino Properties owns 444 Westminster Street, which is home to the City

of Providence Economic Development, Inspection and Standards, and Law Departments, as well

as Workforce Solutions.

In January 2014, Joe purchased a 20-story downtown office tower at 100 Westminster Street, and

two smaller properties, at 30 Kennedy Plaza, for about $60 million. He is now the only Rhode

Island resident to own a high-rise building in Providence. The 350,000 square-foot high-rise

houses offices for Providence Equity Partners, Bank of America, the U.S. Attorney’s office, as

well as Paolino Properties.

In January 2015, Paolino Properties purchased a 123,000 square-foot East Providence building

that houses research and development, administrative, and data offices for Hasbro Industries.

The building at 200 Narragansett Park Drive, in East Providence, Rhode Island was acquired

from Conhas I & II, LLC for a purchase price of $10.5 million. The purchase provides continued

growth of Paolino Properties’ portfolio through strategic alignment with Class ‘A’ Tenants, all of

whom are strong economic producers within the state. Hasbro Industries continues to occupy the

building, which houses over 400 employees.

Alden joined CBRE/New England in 1994 and since then has primarily focused on the sales and leasing of office space and on the sale of investment property. Alden’s unrivalled analytical ability affords him an expertise in market analysis as well. He has a highly personal, hands-on approach with which he serves his clients in all real estate capacities.

His extensive community involvement provides him strong relationships in the business community.

Laurie White is President of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce -- Rhode Island’s

largest private sector business advocacy and economic development organization. She has

been President since October 2005. The mission of the Chamber is to be the advocate for

growing and protecting the business community in Rhode Island.

A significant portion of the Chamber’s work is devoted to developing the state’s Knowledge

Economy by driving advanced industry formation, entrepreneurship, medical, academic and

industry collaboration, technology transfer, talent retention, competitive tax policy and

business attraction. She is a frequent speaker on these subjects.

Laurie is an honors graduate of the University of Rhode Island where she received a Bachelor of

Arts in Journalism in 1981. She was the recipient of the University’s Distinguished Achievement

Award from the College of Arts and Sciences in October of 2010. She received an Honorary

Doctorate in Business Administration from Johnson & Wales University in May of 2010. In

recognition of her advocacy work in support of public higher education, she was inducted into

the Community College of Rhode Island Hall of Fame in April of 2010. She was inducted into The

Prout School’s Hall of Fame in October of 2008.

In 2002, she earned the designation Certified Chamber Executive (CCE) from the American

Chamber of Commerce Executives and is the only Chamber professional in Rhode Island to hold

that national distinction. In 2006, she completed the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of

Business “Directors Consortium” which focused on best practices in corporate governance. She

is also a 1995 graduate of the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Laurie is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Aquila Municipal Trust – municipal bond

fund complex with offerings in Rhode Island, Kentucky, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah; a member

of the Executive Board of the University of Rhode Island Foundation; a member of the Board of

Trustees of Johnson and Wales University; a member of the Board of Directors of the Rhode

Island Quality Institute; a member of the Board of Governors of the Rhode Island Commodores;

and a member of the Board of Directors and an Officer of the John F. White & Company, Inc.

From January 2003 to July 2004, Laurie served as Executive Counselor to the Governor of the

State of Rhode Island for Policy and Communications. She returned to the Chamber as

Executive Vice President in October 2004. Prior to her 18 months of service in the Executive

Branch, Laurie was Senior Vice President of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce.

Prior to joining the Chamber in 1989, Laurie was Public Information Officer at the Rhode Island

Department of Economic Development and Assignment Editor at ABC-6 Television in

Providence.

She and her husband, Jim Taricani, reside in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.

As Providence’s 38 th Mayor, Jorge O. Elorza has strived to build a Providence that works for all

of its residents. Since taking office in January 2015, Mayor Elorza has prioritized education,

ensuring transparency in city government, improving city services and providing a sound

financial future for the capital city.

Driven by the belief that all children should have the opportunity to thrive in a supportive

environment, Mayor Elorza is confident there is no better investment Providence can make

than investing in the future of its youth. In addition to hosting the first ever All In: Providence

Education Summit, Mayor Elorza has prioritized preparing youth for success by increasing

summer education and employment opportunities, improving access-to- technology by

introducing 8,000 new computers in schools and continued support for Providence Talks, a

nationally recognized program aimed at addressing the word gap. These pro-growth and

progressive polices are putting Providence on the path to becoming the top urban school

district in New England.

Under Mayor Elorza’s leadership, the city has practiced responsible budgeting practices and

streamlined services across city departments resulting in the largest operating surplus realized

in over 20 years ($10.3M). In November 2016, Fitch Ratings cited the city’s surplus, structural

changes to the FY17 budget, and the elimination of risk of one-time revenues as rational to

upgrade the city’s credit rating by two grades, from a BBB- to an A-.

Mayor Elorza believes that city services should be innovative, efficient, transparent and

accessible for all residents and visitors. In March 2016, under his leadership the Mayor’s Center

for City Services launched the PVD311 system for 24/7 access to constituent services. By

streamlining processes, providing customer service training and continuously encouraging city

staff to look for efficiency in all transactions, City Hall has taken strides in providing high quality

city services.

As a member of the United States Conferences of Mayors, Mayor Elorza serves as Vice Chair of

the Standing Committee on Community Development and Housing, co-chairs the Committee

for Immigration Reform, and is a member of the Conference’s Advisory Board. The Mayor has

been an outspoken national voice on issues such as immigration reform, healthcare, and

environmental protection, placing an emphasis on the work done at the local level.

Born and raised in Providence, Mayor Elorza is a graduate of Classical High school, the

University of Rhode Island, and Harvard Law School. Prior to being elected Mayor, he served as

a Providence Housing Court Judge and co-founded the Latino Policy Institute while he served as

a professor at Roger Williams Law School. As an avid cyclist Mayor Elorza frequently commutes

by bicycle from his home in Silver Lake to City Hall.

Arnold B. Chace, Jr. has over 30 years’ experience as an investor, financial advisor, urban planner, and

real estate developer. He is the Managing General Partner of Cornish Associates, Westminster Street

Lofts, and Mashpee Commons, L.P.

Buff is currently the chair of the board of the Downtown Providence Parks Conservancy as well as serving

as a board member emeritus of Grow Smart RI and Trinity Repertory Theater, an officer and member of

the Executive Committee of the Providence Foundation, and an inaugural member of the Congress for

New Urbanism.

Practicing what he believes, Buff lives in Providence’s vibrant downtown neighborhood.

Rajiv Kumar serves as Chief Medical Officer and President of Virgin Pulse Institute, which provides Virgin Pulse clients with cutting-edge Value-on-Investment (VOI) studies and promotes research on health, wellbeing and employee engagement. Dr. Rajiv Kumar’s responsibilities also include overseeing the Virgin Pulse Science Advisory Board and the organization’s analytics team.

Dr. Kumar joined Virgin Pulse in 2016, following the company’s acquisition of ShapeUp, an employee wellbeing company that he founded in 2006. As CEO of ShapeUp, he led the growth of the company from a two-person, dorm-room startup to a global company with over 100 employees, 800 customers, and 2 million participants around the world. During his time at ShapeUp, he pioneered new approaches to leveraging social connections to enhance employee health and wellbeing and co-authored several peer-reviewed studies on the relationship between social networks and healthy behavior.

Dr. Kumar earned his medical degree from the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and has focused his career on prevention, public health, and innovation in health care. He also received his Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics from Brown University.

In his role as Chief Innovation Officer, Aidan has driven innovation in Ximedica’s core markets of medical device development, consumer healthcare and m-health. Aidan is a managing partner of the New England Medical Innovation Center (NEMIC), a multi institutional collaboration focused on advancement of disruptive innovation in Healthcare.

Aidan’s expertise in human centered design and white space innovation has helped bring hundreds of products to market that range from drug compliance aids to wearable therapeutics, home monitoring products and complex surgical systems. He is named in over 70 patents.

Aidan has an undergraduate degree from Central St Martins in Product Design/Engineering and a Masters in Industrial Design from RISD. He sits on the boards of Coastal Medical Group, Save the Bay and MassArt’s Corporate Advisory and advises multiple regional Start-Ups.

K&S LLC is a privately held real estate development firm based in New York City. The firm is involved in

the acquisition, development and management of multi-family and mixed-use commercial properties

across the north-east with a particular focus on historic rehabilitation projects. Recent projects include

the historic renovation of the Mechanical Fabric Company mill in Providence, RI to apartments, shared-

workspace and the city’s first culinary incubator. The $10 million redevelopment has been awarded the

Rhody Award for best historic preservation project in 2017.

Before starting K&S, Federico worked for Tishman Speyer as an associate and Lehman Brothers as an

analyst in the Global Real Estate Group. Federico is co-founder of ROOMS&WORKS, a novel live-work

brand with a first location in Providence, RI. Federico is a graduate of the School of Hotel Administration

at Cornell University.

Chris is a partner at the law firm of Sherin and Lodgen LLP, with offices in Providence and Boston. Sherin and Lodgen LLP is recognized by Chambers USA and U.S. News & World Report as an industry leader in Commercial Real Estate, Labor and Employment Law, and Business Litigation. Chris helps his clients solve problems and achieve their business and professional objectives while protecting their legal rights. His clients are diverse and broad-based: manufacturers, distributors, real estate developers, energy companies, life science and technology companies, retail shopping centers, lawyers and law firms, and professionals and executives. Licensed in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, Chris has been recognized by Providence Business News and Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. Chris also currently serves in the Rhode Island House of Representatives, representing Providence. He was recently re-elected by his Democratic House colleagues to serve as Deputy Majority Whip. His legislative accomplishments include, among other things, the Innovate RI Small Business program to assist Rhode Island businesses in applying for federal funds targeting research and innovation; and the Stay Invested in RI / Wavemaker program to promote economic development by attracting and retaining graduates in the fields of science, technology, engineering, design, and medicine and providing up to four years of student loan debt relief for those who choose to work in Rhode Island. Chris received his undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard.

Cliff Wood is the Executive Director of the Providence Foundation, whose primary focus is to

create an environment that is conducive to economic development and sustained investment in

downtown Providence. He is also Executive Director of the Downtown Providence Parks

Conservancy, a public-private partnership that ensures the exceptional management of

Providence’s downtown public spaces.

Mr. Wood is a former Providence City Council member where he served as Deputy Majority

Leader and Chairman of the Committee on Public Education. A longstanding leader in

Providence’s efforts to reimagine its downtown district, Cliff has previously held positions at

Cornish Associates, a New Urbanist development company formed to rebuild Providence’s urban

core, and was the founding director of Providence's Department of Art, Culture and Tourism,

where he co-founded the Providence Sound Session music festival.

Before moving to Providence in 1997, Cliff coordinated strategy for the US Climate Action

Network to lobby for an effective international treaty on climate change. Cliff earned a Master of

Arts from Clark University in environmental science and policy and a Bachelor of Arts from the

State University of New York at Albany