Grafton Democratic Town Committee

Congratulations to our 2018 Memorial Breakfast Honorees
Honoring:

Senator Elizabeth Warren, Fromont-Monorey Leadership in Action
Liz Cardoza, John F. Sullivan Citizen Activist
Jason Palitsch, Diane Saxe Legacy Leadership
Daniel Murphy , Outstanding Young Democrat
Senator Harriette L. Chandler GDTC Lifetime Achievement Award

About our honorees:

Elizabeth Warren, Fromont-Monoroney Leadership in Action

Elizabeth Warren, a fearless consumer advocate who has made her life’s work the fight for middle-class families, was elected to the United States Senate on November 6, 2012, by the people of Massachusetts.

Elizabeth is recognized as one of the nation’s top experts on bankruptcy and the financial pressures facing middle-class families, and the Boston Globe has called her “the plainspoken voice of people getting crushed by so many predatory lenders and under regulated banks.”

She is widely credited for the original thinking, political courage, and relentless persistence that led to the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. President Obama asked her to set up the new agency to hold Wall Street banks and other financial institutions accountable and to protect consumers from financial tricks and traps often hidden in mortgages, credit cards, and other financial products.

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Warren served as Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Her independent and tireless efforts to protect taxpayers, to hold Wall Street accountable, and to ensure tough oversight of both the Bush and Obama Administrations won praise from both sides of the aisle. The Boston Globe named Elizabeth Warren Bostonian of the Year and TIME Magazine called her a “New Sheriff of Wall Street” for her oversight efforts.

Senator Warren was a law professor for more than 30 years, including nearly 20 years as the Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. The graduating class at Harvard twice recognized her with the Sacks-Freund Award for excellence in teaching. She taught courses on commercial law, contracts, and bankruptcy and wrote more than a hundred articles and ten books, including four national best-sellers, This Fight is Our Fight, A Fighting Chance, The Two-Income Trap, and All Your Worth. National Law Journal named her one of the Most Influential Lawyers of the Decade, TIME Magazine has named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world four times, and she has been honored by the Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association with the Lelia J. Robinson Award.

Elizabeth learned first-hand about the economic pressures facing working families, growing up in a family she says was “on the ragged edge of the middle class.” She got married at 19, and after graduating from college, started teaching in elementary school. Her first baby, a daughter Amelia, was born when Elizabeth was 22. When Amelia was two, Elizabeth started law school. Shortly after she graduated, her son Alex was born. Elizabeth hung out a shingle and practiced law out of her living room, but she soon returned to teaching.

Elizabeth is a graduate of the University of Houston and Rutgers School of Law. Elizabeth and her husband Bruce Mann have been married for 38 years and live in Cambridge, Massachusetts with their golden retriever, Bailey. They have three grandchildren.

Liz Cardoza
Liz Cardoza, John F. Sullivan Citizen Activist
Liz was born and raised in Clinton Massachusetts and has been a Grafton resident since 1992. Liz has been an active member of the Grafton Democratic Town Committee since 2006, serving as Secretary from 2010-2018. In addition to serving as Secretary, she has organized the GDTC team for the annual Grafton Clean up day from 2011-to present.

Liz has been a strong supporter of the two organizations in Grafton that provide leadership opportunities and are open to all girls from Pre-K through High school: Grafton Girl Scouts and Grafton Girls Softball.

Liz served as a Girl Scout leader for eight years, during which time she received the Outstanding Leader award. Along with her three co-leaders, she enjoyed most of all leading camping trips and encouraging girls to explore the world around them. She is a member of the Grafton Girl Scouts service team, serving as the Annual Giving Campaign chair for several years, helping to raise funds to benefit Grafton Girl Scouts and Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts.

As a Grafton Girls Softball parent for many years, Liz volunteered in the snack bar, helped out with fundraisers including opening day and supported her girls and the organization in any way she could.

Liz was a member of the Grafton Educational Alliance (GEA) for many years, serving as secretary, as well as serving on the scholarship committee. The GEA was a strong advocate for quality education for all and worked tirelessly towards improving educational opportunities in Grafton.

Jason Palitsch
Jason Palitsch, Diane Saxe Legacy Leadership
Jason has been involved in politics since he was 14 volunteering for Ed Augustus’ first campaign for state senate in 2004. Jason earned a BA in political science from Northeastern University. He is currently serving as chair of The Shrewsbury school committee. The chair of the Shrewsbury Democratic committee and a member of the State Committee representing our second worcester district. He is a former aide to our State Senator, Mike Moore, and today manages Government Relations for Veterans Inc., a non-profit serving homeless veterans and veterans in need across New England.

Daniel Murphy
Daniel Murphy, Outstanding Young Democrat
Dan was born six weeks into the new millennium. He’s grown into one of the youth we see taking a greater interest in the future of this country and politics at all levels.

He is currently enrolled at the University of Southern California to study theater. He is a 2018 graduate from St. John’s.

In the months before he left high school the Parkland, Florida school shooting impacted him deeply and led him to lead a “Townhall for our lives” event in Millbury that brought in state reps of both parties and a medical expert for lively and important discussion.

Harriette L. Chandler
Harriette L. Chandler, GDTC Lifetime Achievement Award
Harriette L. Chandler was the 94th President of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts State Senator for the 1st Worcester district, which includes parts of the city of Worcester, where she resides, and the towns of Boylston, Holden, Princeton, and West Boylston, and parts of Clinton and Northborough. She is a Democrat who has served since January 2001. From 1995 to 2001 she was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Prior to serving in the Massachusetts legislature, she was a member of the Worcester school committee from 1991 to 1994. She is the first woman from Worcester ever to be elected to the Massachusetts Senate.