BOSTON -- Meghan Burke grew up in Washington, D.C., attuned to government and policy. At Oberlin College in Ohio, where she majored in government, she discovered how it interweaves with finance.
"At the time I didn't know much about Wall Street," she said in an interview in downtown Boston. "Then this guy walks into my junior class and says if you want to be involved with government, you should learn about Wall Street because they intersect.
"I got a big kick out of it," she said. "It was fun to learn about the markets."
It was a seed that helped plant a highly successful career as a municipal bond attorney.
Burke, the head of public finance at law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo PC and the chair of its education practice, is the 2015 private-sector winner of the annual Freda Johnson Award for Trailblazing Women in Public Finance.
Carol Kostik, New York City's deputy comptroller for public finance, is the public-sector winner. Northeast Women in Public Finance will present the awards to Kostik and Burke Thursday at The Bond Buyer's 14th annual Deal of the Year ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.
"I was always very attracted to public policy," said Burke, 49.
Burke received her law degree in 1991 from Boston's Northeastern University, whose cooperative program enables students to alternate classroom studies with full-time work in career-related jobs.
"I loved that, being able to work," she said.
Before law school, Burke began with First Boston in 1988, one year after the Black Monday crash of October 1987 roiled the markets.
She said she learned a lot at First Boston from her mentor, Mark Ferber. Although Ferber in 1996 was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 33 months in prison, Burke recalls Ferber in a more positive context.
"He was very successful in business. He was really good to me early on," she said.
Burke, who met Mintz Levin attorneys while attending law school, began with the firm in 2000. Now she oversees a group of about 20, including a couple who work in New York.
"At Mintz Levin I work with incredibly smart, professional people," she said.
She has worked as bond counsel, and as counsel to underwriters, borrowers, trustees and purchasers related to tax-exempt and taxable general obligation and revenue financings for transportation, higher education, health care, economic development, project finance, water, and wastewater.
"Throughout her career, Meghan has served as an exemplary role model for women in the legal and public finance industries," said Richard Moche, division head for Mintz Levin's public finance, real estate, bankruptcy and environmental sections. "Her professional excellence and commitment to the advancement of women make her a deserving recipient of this prestigious award."
Under Burke's watch, the Mintz Levin unit was bond counsel for the 2014 Bond Buyer Deal of the Year, awarded to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for its MassDirect Notes program.
Burke has also made Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA and Massachusetts Super Lawyers honors lists.
She is especially proud of her work with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the state agency that operates the Greater Boston transit system.
"Like the [New York] MTA, they're in dire straits financially," she said. "The federal government is providing less money and they have so few resources. But they have a sophisticated staff there."
The commonwealth placed the MBTA under a control board after a record 110 inches of snow paralyzed some subway, bus and commuter rail lines last winter. Still, institutional investors looked past a downgrade from Standard & Poor's and a critical fiscal control board report when the MBTA sold $357.4 million of senior sales tax bonds in October at levels comparable to the commonwealth's general obligation bonds.
Burke called public finance "a terrific career for women," adding: "It's funny to be called a trailblazer when there are so many great women out there. It's been a great career for me."
She also recommends such a career for young people in general.
"Absolutely. If you're motivated to help nonprofits, it can be a great career. You get to work with incredibly smart people," she said.
The Freda Johnson award is named for the longtime analyst and financial advisor who was the first woman to head the public finance department at Moody's Investors Service.
Johnson is also a founding board member of Northeast Women in Public Finance.
This is the fifth year of the award and the second in which the organization is honoring two public finance professionals, one each from the public and private sectors. Previous winners include Connecticut Treasurer Denise Nappier; Rhode Island General Treasurer Gina Raimondo, who is now the state's governor; and Philadelphia City Treasurer Nancy Winkler.
