Self-Described “Opportunity Optimizer” With History of DEI-Style Jobs Set to Head Maine’s Office of New Americans

Maine’s Office of New Americans (ONA) announced that self-described “opportunity optimizer” and longtime Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and migrant services worker Julia Trujillo Luengo will serve as its new permanent director starting on July 30.

Luengo will be the office’s first permanent director since Tarlan Ahmadov resigned from the position in disgrace after just three months in 2025 after The Maine Wire exposed his history of anti-Armenian social media screeds.

[RELATED: Ahmadov Out: Janet Mills’ Migrant Office Director Disappears from State Website Amid Maine Wire Investigation…]

“The Maine Office of New Americans has announced a new permanent Director. ONA (Office of New Americans) only exists in the Governor’s Policy Office; it is not written into statute. It can go away and cease to exist with a Republican Governor and a Republican legislature,” said former State Representative and current State Senate Republican Candidate John Andrews in a Facebook post on the announcement.

“On the heels of today’s SCOTUS decision on birthright citizenship, it is important to put the puzzle pieces together. In Maine we must understand the intersection of unvetted immigration and the cost in tax-funded resources. We must understand how executive policy offices funnel taxpayer dollars to non-profits and NGOs that are loyal to Progressive ideology. These non-profits and NGOs profit from their loyalty through jobs, salaries and access to power,” he added.

The ONA is part of Maine’s Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF)—headed for years by Democratic gubernatorial nominee Hannah Pingree—and works to help resettle foreign nationals in the state and help them secure Maine jobs.

[RELATED: What to Know About Maine’s “Office of New Americans”…]

The GOPIF highlighted Luengo’s extensive experience with immigrant services and her current role as co-chair of the ONA’s advisory council.

Luengo was born and grew up in the Canary Islands before immigrating to Maine, and holds a master’s degree in economic development from the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and a bachelor’s degree in international studies from the University of Southern Maine.

According to her LinkedIn page, Luengo is an “opportunity optimizer” and currently works as the Director of Strategic Planning Management for the Maine Community College System.

She also had a hand in Maine’s economic situation under Gov. Mills when she served from January 2020 to December 2023 as the State of Maine Economic Development Plan Implementation Director.

Prior to that, from 2017 to 2022, she held a similar position for the city of Portland, as the director of its Office of Economic Opportunity.

In the early 2010s, the furthest back her LinkedIn work history goes, she worked for Maine’s DEI-style programs, first as the director of the Maine Migrant Education Program from 2010 to 2013, then as the director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs from 2013 to 2017.

In the latter role, she served “the needs of Maine’s ethnic, racial, and linguistic minorities.”

Her self-attested skills include cultural diversity, cross-cultural communication skills, civil rights law, and refugee resettlement, among other things.

She also served as a volunteer director for the Rockland-based Star of Hope nonprofit as of its most recent 2024 Form 990 tax filing. According to ProPublica, the organization maintains $46,286,638 in assets. The nonprofit manages the Star of Hope building in Vinalhaven.

Luengo also previously served on the board of directors for the Great Schools Partnership nonprofit that promotes “educational equity.”

She has prior experience working with her disgraced predecessor, Ahmadov. In 2019, Luengo and Ahmadov both attended an immigrant workforce event hosted by immigrant-resettlement organization Catholic Charities of Maine.

She also appeared with him at the 2023 Inclusion Maine Conference in Portland.

Ahamadov previously celebrated Luengo in a LinkedIn post.

“Meet Julia Trujillo Luengo, a friend and an extraordinary leader whose day-to-day work embodies care, passion, and a relentless drive to pave the way for youth and adults to thrive through inclusion and belonging. Julia goes above and beyond to create opportunities for all, ensuring that every individual feels seen, valued, and empowered,” said Ahmadov.

Unlike Ahmadov, Luengo does not appear to have any controversial social media posts in her past.

She is taking over the ONA directorship from Acting Director Erica Carley Harris, who has served in the position since Ahmadov’s resignation.

This post has been updated to reflect that Lunego works for the Maine Community College System, not the UMaine System.