James Eldridge

Hosted by Merrimack Valley Legal Services, Inc.
Sponsored by Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Service location Lowell, Massachusetts
Law school Boston College Law School
Issue area Community/Economic Development
Fellowship class year 2001
Program Design-Your-Own Fellowship

The Project

Jamie (he/him) practiced community economic development law, helping low- and moderate-income families buy their first homes, start a business, or create a non-profit to create change in their neighborhoods, as well as community development corporations (CDCs) help poor neighborhoods.

Bio

State Senator Jamie Eldridge has served as State Senator for the Middlesex and Worcester district since January 2009, representing 14 communities in Metrowest. He serves as the Senate chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary and the Senate Vice Chair Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture and the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight. As an activist legislator, Senator Eldridge is the Senate chair of the Clean Energy, Criminal Justice Reform, Medicare For All and MBTA Caucuses.

Senator Eldridge has focused his energies on Beacon Hill on increasing investments in public education and transportation, combating climate change, making healthcare a right, stimulating the economy, advocating for affordable housing, reforming our criminal justice system, advancing campaign and ethics reform, protecting the environment, and supporting immigrants. He lives in Acton, his hometown.

Previously, Senator Eldridge served as the State Representative for the 37th Middlesex District. He is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and Boston College Law School. Prior to his election as State Representative, Jamie worked as a public interest attorney with Merrimack Valley Legal Services in Lowell, a non-profit organization that provides free legal services to the poor and the elderly. As a public interest lawyer, he also worked to help low-income residents with issues of housing, Social Security, disability, and unemployment.

In 2001, Jamie was elected as a member of the Acton Housing Authority and was appointed by the Acton Board of Selectmen as an Associate Member to the Acton Planning Board. Holding these positions gave him a deeper understanding of municipal budgets and the impact of state legislation on communities, and housing, environmental, and “Smart Growth” issues, as well as the need for every community to protect its most vulnerable residents.