![[photo, Wes Moore, Governor of Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/08conoff/gov/images/1198-1-10815b.jpg)
WESTLEY WATENDE OMARI (WES) MOORE, Governor (Democrat)
Chair, Board of Public Works, 2023-; Governor's Executive Council, 2023-. Chair, State House Trust, 2023-. Member, Board of Trustees, Maryland Environmental Trust, 2023-. Member, Rural Maryland Council, 2023-; Maryland Veterans Home Commission, 2023-. Member, Anacostia Watershed Restoration Partnership, Leadership Council, 2023-; Education Commission of the States (Maryland Education Council), 2023-; Interstate Mining Compact Commission, 2023-; Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean, 2023-; Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, 2023-; Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, 2023-; Southern Regional Education Board, 2023-; Southern States Energy Board, 2023-; Susquehanna River Basin Commission, 2023-. Member, Governor's Workforce Development Board, 2023-; Chesapeake Executive Council, 2023-. Member, Governor's Council on Gangs and Violent Criminal Networks, 2023-. Chair, MD THINK Committee, 2023-;, Appalachian Regional Commission, 2023-.
Member, Baltimore Mayor-elect's Transition Team, 2020.
Born in Takoma Park, Maryland, October 15, 1978. Valley Forge Military Academy and College, A.A., 1998; The Johns Hopkins University, B.A. (international relations & economics), 2001; Wolfson College, Oxford, M.Litt.(Rhodes Scholar), 2004. Served in U.S. Army. Founder, Omari Productions. a television production company, 2010. Founder, BridgeEdU, a company serving students in their transition to college, 2014. Chief Executive Officer, Robin Hood Foundation, 2017-21. Author, The Other Wes Moore, (2019); Discovering Wes Moore (2013); The Work (2015); This Way Home (2016). Co-Author, Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City (2020). Power 100 List, Daily Record, 2022. Married; two children.
Governor Wes Moore is proud to serve as Maryland’s 63rd Governor
A combat veteran, bestselling author, small business owner, Rhodes Scholar, and former CEO of one of the nation’s largest anti-poverty organizations, Governor Moore has devoted his life’s work to a basic principle: no matter your start in life, you deserve an equal opportunity to succeed – a job you can raise a family on, a future you can look forward to.
Moore was born in Takoma Park, Maryland, to Joy and Westley Moore. When he was just three years old, his father died of a rare, but treatable virus. His father’s untimely death created instability in young Wes’ life, causing his mom to move the family to the Bronx, where his grandparents lived.
The family returned to Maryland when Wes was 14, when his mom found a job in Baltimore – the first job that paid her benefits.
Governor Moore graduated with an Associate’s Degree from Valley Forge Military College in 1998 and then Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University in 2001. As a teenager, he interned for former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke and then went on to earn a Rhodes Scholarship, which took him to Oxford University.
Inspired by his mentors at military school, Governor Moore went on to serve as a captain and paratrooper with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne, including leading soldiers in combat in Afghanistan. He also served as a White House Fellow, advising on issues of national security and international relations.
It was Moore’s commitment to taking on our toughest challenges that brought him to the Robin Hood foundation, where he served for four years as CEO. During his tenure, the Robin Hood foundation distributed over $600 million toward lifting families out of poverty, including here in Maryland. While the Robin Hood Foundation is headquartered in New York City, Moore and his family never moved from their home in Baltimore.
Earlier in his career, Governor Moore built and launched a Baltimore-based business called BridgeEdU, which reinvents freshman year of college for underserved students to increase their likelihood of long-term success. BridgeEdu was acquired by the Brooklyn-based student financial success platform, Edquity, in 2018. He has also worked in finance with Deutsche Bank in London and with Citigroup in New York.
In 2022, Governor Moore was elected the first Black governor of the State of Maryland and earned the highest number of individual votes in Maryland gubernatorial history. Alongside Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, Governor Moore ran on a Leave No One Behind agenda, a values statement that will guide the Moore-Miller Administration during their time in Annapolis.
Of the many titles Governor Moore has held over the years, there are two that he’s most proud of: husband to Dawn and father to Mia and James.
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