Description

The Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee cordially invites members of the business community to join incumbents and candidates running for office in R.I. for a casual coffee hour.

July 30th: Lt. Governor Sabina Matos

Sabina Matos is the 70th Lieutenant Governor of the State of Rhode Island, serving in the office since 

April 14, 2021. She was most recently elected in November 2022. She is the second woman to hold this 

post and the first woman of color. Additionally, she is the first Dominican American to hold statewide 

office in the United States. 

As Lieutenant Governor, Sabina Matos has fought to address Rhode Island's housing shortage, to make 

fresh food more accessible and affordable in underserved communities, and to help more entrepreneurs 

start or convert employee-owned businesses. She chairs three statewide policy councils: the Emergency 

Management Advisory Council, the Long Term Care Coordinating Council, and the Small Business 

Advocacy Council; she also serves as a member of the state’s Advisory Council on Alzheimer's Disease 

Research and Treatment. She also carries on the office’s role of serving veterans through programs like 

the Rhode Island Military Family Relief Fund and Operation Holiday Cheer. 

Before becoming Lieutenant Governor, Sabina Matos served on the Providence City Council from 

January 2011 until April 2021, including serving as City Council President from 2019 to 2021. As the 

Councilwoman for Ward 15, she represented the neighborhoods of Olneyville and parts of Silver Lake 

and Valley. Throughout her time as a city councilor, she worked as coordinator for multiple nonprofit 

agencies and later as Chief of Program Development at the Rhode Island Office of Diversity, Equity, and 

Opportunity. 

Lieutenant Governor Matos was born in the province of Barahona in the Dominican Republic. In April 

1994, she immigrated to the United States. She is a proud alumna of Rhode Island College, where she 

earned her BA in Communications and Public Relations in May of 2001. Lieutenant Governor Matos is 

also a graduate of the Latina Leadership Institute, and the Leadership for a Future program, and is a 

fellow of the Aspen Institute’s Rodel Fellowship and the Hunt-Kean Leadership Fellowship. 

The Lieutenant Governor has served as the past President of the Educational Center for the Arts and 

Sciences, the RI Latino Civic Fund, and the Rhode Island Latino Political Action Committee. She 

previously served as the Board Secretary of the Olneyville Housing Corporation and on the Community 

Advisory Board of the United Way of Rhode Island. 

Lieutenant Governor Matos lives in Providence, Rhode Island, with her husband and their two children.