Chamber president to address LA Rotarians

AUBURN — Rebecca Swanson Conrad, president and CEO of the Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, will be the guest speaker at the noon meeting Thursday, Feb. 22, of the Lewiston-Auburn Rotary Lunch Club at the Village Inn, 165 High St.

Conrad joined the chamber in March 2017 as president and CEO. Previously, she was vice president for Institutional Advancement at Maine College of Art, Portland, where she began as a consultant in 2006.

She was co-owner, with her husband, of downtown Auburn business, Austin’s Fine Wines and Foods, for 20 years and for three years owned and operated Rysen Home Garden & Antiques, a retail gallery promoting local art and products that supported international women’s economic development.

Prior to Rysen, 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 chairwoman. Other volunteer board roles include past chairwoman of the Lewiston Auburn Economic Growth Council, Androscoggin Home Care & Hospice and L/A Arts, vice chairwoman of the Maine Association of Nonprofits and as a board member of Advocates for Children, the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce and Central Maine Community College Foundation.

Conrad currently serves with Oxfam’s “Sisters of the Planet,” a diverse group of American Women using their influence to fight global poverty, hunger and injustice, with a particular focus on empowering women and girls worldwide. She is also on the advisory board of USM’s LA College and the Muskie School’s Board of Visitors and is a member of the Auburn Lewiston Airport board of directors.

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.

Reservations are not required at the luncheon. For more information, contact President and Program Chairwoman Monica Millhime, 207-713-7045 or email millhime@myfairpoint.net. Events and other club information are posted at www.lewistonauburnrotary.org and www.facebook.com/lewistonmainerotary/.