Wes Moore

On January 18, 2022, Governor Wes Moore became Maryland’s first Black Governor, and only the third Black governor elected in American history.  He is the Finance Chair of the Democratic Governors Association.

As a combat veteran, small business owner, Rhodes Scholar, and former CEO of one of the nation’s largest anti-poverty organizations, Governor Moore has devoted his life’s work to the same basic principle he learned on Day 1 in the Army: Leave no one behind.

Governor Moore was born in Takoma Park, Maryland, to Joy and Westley Moore. When Wes Moore was just three years old, his father died of a rare, but treatable virus. His father’s untimely death created instability in young Wes’ life, causing his mom to move the family to the Bronx, where Wes’ grandparents lived.

The family returned to Maryland when Moore was 14, when his mom found a job in Baltimore — the first job that paid her benefits.

Governor Moore graduated with an Associate’s Degree from Valley Forge Military College in 1998 and then Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University in 2001. As a teenager, he interned for former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke and then went on to earn a Rhodes Scholarship, which took him to Oxford University.

Inspired by his mentors at military school, Governor Moore went on to serve as a captain and paratrooper with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne, including leading soldiers in combat in Afghanistan. He also served as a White House Fellow, advising on issues of national security and international relations.

Upon returning home, Governor Moore wrote “The Other Wes Moore,” a story about the fragile nature of opportunity in America, which became a perennial New York Times bestseller. It’s commonly assigned reading in Maryland schools. Moore went on to write other best-selling books that reflect on issues of race, equity and opportunity, including his latest book “Five Days,” which tells the story of Baltimore in the days that followed the death of Freddie Gray in 2015.

It was Governor Moore’s commitment to taking on our toughest challenges that brought him to the Robin Hood foundation, where he served for four years as CEO. During his tenure, the Robin Hood foundation distributed over $600 million toward lifting families out of poverty, including in Maryland.

Earlier in his career, Governor Moore built and launched a Baltimore-based business called BridgeEdU, which reinvents freshman year of college for underserved students to increase their likelihood of long-term success.

In his historic election, Governor Moore built a diverse coalition across this state in both rural and urban areas that included Democrats, Independents, and even Republicans. This unique coalition helped deliver Moore the widest victory margin of any Democratic governor in the country and the most individual votes of any gubernatorial candidate in Maryland’s history.

Of the many titles Governor Moore has held over the years, there are two that he’s most proud of: husband and father. Governor Moore and his wife Dawn live with their two children in Baltimore City.