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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Gov.-elect Maura Healey and Lt. Gov.-elect Kim Driscoll announced the leadership team for their Inaugural Committee Wednesday, which includes leaders in electing women to public office and the man behind Naomi Biden's recent White House wedding.
The Inaugural Celebration is scheduled for Jan. 5, and the Healey-Driscoll team said it will be funded through private donations. The committee is setting a contribution limit of $25,000 for individuals and businesses, a press release said.
The ceremony will be produced by Rafanelli Events, fresh off the event planning company's recent gig at the White House for President Joe Biden's granddaughter Naomi Biden's wedding last week. Bryan Rafanelli, the company's founder and chief creative officer, has long served as the finance committee co-chair of Healey's political committee, the release said.
Rafanelli will co-chair the committee with philanthropist Barbara Lee, who Healey's team said encouraged the governor-elect to run for attorney general in 2013 and "has been a strong supporter ever since."
Lee founded and serves as president of the Barbara Lee Political Office and the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, which focus on getting women elected to political offices around the country.
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"Barbara Lee has helped elect 197 women in 33 states. Her reach is nationwide. She has helped elect the first woman Vice President of the United States, as well as every sitting Democratic woman Governor and U.S. Senator," says the Barbara Lee Political Office website.
Shortly after the Associated Press called the Massachusetts' governor's election for Healey and Driscoll on election night, Lee put out a statement saying she was inspired by the women who won this year.
"Tonight's victories are indeed historic. Almost 250 years after John Adams drafted Massachusetts's constitution, we have finally gone from 'remembering the ladies' to electing them!," she wrote. "When I met Governor-elect Maura Healey nearly two decades ago, I was so inspired by her intellect, compassion, and drive to make a difference that I asked her to run for office on the spot."
Directing the Inaugural Committee will be Katie Prisco-Buxbaum, founder and principal of campaign consulting company Hyphenated Strategies, who served as general consultant for Driscoll's campaign for lieutenant governor. Prisco-Bauxbaum's LinkedIn says she is "focused on progressive candidates and causes," primarily running campaigns for women and people of color. She was the campaign manager for Andrea Campbell's Boston mayoral campaign, Democrat Jesse Mermell's campaign for the 4th Congressional district, and managed Campbell's first campaign for Boston City Council in 2015.
"Lieutenant Governor-elect Driscoll and I look forward to hosting an inaugural event that celebrates the amazing people of Massachusetts and this great state," Healey said. "We're putting together a team of experts who will produce events that bring people together and celebrate the important work that the Healey-Driscoll Administration will do to move Massachusetts forward."
Written by Sam Drysdale/SHNS
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