Member Party:  Democrat Address:  56 Mary Violet Road,  06907 Phone:  (203) 322-9655

Mary Lou Rinaldi was born and raised in Stamford and is an alumna of Sacred Heart Academy. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Bridgeport with a Bachelor of Arts degree in both English and Corporate Communications. She was also the recipient of the University's Baxter Award for Literature.

Ms. Rinaldi has built her professional career in the field of Human Resources. She is currently employed as Manager, Global Staffing for GE Capital Services and its 28 businesses, and is responsible for the identification and development of international talent for GE Capital's operating entities in 49 countries.

For the past 20 years, Mary Lou has been involved in a broad range of public and community service. She was elected to eight consecutive terms on the Board of Representatives, Stamford's 40-member legislative body. Although one of the youngest members elected to the Board and the first woman elected from her district, she chaired several committees and addressed fiscal, education, zoning, environmental, personnel, transportation, health and safety issues. In 1993, Ms. Rinaldi was elected by her peers as President of the Board of Representatives -- one of only three women to hold this position in the history of the City of Stamford.

In November 1999, Ms. Rinaldi was reelected to Stamford's Board of Finance for a second term. During part of her first term she served as Chair. She is, in fact, the only elected official to hold leadership positions on both of Stamford's fiscal Boards and to serve as an Executive Aide to the Mayor.

Ms. Rinaldi was a finalist for a White House Presidential Fellowship. In 1994, she was honored by her alma mater with the Distinguished Alumna Award for Community Service. In 1998, Ms. Rinaldi was selected to join the Advisory Committee for Management Education of INSEAD, the European Institute of Business Administration.

Ms. Rinaldi serves as GE Capital's corporate representative on the Board of Directors of the Stamford Partnership, a public/private sector organization. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Neighborhood Housing Services, a non-profit entity which has successfully built new housing projects and refurbished existing housing stock in Stamford's West Side and South End neighborhoods.

Ms. Rinaldi is also a member of the Board of Corporators of First County Bank.