Her Story

An experienced public servant, entrepreneur, activist, community volunteer, and family woman, Sam’s passion and life experiences have covered the gamut--from teaching and tech to advocating for women and families. Born in New England and raised along the East Coast, she watched her single mom juggle three jobs to provide for her family, and her dad struggle as a business owner while managing a chronic illness. 

Sam has experienced the challenges of a full-time working family, and she has also seen the resilience and strength that comes from being raised in a family that supports strong values, compassion, and empathy for all. As a daughter first raised by a single mother and then by a single father, she has spent a lifetime standing out and standing up for others. 

Saddled with massive student loans after graduate school, Sam spent the early part of her career teaching journalism and civic activism at the Boston Community Leadership Academy within the Boston Public School system. In this role, she worked with graduating seniors on projects that focused on social advocacy, and tech-focused initiatives aimed at improving their schools, communities, and developing countries. 

She later began working in Economic Development for the City of Boston and helped with the revisioning of the South Boston Waterfront into an Innovation District--a 1,000-acre space focused on building the city’s strengths in entrepreneurship, technology, and the creative arts. She was also able to work directly with civic and gov tech innovation as the city tested new technology for more effective, modern service. One of her favorite projects turned into today’s 311 Constituent Service Line. 

She left city hall to run the Capital Network as its Executive Director, where she worked with entrepreneurs (some buried under college loans) who were motivated and driven to get their businesses off the ground. Sam was instrumental in expanding the company’s reach into the entrepreneurial space by developing and nurturing partnerships with organizations such as MassChallenge, M2D2, The Cambridge Innovation Center, WeWork, Workbar, and InnoLoft. Sam’s exposure and influence in Boston’s entrepreneurship ecosystem was expanded even further when she accepted the role of Director of Strategic Partnerships for the Commonwealth’s Executive Office of Technology. 

While building her career, Sam was also facing significant challenges at home. After her twins were born in 2011, she and her husband, John, were faced with the challenge of finding affordable child care--an issue many families with young children struggle with. With no available paid leave, flexible schedule, or work-from-home policies in place, it was costing Sam her entire income to send their kids to daycare. But she also faced the risk of falling victim to the knowledge and career gap she would inevitably face if she decided to stay home to raise their children. Knowing this was not an isolated incident, Sam continuously challenges our elected officials to address the hurdles working parents experience. 

As a member of the Melrose community, Sam served on the Women’s Commission, where she continued her fight for affordable and accessible childcare. She published a study on the State of Childcare in Melrose which recommended local economic development policies to grow the supply of childcare businesses in Melrose.

Sam is a strong supporter of our schools and their educators and has been a vocal advocate for Melrose to appropriately fund our District once and for all. A proud member of the Lincoln Lion Pride, Sam joyfully serves as co-President of the PTO.

Once COVID-19 shut down the world, Sam and some great friends jumped into action and co-created Melrose Together - a volunteer group that connects neighbors in need with neighbors who want to help during the pandemic. Melrose Together shares community-driven volunteer opportunities and organizes grassroots, city-wide events in an effort to sustain community spirit and support local businesses. Melrose Together also embarked on an initiative to bring Melrosians together and bridge the divide between us. Through a conversation series podcast as well as working with City Hall to launch a larger initiative, Sam and the Melrose Together team have been able to foster peace and understanding through connections. 

Recently, Sam joined the Melrose Creative Alliance team to “advocate for the arts to be robustly funded and resourced as part of our city’s economic engine and sense of community.” She feels very passionately that this effort can catapult Melrose into an arts, culture, and events destination in Massachusetts. 

Sam wants to bring her life’s work and experience to Melrose.