Nathan Story Blog

Yvonne Hao / kraftgroup emails

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The Request

I requested from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Development (EOED) emails between former Secretary Yvonne Hao and addresses at the following domains: fcas.org, thekraftgroup.com, and adl.org. There were only hits for thekraftgroup.com.

Notes

On page 5 we can see that Secretary Hao is close with Jonathan Kraft (son of Robert Kraft, owner of The Patriots). They were both trustees of Williams College.

On page 15 we see that Secretary Hao met Josh Kraft, who is now a candidate for mayor of Boston.

On page 21 we learn that the patriarch himself, Robert Kraft, is a fan of Yvonne Hao: "I passed on your thanks to my dad and he reiterated to me what he said multiple times on Thursday about how excited he is that someone like you is in this position."

On page 22 she describes her behind-the-scenes tour of Gillette Stadium.

Analysis

It's interesting to see how the relationship between private business and government is built on personal connections. Robert Kraft is a Trump ally, yet he and his family are friendly with an official appointed by Maura Healey. Given her role was to foster economic development in Massachusetts, I suppose it isn't surprising she would have a good relationship with the Kraft family.