Alison Beyea

Alison Beyea joined Colby in 2023 as the executive director of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs. Ms. Beyea is a civil rights attorney with over two decades experience working at the intersection of law and policy in the nonprofit, academic and government sectors. From 2014-2022, Ms. Beyea led the ACLU of Maine, where she successfully navigated the organization through one of the most tumultuous times in the nation’s history and oversaw tremendous growth across the organization. She distinguished herself as an advocate for civil rights and as a statewide leader on issues of criminal legal reform, racial justice, and the rights of youth. Prior to joining the ACLU, Ms. Beyea was director of admissions at the University of Maine School of Law, her alma mater, where she also taught as an adjunct professor specializing in juvenile law and policy. During her career, she served as a senior attorney at the Muskie School of Public Service, co-founder and attorney at Kids Legal, a project of Pine Tree Legal Assistance, and worked as judicial law clerk to Judge Kermit Lipez of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and Chief Justice Daniel Wathen of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Early in her career, she was field coordinator for a congressional candidate from Iowa and a constituent coordinator for Rep. Lane Evans of Illinois. In addition to her law degree from the University of Maine School of Law, Ms. Beyea holds a B.A. from Kenyon College in Ohio.