About 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 undeserved 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.

PHOTO AND VIDEO RESOURCES

You can find photographs and videos of the Lieutenant Governor for use on the office's Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/198681009@N07