The former Vice Chair of the trillion-dollar State Street Corporation, Jim Phalen, would be the exploratory committee chair for his brother Earl Martin Phalen’s potential U.S. Senate run.
BOSTON, June 3, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- National Social Entrepreneur Earl Martin Phalen Explores US Senate Run
Yale and Harvard Law Alumnus, Earl Martin Phalen, the CEO of Great Jobs KC and founder of one of the largest charter school systems in North America with 22 schools across the nation - - is forming an exploratory committee while he mulls a Senate bid against Ed Markey. Many in Massachusetts have called upon Senator Markey not to seek re-election in 2026 since his next term would end when Markey would be 86 years old.
The chair of Earl Martin Phalen's exploratory committee would be his brother, Jim Phalen, the former Vice Chair of the trillion-dollar State Street Corporation. Exploratory committee members might also include Fernando Reimers, Director of the Global Education Innovation Initiative at Harvard University; Elisabeth Jackson, the CEO of Bridge Over Troubled Waters and Angie Burks, a former Community Builder Fellow at Harvard University's JFK School during the Clinton Administration.
A three-time recipient of Fast Company's magazine Social Capitalist Award, Phalen's long term goal is to lift one million American families out of poverty through workforce development programs. As CEO of Great Jobs KC, one of the largest skilled training programs in the United States, Phalen was able to secure a $60M grant for workforce and skilled trades scholarships to help struggling families.
Ira Nichols-Barrier, a Principal Investigator of Mathematica, reported that "(His) program (Great Jobs KC) could show the largest impact of any U.S. job training program and become a model for other cities."
Last year, Phalen was interviewed by Good Morning America regarding Great Jobs KC's success.
He also leads Skilled US, a similar job training program serving families in Massachusetts and across the nation.
Phalen began his phenomenal 30+ year career as a social entrepreneur while studying at Harvard Law School, where he created the after-school program BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life). BELL grew from serving 23 children at the former Aggasiz School in Cambridge, Massachusetts to a national non-profit with 800 employees who educated 12,000 students annually. Phalen's vision continues through the organization which was renamed BellXcel. In its combined 30-year history, BELL has impacted 172,000 students across the United States.
Phalen states, "In the past three decades, I have witnessed thousands of American families be transformed by education and skilled trades programs. I believe with the right resources, collaboration, and legislation, one million families can be lifted out of poverty. The state of Massachusetts through the Senate office can be a leader of that change"
A former board member of the $3B Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Earl Martin Phalen received the President's Service Award from President Clinton in 1997.
As a baby in 1967, Earl only spent 30 minutes with his birth mother before entering the foster care system where 70% of his African American peers would end up in jail. He was adopted by a large Irish Catholic family led by the late George and Veronica Phalen. Raised in Norwood, Massachusetts, Phalen's father was the Vice Chair of the Bank of Boston.
The author of "From Vision to Impact," Earl Martin Phalen hopes to make a decision regarding a US Senate run by November 1st.
For more information and interviews contact Phalen Explore 2026 at (617) 651-0996 or [email protected]
Media Contact
Ann Marie, Phalen Explores Senate 2026, 1 (617) 651-0996, [email protected]
SOURCE Phalen Explores Senate 2026
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