Auburn-raised, Anna Bullett is one of four siblings parented by a determined and creative mother who broke free from generational cycles of poverty.

At an early age Anna Bullett was exposed to social justice activism. Thanks to supportive adults she enjoyed a unique childhood. She was active in the Stanton Bird Club Junior Naturalist Program, the Unitarian Universalist Church, Odyssey of the Mind, soccer teams, theater clubs, and the Auburn School Department (including Auburn Adult Ed, from which Bullett obtained a GED). She sought out and received scholarships to attend summer camp programs such as Girls Leadership Worldwide at the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill, Maine School of Science and Mathematics, and YES! (Youth for Environmental Sanity). During her high school years she completed classes at Edward Little High School, Bates College, and Maine College of Art & Design and became a Junior Maine Guide. Anna Bullett was registered with the state of Maine as homeschooled under the guidance of Laura Sturgis, a teacher and local union leader, and the late Heidi Conn.

Throughout the late 1990s Anna Bullett worked as a lifeguard and swim instructor at the Auburn YMCA, a cook at the now closed plant-based restaurant “Nothing But the Blues Café”, and as a housekeeper at the Ware Street Inn (purchased by Bates College in 2012). She participated in public speaking competitions, winning a college scholarship from the Auburn Morning Toastmasters Club. Anna Bullett spent her teen years serving on non-profit boards including New Beginnings, the United Way, and Earth Force. Bullett completed Peer Mediation Training and was active on the peer mediation teams at Auburn Middle School and Edward Little, building the foundation for Bullett’s strong belief in Restorative & Transformative Justice. As a teen she spoke at events held by groups such as Maine School Superintendents Association. The theme of Bullett’s presentations was promoting meaningful involvement of young people in the decision-making processes that impact their lives. With a group of feminist friends Anna Bullett formed a school club titled EDGE (Encouraging Diversity and Gender Equity), they spoke at national conferences and led workshops on empowerment for girls and young women while running a local mentoring program. Weekends found Bullett hiking Maine’s majestic mountains with her mother and friends, solo kayaking, sewing costumes for Edward Little’s One Act theater team, and reading books by the likes of Toni Morrison and Howard Zinn.

From early childhood to the present Bullett has maintained a passion for food, health, and cooking. She held many of the meal planning and cooking duties for her family during her youth. She attended Johnson & Wales University (JWU), earning an associate degree in culinary arts and a Bachelor of Science in culinary nutrition. A member of the Special Functions Club and the Nutrition Society, Anna Bullett made life-long connections in the JWU culinary nutrition program, for which she now serves on the national advisory board. Throughout college she worked at the Greater Providence YMCA Intown Branch in a variety of roles, eventually rising to a supervisor position.

In 2006 Anna Bullett enrolled in the combined dietetic practice & master’s program at the University of Maine in Orono. Prior to graduate school Bullett worked for Western Maine Community Action as a WIC Counselor in Auburn. During UMaine’s five-semester registered dietitian (RD) and human nutrition & food science master’s program Anna Bullett worked as a Teaching Assistant and as an exercise instructor at the University’s Wellness Center. Her academic research and graduate thesis centered parent behavior modeling to improve toddler physical activity levels and included interventions with Maine WIC participants in Bangor. Bullett’s dietetic internship rotations were at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, Penobscot Indian Health Center, Central Maine Medical Center, and St. Joseph’s Hospital, where she was hired as an inpatient dietitian upon completion of her internship.

A nationwide job search landed Anna Bullett in Brooklyn, New York. After almost five years with CulinArt Group (now a subsidiary of Compass Group) and regularly traveling to the company’s 250 cafeterias on both coasts, Bullett left CulinArt to serve as a Nutritionist and Operations Specialist at a fine dining restaurant and teaching kitchen in the Tribeca Neighborhood of New York City. Bullett rounded out her years of Brooklyn-living and her professional food career as the Executive Chef on the marking team at Cooking Light Magazine, then a subsidiary of the now shuttered Time Inc.

In 2016 Anna Bullett moved to Portland permanently with her spouse and toddler in tow. Returning to her home state’s largest city has ensured that her children experience the natural wonders of Maine life AND the benefits of urban life, such as diversity, public transportation, museums, and restaurants. Most importantly, Anna Bullett was able to achieve her goal of raising her family in close proximity to her siblings and mother, affectionally known as Mimi, a nod to their French Canadian roots.

After the election in fall of 2016 Anna Bullett combined love for food and nutrition with her social justice background by accepting the role of WIC Program Director with Cumberland County’s Community Action Program (CAP), The Opportunity Alliance (TOA). Bullett’s many accomplishments at TOA include improving staff diversity, writing multiple special project grants, negotiating lease agreements, and moving programs into improved offices. Bullett’s superpower is establishing and sustaining effective community partnerships. Her efforts have improved access to locally grown produce, improved WIC services for the Latinix community, and improved food security among Black African immigrants with young children who are new to the United States. Through strategic partnership Bullett has implemented ongoing free oral health care clinics for children ages 0-5 and established access to free contraceptives for those who visit WIC in Portland and Windham. Anna Bullett successfully led her team through the three-year COVID-19 pandemic and the year-long infant formula crisis without any service or benefit lapses for Cumberland County’s WIC families. In July of 2022, in partnership with Maine CDC, she hosted Maine’s very first WIC COVID-19 Immunization clinic for children ages 6 months – 5 years and went on to host immunization clinics throughout the county. In her role as Senior Director of Health & Nutrition Programs, Bullett manages multiple government contracts and corresponding budgets, totaling almost 2 million dollars, and enjoys supervising a multidisciplinary staff of 16 talented individuals.

When not working, parenting, coaching PAYSA soccer, or serving in her role as City Councilor, Anna Bullett enjoys cooking for friends and family, hiking, biking, stand up paddle boarding, gardening, watching KDramas, and reading novels by a diverse array of authors.