| Patricia Morgan is a small business owner and a lifelong leader.
Growing up in a small, rural Ohio town, Patricia, the youngest of three sisters, was raised to appreciate the importance of strong values, family and hard work. Before she left for public school each day, she watched her father, a WWII veteran from the 82nd Airborne, go to work at the Firestone tire factory. Her mother, an English war bride, supervised the chores and homework, which were a daily part of her day.
Patricia has an abiding faith in the power of education to change lives. This led her to earn a BA in English from Kent State University, a master's degree in special education from Rhode Island College and later a principal's certificate from Providence College.
Patricia's career as a special education teacher began at George Washington Carver Junior High School in Meridian, Mississippi, where she married a Naval aviator. During the 3 years she spent in the classroom there, she used sustained effort and innovative techniques to move her students towards independent lives.
As her 3 sons were born, she gave her efforts to them and to the community. She revitalized a Cub Scout pack, which grew under her 8-year tenure as Cubmaster from 4 Tiger cubs to 65 boys and participated in civic events and organizations.
As her sons grew, she returned to teaching at Cranston High School West. For the next decade, she was dedicated to helping young students develop the necessary life skills for success.
As a single mother of three sons, Patricia found herself at a job fair one afternoon filling in for her oldest son who was finishing his studies at Villanova University. While picking up employment applications for him, a Smith Barney recruiter asked her if she ever thought about switching careers. As a result, for the next two decades, Patricia has worked as a financial advisor, advising families on how to keep their investments and retirements safe.
Patricia has always been a conservative leader, having served as a former Chairman of the West Warwick Republican Town Committee, former President of the RI Chapter of the National Federation of Republican Women, then ultimately as the Chairman of the Republican Party of Rhode Island.
Believing that women should play an equal role in worldwide democracies, Patricia has traveled with the Women's Democracy Network, an initiative of the International Republican Institute, to many countries including Turkey, Ukraine, Jordan, Serbia, Moldova and Thailand to mentor women with political aspirations.
A genuine policy hawk, Patricia successfully ran for State Representative in 2010 and after six years of leading the drive for common-sense legislation, was elected the first female Minority Leader in Rhode Island's history. As a legislator, Patricia has fought to ensure educational excellence for Rhode Island's children, battled for tax and pension reform, worked for policy reforms to bring businesses and needed jobs to the state, and advocated for health insurance reforms and to make it easier for Rhode Island's doctors to provide world-class care |