 
| The Rhode Island Democratic Party chose Melba Depeña ’98 as its first female and first Latina executive director. | |
 By Maria V. Caliri ’86, M.B.A. ’92 Since coming to America from the Dominican Republic nearly two decades ago, Melba Depeña has experienced a series of firsts. She is the first member of her family to go to college. And as an undergraduate studying political science, she founded URI’s first Latina sorority, Sigma Lambda Upsilon. Then, during her tenure as the executive assistant to URI’s Vice Provost for Urban Programs John McCray, Depeña ’98 developed the first travel program to provide students with an opportunity to travel to Cuba in the company of faculty from the Psychology Department and the Urban Field Center. It comes as no surprise, then, that in December 2003, the Rhode Island Democratic Party chose her as its first female and first Latina executive director. Exposed to politics as a child, Depeña developed an avid interest in elections. “The political season in the Dominican Republic is like a festival. Each of the three major parties is affiliated with a particular color, and during election years Dominicans wear the color of the party to which they are affiliated. Everyone is very intense about politics to the point where conversation often leads to passionate debate,” says Depeña. “Even baseball takes second place to politics.” Her own passion never waned, and she has enjoyed the chance to get involved in her adopted country. Had she remained in the Dominican Republic, she might never have had the opportunity: “Dominican women tend not to get involved—not even in conversation.” Depeña’s initial venture into Rhode Island’s political arena began in her senior year at URI. “Five of us would sit around and have late-night talks about politics. Victor Capellan ’92 decided to run for state representative, and I signed on as his finance director.” Although Capellan lost his race in 1996 and another two years later, Depeña remained dedicated to participating in local politics. She went on to serve as campaign manager for Juan Pichardo, who, after losing a state senate race in 2000, was elected Rhode Island’s first Latino senator in 2002. Depeña credits his success partially to her efforts in organizing a grass-roots campaign. “As campaign manager, I made sure he walked door to door. A candidate has to have close relationships with his constituents,” she says. “I also focused heavily on a voter registration component. We engaged a lot of young people and broke a previous record in registering voters.” Beyond direct involvement in specific campaigns, Depeña impacted Rhode Island’s political landscape as president of the Rhode Island Latino Civic Fund. Comprised of two organizations, the Latino Civic Fund and the Latino Political Action Committee, it provides outreach to both the Latino community and candidates. The civic fund promotes the importance of becoming an American citizen and voter participation, while the PAC offers nominal financial support and endorsements to those candidates who show interest in working with the Latino and urban communities. Depeña’s involvement with campaigns and the Rhode Island Latino Civic Fund made her visible to the state’s Democratic Party leaders. Seemingly unaware of their interest, she considered herself a behind-the-scenes type of person—someone who organized and rallied the troops but never faced the camera. Even when she criticized the party in a local newspaper for taking Latinos for granted, Depeña still believed that she was maintaining a low profile. Until, that is, Rhode Island Democratic Party Chairman Bill Lynch called her. “Never in my life did I expect that call. I had seen him at functions, but we never exchanged a word.” Lynch contacted her to discuss the article and the PAC and to explore how the party and Latinos could work together. He also offered her the executive director’s position, one that had been vacant for about a year. “I was shocked. I told him that I’d have to think about it. I was interested, but I didn’t want to leave the PAC. As it turns out, I didn’t have to. My term was up in November, and I was appointed in December.” Since then, her life has changed dramatically. Starting her position merely weeks before a presidential election year with nine presidential hopefuls competing for the Democratic Party endoresment, Depeña hit the ground running. “There is no normal day. At the beginning, I was working as a liaison between the representatives of the presidential candidates and the Secretary of State’s office, ensuring that each campaign had its paperwork in order. I also assisted those campaigns that wanted help with volunteers.” Since March when John Kerry secured the delegates he needed to win the Democratic presidential nomination, Depeña’s responsibilities have shifted to local elections as the party prepares to ensure that Democrats remain in power in the Rhode Island House and Senate. Despite the Democrats’ overwhelming majority in the General Assembly, Depeña says that the party cannot make any assumptions. “The majority of voters in Rhode Island are unaffiliated, and we have to target them. The party also has believed mistakenly that every African-American and Latino votes for the Democratic candidate.” To address the latter issue, Depeña has put together a commission of African-Americans and Latinos. The members will identify the five most pertinent issues they want local candidates to address in their campaigns. ”Traditionally, these groups feel left out. I am reaching out and letting them know the party is listening. A goal of the Democratic party is to make every Democrat feel engaged.” In addition to this newly formed commission, Depeña is involved with outreach programs designed to form stronger connections between the state party and each city and town’s Democratic committees—39 in all. Further, she is working to strengthen alliances with organized labor. Now that Depeña has moved to the forefront of state politics, she insists she has no aspirations to hold office. “Everyone sees me in office. People tell me to run all the time, but there’s no fire in my belly. I don’t want to do it because someone is pushing me. Hillary Clinton stood her ground and didn’t run until it was her time. Now is not my time.” As communications manager for Citizens Bank, Maria Caliri is responsible for communicating to new customers joining the bank through acquisition. | Top | Next |
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