Golar Richie Touts Suffolk MBA in Boston Mayoral Race
The 2013 Boston mayoral race pits two Boston MBAs against one another. Earlier this month, we covered Mike Ross citing his BU MBA on the stump for Boston’s mayor. Today, we report on another leading Boston mayoral candidate who’s been touting her MBA on the race to become the city’s next mayor. Golar Richie, who received her MBA from Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School, has been stirring headlines lately with a slew of prominent endorsements.
The leading minority candidate in the race, she is also the only female. If elected, she will be the first black female mayor in Boston’s history.
Women in politics have “been dutiful followers,” she recently told the Boston Herald. “Now it’s my turn. It’s our turn. We’ve broken down barriers.”
It’s a perspective she may have honed at Sawyer. Unlike many business schools, where males outnumber females by more than two to one, women make up 56% of Sawyer’s business graduate students, and the program hosts many events and symposia focused on issues of women in business.
Since leaving Sawyer, Richie has been putting her business training to good use. She’s overseen the Department of Neighborhood Development, a 200-person agency with a budget of more than $100 million. She has also helped small businesses and built a strong network with Boston’s business community.
Earlier this summer, Richie teamed up with fellow Suffolk alum Aaron Michelwitz for a special “meet and greet,” where Michelwitz offered a strong endorsement. Now a state representative, Michelwitz met Richie while attending classes at Suffolk and, although their careers have carried them in different directions since, they’ve retained the bond formed in graduate school. That’s something Suffolk would be happy to hear; MBA programs often tout the strength of their alumni network.
Richie and Michelwitz are two more examples of MBA-trained business leaders putting their skills and experience to work in the political arena.
If you’d like to learn more about Sawyer, be sure to check out their Graduate Information Session held September 24 in the Omni Parker House from 6:30 – 7:30pm.
