STATE SENATOR DIANNE WILKERSON

State Senator Dianne Wilkerson is currently serving her fourth term in the Massachusetts State Senate.  She represents the Second Suffolk District, the most diverse senatorial district in Massachusetts.  Representing parts of neighborhoods of Mattapan, Hyde Park, Dorchester, Roxbury, South End, Jamaica Plain, Back Bay and the Fenway, Senator Wilkerson’s district includes some of Boston wealthiest and poorest citizens. 

In a relatively short political life, Dianne Wilkerson has gained a reputation for tackling some of the toughest social issues.  She is the chief sponsor of the bill to provide the same pricing insurance for women, the bill to provide insurance coverage for birth control pills as part of standard insurance coverage, bill to study negative health impact to children of lactose in school breakfast/lunch program, the domestic partners bill, and the bill authorizing the collection of data relative to traffic stops a.k.a. the Driving While Black/Brown bill. 

She has had her legislative successes.  She sponsored a bill that made Massachusetts the first state in the nation to extend the Community Reinvestment Act to insurance companies and the first in the nation credit for private insurers to write home insurance policies in urban areas.

Senator Wilkerson’s professional and political life is driven by a commitment to removing barriers to economic, educational and social equity for all.  She led negotiations on behalf of low income and minority communities with Fleet Boston, Citizens Bank and Sovereign Bank New England resulting in  Massachusetts community reinvestment commitments of more than $6 billion dollars over the next 3-5 years.

Senator Wilkerson graduated from American International College in 1978 with a B.S. in Public Administration and received her J.D. from Boston College Law School in 1981.  She is a mother and grandmother and presently resides in Roxbury.  She has a string of firsts including in 1991becoming one of the first African American women to attain partnership at a major Boston law firm Roche, Carens & DeGiacomo.  In January 1993, she was sworn in to the Massachusetts Senate becoming the first African American female to serve in the Senate.  She is presently the highest ranking elected Black official in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. n