Democrat gubernatorial candidate, Grace Ross, 46, says she has worked to better the lives of Bay State families. A New York native, Ross now lives in Worcester. She moved to Massachusetts to study at Harvard's Radcliffe College. There she was exposed to the idea of a "Commonwealth," where wealth was being used for the common good while coming from common effort, her campaign says.

Ross says she was disturbed by the inequality surrounding her as she grew up with a good deal of privilege and firmly believed that every individual should be allowed the same opportunities in life that she had. She began her life's work as a community advocate after earning her BA (magna cum laude in her field) and a Masters in Education.

Ross says she has coordinated the creation of two community non-profit organizations and contributed to several others. She said both organizations provide life-sustaining services and help change laws in the community, both on state and national levels. She says she helped train thousands of people in how to create change and advocate for themselves.

Ross says her organizations have helped educate communities about the danger of "for-profit" hospitals and have advised against struggling community boards selling their community hospitals to large, for-profit chains. As a result, she says, there are now only three for-profit hospitals in Massachusetts.

Ross has served on the boards of several organizations, such as Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, United for Justice with Peace, the Intertribal Council of Tolba-Menahan, the Women's Peace Land, and the Economic Human Rights Project. She was also one of the founders of a new school of thought called, Geese in Flight. The philosophy focuses on the process of social change.

On the Issues:

Education: Will work to fully fund public education for all students, including bi-lingual students. Believes in a constitutional commitment to public education in Massachusetts for all children.

Healthcare: Supports the establishment of one standard of health coverage, a universal standard that covers all residents.

Environment: Wants urban planners to replace sprawl development models with regionally integrated and cluster models in hopes to lower the cost of home ownership, protect open space and wetlands, decrease the cost of public transportation, and improve the quality of life. Will work to develop decentralized, locally controlled renewable energy sources such as solar cells on roofs and community-size windmills.

Economy/Taxes: Will work to sustain healthy state revenues that are needed for public education, public safety, public transportation, and public services. Wants to create a tax system overhaul that includes corporations paying their fair share of taxes.

Crime: Wants to show children through proper funding of schools, summer jobs, and internship programs, that they are valued by all of us. Wants to make guns harder to get and easier to turn in. Will work to track bullets and guns, and begin to hold manufacturers responsible for the many tragedies that occur in our communities.

Homeland Security: Will restore the National Guard troops to their intended purpose so that they are in Massachusetts helping citizens survive in times of need instead of fighting in a war.