Meet the Lakeville Select Board candidate Kristen Howard

LAKEVILLE — Longtime cyber security expert and Lakeville resident Kristen Howard is running for a Lakeville Select Board seat to open a new chapter of economic development in town.

Howard grew up in Wayland, and is a lifelong Massachusetts resident. She moved to Lakeville four years ago to retire in a town with open space and purchase a large property for her home. 

“My goal is for the town to grow,” Howard said.

She has a business degree from Worcester State University and a law degree from the Massachusetts School of Law, and owns cyber-security firm Soteria Consulting. Howard has been in the information technology and security space for the past 30 years.

She is a current member of the recently formed Economic Development Committee and Technology Sub-committee, and has also served on the Cable TV committee for two years. 

“As soon as I moved in I joined a committee and then added another and another. At this point, I  want to take it to the next level to the Select Board,” she said.

She said on the Select Board, she wants to further her reach and use her work experience to help more facets of the town government.

Along with her information technologies and business background, Howard has worked for the state. She was the deputy chief information officer for the Department of Transportation and commonwealth chief information security officer.

“It was a lot of problem solving. The work was also based around listening to people to find where their objections are and trying to get to the root cause of the objection,” Howard said.

Growth is her answer to Lakeville’s $2.6 million deficit, which has sparked a possible operational tax override for voters to approve or deny in May. 

Howard said she is committed to finding businesses that are a “good fit”, and is focused on bringing in small and medium sized businesses. She said she would like to develop available commercial spaces in town first.

“Big businesses coming in wouldn't be a good fit, I honestly think that would ruin Lakeville,” she said.

In the past, Howard has worked for a number of multi-national technology companies which brought her to dozens of countries while she was tasked with bringing U.S. businesses overseas. She said part of the work was finding viable cities or countries for the companies to expand to.

“I have an idea of what is appealing to be able to move into a community. I have that perspective on how I as a business could be attracted,” Howard said.

Howard said she is “incredibly invested” in balancing development with the town’s rural character, since she moved to Lakeville for its quieter atmosphere and open space. But, she said, more flexibility is needed when attracting new development.

“I'd like to see a shift in that and not continue to put the burden on the residents,” she said. “If we don't have those other sources of income, we don't have a choice.”

She said between living in a handful of Massachusetts communities and her work abroad, she’s seen what works for communities to find economic success.

“Having that experience gives me an interesting perspective on how to do things a little differently,” Howard said.