Linda Dorcena Forry: Difference between revisions

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==Early life and education==

Dorcena Forry was born and raised in the [[Dorchester, Boston|Dorchester]] neighborhood of [[Boston]]. She attended St. Kevin Grammar School and Monsignor Ryan Memorial High School in Dorchester and then [[Boston College]].<ref name=”endorse”>Manly, Howard (2013-05-02) [http://www.baystatebanner.com/local12-2013-04-18#sthash.whlkxTH7.dpbs “Key legislators endorse Forry”], ”[[Bay State Banner]]”. Retrieved 2013-05-02.</ref> In 1997, she graduated from Boston College’s [[Carroll School of Management]] in 1997. In 2014, she received a master’s degree in public administration from [[Harvard Kennedy School]] at [[Harvard University]].<ref ~~She was a [https://rappaportfoundation.org/linda-dorcena-forry-generational-optimism/ Rappaport Fellow at Harvard].~~

name=”Whirlwind”>Charlotin, Manolia (2011-03-15) [http://www.bostonhaitian.com/2011/life-whirlwind-rep-linda-dorcena-forry-juggles-official-duties-motherhood%20 “Life in a Whirlwind: Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry juggles official duties, motherhood”], ”Boston Haitian Reporter”.</ref>

She was a [https://rappaportfoundation.org/linda-dorcena-forry-generational-optimism/ Rappaport Fellow at Harvard].

==Career==

American politician (born 1973)

Linda Dorcena Forry (born 1973) is a former Democratic member of the Massachusetts Senate, who represented the 1st Suffolk district from June 2013 – January 2018. She previously represented the 12th Suffolk District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives after winning a special election in April 2005. Haitian-American, Dorcena Forry, is the former House Chair of the Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Business.

Early life and education

[edit]

Dorcena Forry was born and raised in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. She attended St. Kevin Grammar School and Monsignor Ryan Memorial High School in Dorchester and then Boston College.^[1] In 1997, she graduated from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management in 1997. In 2014, she received a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University.^[2]
She was a Rappaport Fellow at Harvard.

After graduating from Boston College, Dorcena Forry was a legislative assistant, working for then-State Representative Charlotte Golar Richie (Fifth Suffolk District serving Roxbury and Dorchester).^[1] When she left the State House in 1999 to work for the executive staff at the City of Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development, she had risen to the position of Acting Chief of Staff.^{[citation needed]}

From 2005 to 2013, Dorcena Forry represented the Commonwealth’s 12th Suffolk House district, a cross-section that includes parts of the town of Milton and the city of Boston, including Dorchester, Hyde Park and Mattapan.^[2] In 2009, Forry served as Chair of the Black and Latino Caucus. That same year, she was appointed Chairman of the Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Businesses.^[2]

Dorcena Forry won the Democratic nomination in the April 2013 special primary election to succeed state Senator Jack Hart^[3] in the First Suffolk Senate district, defeating Rep. Nick Collins. She defeated Republican Joseph A. Ureneck in the final election on May 28 and was sworn in on June 14, 2013.^[4]^[5] She stepped down on January 25, 2018, to become a vice president at Suffolk Construction.^[6]

Dorcena Forry serves as a trustee of Eversource Energy, New England’s largest energy delivery company.

She is also the founder and principal of LDF Holdings, LLC, a consulting firm based in Boston which specializes in development and corporate relations.

In 2023, she assumed new duties as co-publisher of the Dorchester Reporter, which she co-owns with her husband Bill Forry.

Sen. Dorcena Forry serves on multiple boards, including the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation’s board of advisors, the Winsor School, Boston College High School board of trustees, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester, and Make a Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Senator Dorcena Forry is also one of the original founders of the New Commonwealth Fund, founded in 2020 by a coalition of leaders dedicated to transforming philanthropy by advancing funding models that prioritize innovation, effectiveness, and inclusion. Since 2020, NCF has committed over $16.3 million to organizations implementing solutions that strengthen communities and expand access to resources. Sen. Forry serves on the organization’s board of directors.

Senator Dorcena Forry is one of the founding members of the [Haitian American Elected Officials Network (NHAEON)], which she formed in 2009 with several other prominent men and women of Haitian descent serving in elected office in the United States. Sen. Dorcena Forry remains an active member of the organization.

Senator Dorcena Forry served as a trustee of the Boston Public Library from 2016-2021.

Dorcena Forry is married to Bill Forry, editor and publisher of the Dorchester Reporter.^[7]^[8] The couple live in Lower Mills, Dorchester and have four children: John, Conor, Madeline and Norah.^[2] Three of her children were born during her tenure in the House of Representatives.^[2]

Her brother, Will Dorcena, ran unsuccessfully for an at-large seat on the Boston City Council in 2011.^[9] He also was a candidate in the 2013 Boston mayoral election, but was denied ballot access due to submitting an insufficient number of valid petition signatures.^[10]

• 2017 Legislator of the Year Award from Massachusetts Office for Victims Assistance