Mike Kennealy is the Assistant Secretary for Business Growth for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the Executive Office of Housing & Economic Development, and he focuses on executing Governor Charlie Baker’s strategy for job creation and business development.  Mike joined Governor Baker’s Administration in March 2015 and brings two decades of experience working with the management teams of growing companies.  He joined Spectrum Equity in 1997 and was a Managing Director of the firm until early 2013.  Founded in 1994 with offices in Boston and San Francisco, Spectrum is a leading growth private equity firm that provides capital and strategic support to its portfolio companies.  During Mike’s more than 15 years at the firm, Spectrum grew from $360 million in assets under management to $4.7 billion and invested in nearly 100 high growth information services, digital media, software, and Internet companies.  After retiring from Spectrum, he spent two years as Special Advisor to the Receiver at Lawrence Public Schools. There he worked with the state-appointed superintendent/receiver on strategic and financial initiatives to support the turnaround plan and developed and managed relationships with non-profit partners, philanthropic funders, and the municipal government. Earlier in his career, Mike was an Associate at TA Associates, a Boston-based private equity firm.  

Mike, his wife, and three children live in Lexington, Massachusetts where he has served on the Town’s finance committee and a variety of non-profit boards. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of St. John’s Prep in Danvers, MA since 2009 and is Vice Chairman of the Board. Mike received an AB magna cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with High Honors in Government from Dartmouth College in 1990 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1997.