Big Red in the Golden Done: Cornell Foundations for a Public Service Career
Join us for drinks and dinner as Massachuetts State Senator Karen Spilka (B.S. Cornell ’75) will highlight ways that her Cornell experience laid the foundations for her career in public service and helped to shape her philosophy as a legislator. Throughout her career, from social worker to labor lawyer to mediator to legislator, Senator Spilka has fought to ensure fairness and opportunity for those who do not always have a voice. She will discuss her journey from a social work student at Cornell to a leader in the MetroWest community and state Senate, as well as major issues impacting MetroWest and the state today.
Cash bar: 6:30
Dinner: 7:30 (Entree choices: pasta primavera, chicken marsala, sausage cacciatore, basked lasagne, or stuffed scrod)
Remarks: Approximately 8:15 pm
Cost: $32 per person paid in cash at the door, includes choice of entrée, dessert, tax, and tip
Although payment will be in cash at the door ($32), advance registration is required by September 30.
About Karen Spilka
Senator Karen E. Spilka is the State Senator for the 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk district, which includes the towns of Ashland, Framingham, Franklin, Holliston, Hopkinton, Medway and Natick in the MetroWest region of Massachusetts. She serves as the Majority Whip, charged with developing and actively supporting the Senate’s legislative agenda, and as Senate Chair of the MetroWest Legislative Caucus, the Biotech Legislative Caucus and the Tech Hub Caucus. Senator Spilka is also a member of the Goddard Council for STEM Education and the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council. Senator Spilka’s legislative accomplishments include efforts in a broad range of areas including economic development, jobs creation, education, juvenile justice and services for the elderly and disabled communities.
Senator Spilka was first elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in the fall of 2001, where she served three years before her election to the State Senate in January 2005. Prior to becoming a legislator, Senator Spilka was in private practice as an arbitrator and mediator, specializing in labor and employment law and community and court mediation. In addition, she has been a facilitator and fact finder in disputes in the public and private sectors, as well as a social worker and trainer of adult mediation and school-based peer mediation programs, collaborative-based collective bargaining and conflict resolution strategies.
Senator Spilka is a graduate of Northeastern Law School and holds a B.S. from Cornell University. She has been married for over thirty years to Joel S. Loitherstein, an environmental engineer, and has three children and two dogs.
Read more on KarenSpilka.com.
