Speaker Bio
Kevin Gallagher is Senior Advisor to U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. He advises the Secretary on issues relating to economic development, broadband, and workforce development. Specifically, Kevin is Secretary Raimondo’s point person on the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet For All initiative, working closely with the National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) and other relevant federal agencies to bring reliable, affordable, high-speed internet to all parts of the country. Kevin also works closely with the Economic Development Administration on the implementation of the Good Jobs Challenge and the Build Back Better Regional Challenge, two new innovative programs funded by the American Rescue Plan.
Kevin comes to the Department of Commerce from Providence, Rhode Island, where he most recently served as then-Governor Raimondo’s Senior Deputy Chief of Staff. While working with the Governor, Kevin led the development, launch and implementation of signature initiatives that resulted in thousands successfully completing job training and securing employment, made community college tuition-free, quadrupled the number of high-quality Pre-K classrooms, created universal access to dual and concurrent enrollment and work-based learning opportunities for high school students, catalyzed more than $1.5B in critically needed school construction, and created a public/private partnership to bring computer science to every public school. Kevin served as chief negotiator on numerous complex economic development deals and public/private partnerships and managed more than a dozen cabinet agencies and boards. He also established the first of its kind State Innovation Office, which oversaw the state’s efforts to expand access to broadband in the state.
Before joining the Governor’s Office, Kevin was an attorney in the Providence office of Locke Lord, LLP. He is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and Boston College Law School.