FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, March 2, 2023

Secretary Bellows appoints Dr. Lelia De Andrade as Deputy Secretary

AUGUSTA — Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced the hiring of Dr. Lelia De Andrade as Deputy Secretary of State for Equity and Inclusion effective March 29, 2023.  De Andrade is the first Black woman to serve as a Deputy Secretary in the Department’s history.

De Andrade, of Portland, has been at Maine Community Foundation since 2008, most recently as Vice President of Community Impact, which included work developing and leading organization-wide efforts focused on racial equity.

“Lelia’s deep experience leading racial equity programs will benefit the Department and every Mainer who interacts with it,” said Bellows. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work together to advance one of our main goals as a Department — equity and inclusion — for both the Mainers we serve and the state workers in our Department.”

De Andrade, who has a Ph.D. from Syracuse University, also worked as Associate Director of the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence in Portland and as an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies at Bowdoin College. In 2020 and 2021 she served as Co-Chair of the City of Portland’s Racial Equity Steering Committee.

“The Department has such a large footprint – employing over 400 Mainers and providing extensive services to thousands of BMV customers, voters, business owners, and archival researchers each year – and I’m excited to get to work,” said De Andrade. “Finding ways we can better serve Mainers of all backgrounds, support our staff, and be inclusive in our hiring practices is a vital undertaking.”

The Secretary of State oversees three bureaus: the Maine State Archives, the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions (CEC), and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV). De Andrade is joining the Secretary’s nine-person central office staff, located in the historic Nash School building on the State House campus.

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