Meet Kara
Community, family, education, and civic duty. These were the values instilled in Kara growing up in her Seymour home to two hard-working parents. Her father Al Rochelle, a retired line worker at Sikorsky Aircraft, has dedicated nearly 50 years to the volunteer fire service. Her late mother, Diane, was a loving parent and small business owner who instilled in her kids, through her daycare, a passion for child development and education.
Kara excelled in local public schools, worked her way through college, and graduated from Fordham University emphasizing the Jesuit mission “Men and Women for Others.” Throughout her life, she has devoted countless volunteer hours to local community organizations. In her youth, she was deeply involved with the United Way Youth Leadership Program, volunteering across the Naugatuck Valley. More recently she has dedicated time to various community organizations, is a member of the Derby Elks, Derby Centennial Lion’s Club, Catholic War Veterans Auxiliary, Women United of the Valley United Way – which fights hunger in the Lower Naugatuck Valley, and was appointed as a corporator for Griffin Hospital. She is also an alumna of the Naugatuck Valley Young Democrats, which she founded to reinvigorate and reform the party by returning it to its working class roots.
Kara was an administrator for a nonprofit for nearly a decade. Kara’s professional experience and upbringing have given her a strong commitment to helping people who work hard to pay the bills and raise their children, and she wants to continue this fight at the Capitol with your support.