President, Eos Foundation
Andrea Silbert is the President of the Eos Foundation, a $50 million private philanthropic foundation with offices in Boston and Harwich Port, Massachusetts. The mission of the Eos Foundation is to break the cycle of poverty by investing in children’s futures. The foundation supports nonprofit organizations, public policies and systemic solutions aimed at nourishing children’s bodies, nurturing their minds, and building family economic security.
Prior to her leadership of Eos, Andrea was a candidate for Lieutenant Governor in the Massachusetts 2006 Democratic primary. She ran on her experience in job creation, economic development, economic justice, and poverty alleviation. As a social entrepreneur with a track record of connecting disadvantaged communities to economic opportunity, Andrea raised the public consciousness to the role social entrepreneurs play in their communities.
In 1995, Andrea co-founded and served for nine years as the CEO of the Center for Women & Enterprise, the largest women’s entrepreneurial development center in the country. CWE serves entrepreneurs ranging from owners of small home-based businesses to founders of fast-growth technology companies like Zipcar and iRobot. Andrea and her team helped small business owners create over 14,000 jobs and $400 million in new wages from 1995 – 2005, and provided training and access to capital to over 10,000 individuals. A large proportion of the CWE’s success stories are disadvantaged women, including single mothers and women on welfare.
Andrea began her career on Wall Street as a financial analyst with Morgan Stanley in New York. She left the country in 1988 to serve in grassroots economic development in Costa Rica, Colombia, and Brazil. During her time in Latin America, Andrea worked for Women’s World Banking, an international network of micro-loan funds. In Brazil, Andrea worked with a non-profit organization serving “street girls.”
A nationally recognized advocate in the area of economic empowerment, Andrea was selected in 2001, along side of Senator Barbara Mikulski and Gloria Steinem by Working Woman magazine as one of only 25 leaders in the past 25 years who “have given women in the workplace a better shot.” Nationally, Andrea served as the founding President of the Association of Women’s Business Centers, meeting with Congressional leaders to promote legislation to assist women-owned and small businesses. In 2000, she was appointed to the National Women’s Business Council, which provides advice to Congress and the President on issues of concern to women entrepreneurs, particularly around access to capital and government procurement. Andrea was a co-founder of Springboard Enterprises, a national organization which has helped fast-growth women entrepreneurs raise over $2 billion in angel financing and venture capital.
In 2007, Governor Deval Patrick named Andrea to the Public Education Nominating Council, which appoints board members to public colleges and universities across Massachusetts. She also served on the leadership committee of the Governor’s Job Readiness Task Force to reform the state education system where she headed up the Early Education and Care sub-committee.
Andrea serves on the Advisory boards of the Progressive Business Leaders Network and Infoscitex, a Massachusetts-based private company which provides materials and systems engineering solutions to government and commercial customers.
Andrea lives in Harwich, Massachusetts, with her three children. She attended Harvard University, earning a Master of Business Administration, a Master of Public Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. A dedicated environmentalist, Andrea works to protect our natural resources and the quality of life in her community through her service as a Trustee with the Harwich Conservation Trust.
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