Gov. Maura Healey, the 73rd governor of Massachusetts, will be addressing the MMA’s annual conference for the third time as the Commonwealth’s chief executive.

Healey’s appearance at Connect 351 will come shortly after her annual State of the Commonwealth address and two days after she files her fiscal 2026 state budget plan with the Legislature.

Since taking office in 2023, Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll have been taking on many of the state’s biggest challenges, including the statewide housing shortage, climate change, an emergency shelter crisis, infrastructure needs, and economic development, while emphasizing the state-local partnership.

Healey has served for two decades in state government. In 2014, she was elected to the first of two four-year terms as attorney general, during which time she gained national attention for her work on issues including the opioid epidemic, climate issues, health care costs, and student loan debt.

Healey began her legal career as a U.S. District Court clerk, followed by more than seven years in private practice. She also served as a special assistant district attorney in Middlesex County. In 2007, she was hired by then-Attorney General Martha Coakley as chief of the Civil Rights Division, where she spearheaded the state’s challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. She also served as chief of the Public Protection and Advocacy Bureau and chief of the Business and Labor Bureau.

Raised in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, Healey came to Massachusetts to attend Harvard College, where she majored in government, was co-captain of the women’s basketball team, and graduated with honors in 1992. She spent two years playing professional basketball in Europe before returning to earn her law degree at Northeastern University School of Law.

In 2022, Healey became the state’s first woman and first openly gay person to be elected governor.