Meghan Kallman

Meghan Kallman was born in Peterborough, New Hampshire. She earned a high school diploma from Contoocook Valley Regional High School. She earned a bachelor's degree from Smith College in 2005, a master's degree from the University of Chicago in 2009, and a Ph.D. from Brown University in 2016. Her career experience includes working as a professor at the University of Massachusetts.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am committed to bringing the voices of the people of Pawtucket and Providence to the State House, helping us build a stronger, healthier, and more just Rhode Island.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I believe that everyone has a right to accessible, healthy and affordable housing.The climate crisis demands our immediate attention, and presents us with an opportunity to build a safer, healthier world for all.Access to full-spectrum reproductive healthcare, including contraception, abortion, and birth support is crucial, and I will always, always fight for a future with full reproductive freedom for all — no matter who you are, where you live, or how much you make.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Housing, climate and environment, reproductive healthcare and access, economic justice, decarceration and justice reinvestment, and the blue-green economy.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Elected officials must always be willing to explain their positions and their rationale. I do not expect to agree with everyone on everything, but I believe that anyone holding this position must be willing to communicate their values and why they vote as they do. This is a commitment I made and have upheld, when I first ran.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked at a cafe, starting three days after I was legally able to hold a job. I worked there on and off for four hours.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Adapting to climate change in a way that is just and inclusive. Specifically, this will mean addressing our public transit and infrastructure needs.

What is the first bill you would introduce if elected?

I would reintroduce the Building Decarbonization Act, which passed the RI Senate in 2024, but got stuck in the House.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

National Education Association, Planned Parenthood VOTES! RI, The Working Families Party, the Teamsters. It is early in the campaign and I expect more endorsement to come in over the next several weeks.

What committees interest you?

I have served as vice-chair of the Housing & Municipal Government committee since being elected, as well as on the Environment & Agriculture Committee, the Commerce Committee, and the Committee on Government Oversight.

Meghan Kallman did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am running for State Senate because I believe that Pawtucket's diversity is our strength. I believe we are a better, healthier community when we embrace everyone who wants to participate, and when we look for new ways to engage each other. I believe that our best decisions are made when we make them together. I am committed to bringing the visions, hopes, and concerns of the people of Pawtucket and North Providence to the State House. It's going to take all of us, working together, to build a strong and resilient Rhode Island. COVID-19 has reminded us that we are only as strong as the weakest link in the chain, and that we need economic support and resilient infrastructure for everyone to thrive as a society. And the pandemic has also shown our strength as a community. We must move forward together. We can't leave working people behind or ignore the urgent need for living wages, safe housing, clean energy and healthcare.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I believe in the transformative power of public education. I believe every child in Rhode Island is entitled to a quality primary and secondary education, in well-funded, well-maintained, forward-thinking public schools. I am a professor at UMass Boston, because I am deeply committed to quality and accessible higher education. I believe everyone has the right to a living wage, and I support the Fight for $15. I support workers' rights to unionize and advocate, both within cities and the state. I am a union member myself, serving on the Executive Committee of the Faculty Staff Union at UMass Boston.I believe that we must attend to the housing crisis that is affecting the state of Rhode Island and the city of Pawtucket so urgently. I support policies that keep housing accessible and affordable for regular people.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

As a progressive, I see the most important policy areas as linked. Affordable housing matters to healthcare because you can't socially isolate if you don't have a safe place to live; it's also about racial justice. Public education is about democracy, but also about racial justice and economic mobility, because education is the foundation of that mobility. Climate resilience is about greenhouse gas emissions, but it also matters to jobs and infrastructure. And so while housing, economic inclusion, and climate are my top "issues", I recognize the extent to which all these are connected.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was working as counter help at the Fiddleheads Cafe, that I got a week after my 14th birthday. My weekly paycheck was $38.09, at minimum wage, on Saturdays only, as I was in high school. I kept that job for four years, working more in the summer. It taught me the value of a dollar (and how long it takes to earn one serving breakfast), the value of hard work, and discipline.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

I'm a sociologist, and one of the big insights of organizational sociology is that diverse teams create better and more creative outcomes. So I think that community organizing experience matters, but that experience can take a lot of forms. I have known some incredible politicians with activist backgrounds, and some incredible politicians who come from legal backgrounds. The key ingredients, to me, are integrity, the ability to organize, a clear set of values and principles, and a clear political vision.

What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?

I actually think that Rhode Island has everything it needs to succeed - we are a coastal community with a strong history of manufacturing, strong higher education presence, and a tight-knit community. We need to be bold. We have urgent problems to solve: a runaway climate crisis that we'll feel first because we're so coastal, thousands of families affected by COVID (both economically and physically), and a shortage of housing and community supports. Our greatest challenge is that we need to shed our fears and step into bold, visionary leadership and problem solving. But we can solve them! Focusing on these critical issues - education, housing, healthcare, jobs, climate - is only part of what Pawtucket and North Providence need. We need to boldly and bravely build a fair system that gives people a fair shake.