Former First Lady of Massachusetts Lauren Baker on Reclaiming Her Identity & Building The Wonderfund

Former First Lady of Massachusetts Lauren Baker joins The Mothers this week. Today, she’s also the Founder & CEO of The Wonderfund, a nonprofit enriching the lives of 30,000 kids engaged with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF).

Lauren’s journey has taken her from an MBA at Northwestern and a career in advertising at Hill Holliday, to becoming First Lady alongside her husband Charlie Baker’s governorship, and ultimately to blazing her own professional path with The Wonderfund. Along the way, she’s navigated questions of identity, ego, partnership, and purpose, and what it means to reclaim yourself while supporting those around you.

It’s a candid, warm, and deeply thoughtful conversation about career pivots, family, and redefining what ambition looks like over time.

Highlights:

✨ From an MBA & Hill Holliday → First Lady of MA → Startup CEO

⏸️ Taking a “power pause” before it was a thing (and why she kinda regrets it)

💍 Becoming “the wife of” as First Lady — and reclaiming her identity

💡 How passion + experience + grit came together in founding The Wonderfund

🪞 Why Mothers need to nurture their egos, too

🏠 The reminder that at the end of the day, family is everything

Also in this episode:

> Visit www.wonderfundMA.org and choose a way to support kids in DCF and/or join The Wonderfund's kick-off holiday fundraising event at The Lenox Hotel in Boston on Nov 13 at 6:30pm!

> For the Newton, MA contingent, check out Service Stars (www.servicestarskids.org) for afterschool community service activities (key for those weekly short days and even those gnarly extra professional development days where the kids get out way early!)

> Use code THEMOTHERS20 to enjoy 20% off Little Saints, a mushroom-infused cocktail that elevates the soul.

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