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LEWISTON — Rebecca Swanson Conrad will be the new president and CEO Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce beginning March 27. The search process was extensive, generating over 50 applicants from across the country.
Conrad is currently the vice president for institutional advancement at the Maine College of Art in Portland, where she has worked since 2006. She was co-owner with her husband of Austin’s Fine Wines and Foods for 20 years, and for three years owned and operated Rÿsen Home Garden & Antiques, a retail gallery promoting local art and products that supported international women’s economic development. Both shops were located in downtown Auburn.
Prior to Rÿsen, Conrad’s career spanned 21 years in higher education administration at Bates College, including 1999-2003 when she served as executive director of LA Excels, the college’s nonprofit community development partnership in Lewiston-Auburn focused on leadership, arts, educational aspirations and economic revitalization. She served on the Maine Arts Commission for seven years, with four as vice chair.
Volunteer board roles include chair of the Lewiston Auburn Economic Growth Council, past chair of L/A Arts and Androscoggin Home Care & Hospice, vice chair of the Maine Association of Nonprofits and as a board member of Advocates for Children, the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce and the advisory boards of USM/LA College and Central Maine Community College. Conrad received her BA in English from Bates College and studied in the New England Studies MFA Program at the University of Southern Maine. She lives in Auburn with her husband, Austin Conrad Jr., and her cat, Charles Mingus.
The entire board of directors, and particularly the 11-member selection committee, deserve a tremendous amount of credit for the time and effort they put into a very extensive search process. They were ably assisted by former board chair Art Boulay of Strategic Talent Management.
