Secretary of State Betty Ireland

Betty Ireland is West Virginia’s 28th Secretary of State and the first woman ever to be elected to the state’s executive branch of government.

A Charleston native and graduate of the University of Cincinnati, Secretary Ireland taught for several years in the West Virginia public school system, then entered the private sector as a small business owner and executive in the pension business.

She has served on the City of Charleston Board of Zoning Appeals and was an At-Large representative on the Charleston City Council. Secretary Ireland became the state’s first Certified Pension Consultant and served as Executive Director for the West Virginia Consolidated Public Retirement Board.

Prior to her election as Secretary of State in 2004, Secretary Ireland was President and CEO of Jackson & Kelly Solutions, LLC. The recipient of two presidential appointments, she is currently serving on the Executive Board of the National Association of Secretaries of State.

Secretary Ireland was named one of America’s ‘Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers’ by Government Technology magazine in recognition of outstanding initiatives, through the use of technology, that make government more accessible to the people. She was also selected as a member of the Council of Pacesetters, by the Stennis Center for Public Service, and was honored at its annual Southern Women in Public Service conference.

Secretary Ireland is a founding member of the Vandalia Rotary Club of Charleston and lends her support to a diversity of organizations in the Kanawha Valley. She is married to Sam Haddad, a Whitesville native, and they are the parents of four children, and have one grandchild.
  

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