Eileen Donoghue
| Eileen Donoghue | |
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| Member of the Massachusetts Senate from the 1st Middlesex district |
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Assumed office January 5, 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Steven C. Panagiotakos |
| Mayor of Lowell, Massachusetts |
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In office 1998–2002 |
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| Member of the Lowell, Massachusetts City Council |
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In office 1996–2008 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | United States |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | John O’Connor |
| Alma mater |
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Suffolk University Law School |
Eileen Donoghue (born 1954 in Holyoke, Massachusetts) is a Democratic member of the Massachusetts Senate, where she has represented the First Middlesex District since 2011. Donoghue is an attorney and a former city councilor (1996–2008) and mayor (1998–2002) of Lowell, Massachusetts. She ran in the Massachusetts' 5th Congressional District special election in 2007 to fill the United States House of Representatives seat vacated by Marty Meehan, narrowly losing the Democratic primary to Niki Tsongas. In the Massachusetts Senate, Donoghue has been a staunch advocate for small businesses, economic development in gateway cities, and public higher education. She has spearheaded efforts to reduce student loan debt and create pathways to stable jobs.
Donoghue grew up in Holyoke, Massachusetts, the third oldest in a working-class family of eight children. She attended college nearby at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and also spent a semester at University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras, where she became fluent in Spanish. Donoghue graduated from UMass in 1976 with an individualized concentration in law and Spanish and went on to Suffolk University Law School, receiving her J.D. in 1979.
As a young lawyer, Donoghue served as an associate at Field and Schultz, working in the areas of civil litigation and real estate. In 1984 she was a founding partner of Donoghue and Grossman, also in Boston. She opened her own law practice in Lowell in 1991, and operated it until 2008, when she joined Gallagher & Cavanaugh.
In Lowell, Donoghue became heavily involved in the community, joining the boards of the Whistler House Museum of Art, Girls Incorporated of Greater Lowell, and the Merrimack River Valley House. Donoghue has said that civic engagement is part of Lowell’s spirit. “The city kind of grabs you and pulls you in,” she told the Lowell Sun in 2007. “People in this city not only reached out to me and welcomed me, but they asked for and encouraged involvement.”
Donoghue helped found several nonprofit organizations in the late 1990s, including the Merrimack Valley Economic Development Council and the Future Stars Camp, which builds leadership skills and discourages young people from joining violent gangs. In 2004, Donoghue was a founder of the Women Working Wonders Fund, which invests in the education of women, develops women leaders, and assists women who are working to preserve the environment.
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