Gov. Kate Brown has announced she will appoint Jeanne Atkins as the Oregon Secretary of State.

Atkins is expected to be sworn in at 1 p.m. on March 11, at the state capitol.

Atkins will replace Brown, who took over as governor after John Kitzhaber resigned on Feb. 13.

Atkins recently retired from the staff of Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon. S he’d served as the state director since 2009, and before that she served as chief of staff to the state’s Speaker of the House of Representatives. She’s also worked as the manager of the women’s and reproductive health section of the Oregon Department of Human Services’ Office of Family Health and in public affair and policy for a variety of nonprofit organizations.