Andrea Silbert is a businesswoman, the co-founder and former CEO of the Center for Women & Enterprise (non-profit entrepreneurial training center), and a candidate seeking the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts.

Andrea Silbert is a Democratic candidate for Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor in 2006. As the co-founder and former CEO of the Center for Women & Enterprise , the largest non-profit entrepreneurial training center in New England, Andrea helped create over 14,000 jobs in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and over $400 million in new wages. Since 1995, Andrea and her team at the Center have provided training and access to capital to over 10,000 individuals from more than 200 cities and towns. A majority of Andrea's success stories are disadvantaged women, including single mothers and women on welfare.

A nationally recognized advocate in the area of economic justice, Andrea was selected in 2001, along side of Senator Barbara Mikulski and Linda Chavez-Thompson of the AFL-CIO, by Working Woman magazine as one of only 25 leaders who "have given women in the workplace a better shot". She has received multiple awards from the US Small Business Administration, the Pinnacle award from the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Abigail Adams award from the Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus, and was selected as a women leader of the 21st century by the Organization for a New Equality. Nationally, Andrea served as the founding President of the Association of Women's Business Centers, meeting with Congressional leaders to develop policies to promote economic opportunity throughout the country.

A socially progressive Democrat, Andrea believes that we must take care of society's most vulnerable people and protect our environment. She supports same-sex marriage, vigorously defends a woman's right to choose, and is morally opposed to capital punishment in all cases. Andrea is a dedicated environmentalist, working to protect our natural resources and quality of life through her service with the Harwich Conservation Trust.

Prior to co-founding CWE, Andrea was a financial analyst with Morgan Stanley in New York. She left the country in 1988 to serve in grassroots economic development in Costa Rica, Colombia, and Brazil. During her time in Latin America, Andrea worked for Women's World Banking, an international network of micro-loan funds. In Brazil, Andrea worked with the poorest of the poor at a non-profit organization serving "street children".

Andrea lives in Harwich, MA, with her husband, Craig Caldwell, and their three children. She attended Harvard University, earning a Master of Business Administration, a Master of Public Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. An active political fundraiser, she served as a Trustee for the Kerry Edwards Victory 2004 fund and a member of the John Kerry National Finance Committee.

See also

Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2006

External links

Andrea Silbert for Lieutenant Governor