About Shelly

Who She Is and What She Stands For

Senator Shelly Hettleman has represented the residents of District 11 since 2014 when she was first elected and served in the House of Delegates for 5 years. In 2020, when there was a midterm opening in the Senate, Shelly was appointed to fill the remainder of the term, and in 2022, she was elected to represent District 11 in the Senate. In the Senate, Shelly serves on the Budget and Taxation Committee, where she is chair of the Pension Subcommittee. She also serves as the co-chair of the Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee, the Maryland Legislative Jewish Caucus, and the Joint Committee on Pensions.

Shelly was the lead sponsor of a number of bills that have become law on a variety of important issues: expanding privacy protections for reproductive health consumers and providers, ensuring access to counsel for renters facing eviction, creating a Correctional Ombudsman for the criminal justice system, reforming our geriatric and medical parole system, helping college students seek transparency in their student loan debt, expanding tax credit availability for loan debt to graduate students, protecting older adults and children from abuse and cryptocurrency scams, broadening the access and availability of contraceptives, and passing an array of bills protecting survivors of sexual assault including standards for the preservation and testing of rape kits.

Shelly ran for office because she believes so profoundly in public service. Throughout her life, she has practiced what she preaches. Her record of effective public-interest and community service, her devotion to family and family values, and her integrity and independence are proven. She continues to demonstrate her commitment to the 11th District, where she and her family have deep roots. She has not done that with flashy promises, but with hard work on behalf of families, children and seniors. She advocates and serves with integrity, just as her constituents elected her to do.

Community Experience and Advocacy for Families and Children

Shelly has labored long and well for community organizations and causes both within the Jewish community and outside of it.

She was the first Program Director of CHANA, a counseling, helpline and aid network for abused women in the Baltimore region. She was instrumental in creating the partnership among a diverse group of community non-profit organizations and developed it into a national model for comprehensive services for victims of domestic violence and teen violence prevention.

She was part of the team that launched Parent Action, a start-up parent advocacy organization and served as its Director of Public Policy. Parent Action was envisioned as a grassroots advocacy organization for parents that lobbied for family-friendly workplace policies and early childhood programs with renowned child psychologist T. Berry Brazelton.

Civil rights advocacy was an essential part of her work as Director of Government Relations at the Baltimore Jewish Council where she represented the organized Jewish community in Annapolis, in partnership with other religious faith communities.

As Senior Planner at the Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, she worked with many agencies and groups to plan, pursue grants and other funding, and grow programs to serve families, children and seniors.

She helped to launch Weaving Women’s Words: Baltimore Stories for the Jewish Women’s Archives, a national non-profit organization. Oral histories and exhibitions were assembled to wide acclaim. She also spearheaded Women Who Dared, a project to recognize local women dedicated to human rights and social action.

Family and Neighborhood Roots

Shelly was raised in the Greengate community in the 11th District. Along with her husband Jeff, Shelly raised their son Jonathan and daughter Rachel in the District and lives now in the Dumbarton community.

Shelly attended Summit Park Elementary School, Pikesville Junior High School and graduated from Pikesville Senior High School in 1982. She then received a B.A. in Political Science from Northwestern University in 1986.

Her work as President of the Parents’ Association and as a Trustee of The Park School has been a springboard for her close interest in public as well as private education. She has supported efforts by Park students to engage in community service, including collaboration with public school students.

She served as an officer and member of the Board of Directors of Chizuk Amuno Congregation, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Baltimore Jewish Council.

Early Political Experience

Shelly has always served the public interest, not special interests. Her work with U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski speaks to her own political ideals. And she has learned from them the legislative skills that are required to get things done and improve the lives of people across economic, racial, ethnic and religious boundaries.

She has served as Sen. Ben Cardin’s Campaign Manager, leading the effort that resulted in his resounding re-election in 2012. In the process, she co-led the Maryland Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign that was responsible for the re-election of the Maryland Democratic congressional delegation. Her statewide prominence and contacts are invaluable in representing the interests of the 11th District in Annapolis.

In addition, she served as a Legislative Assistant in the office of then-Congressman Cardin and on the staff of an earlier campaign of Sen. Mikulski. In these positions, she developed invaluable experience in the craft and substance of legislative policymaking.

Legislative Highlights and Leadership

During her years in the legislature, Shelly was the primary sponsor of dozens of bills that have been signed into law and co-sponsored hundreds more. Shelly has worked tirelessly on important legislation that has made it through the legislative process to become law, including:

Preserving and testing rape kits and securing resources for sexual assault survivors

Government accountability and program evaluation
Expanding privacy protections for reproductive health consumers and providers
Ensuring access to counsel for renters facing eviction

Creating a Correctional Ombudsman for the criminal justice system to ensure accountability and transparency
Reforming our geriatric and medical parole system
Helping college students seek
transparency in their student loan debt
Expanding tax credit availability for loan debt to graduate students

Protecting older adults and children from abuse and cryptocurrency scams
Broadening protection and support for older adults
Expanding access to healthy food
Investing in quality K-12 education and access to affordable higher education
Bringing millions of dollars of state investments to transformative district projects that support schools, community institutions, and nonprofit organizations