Sandis grew up in Northern Maine and has lived in Andover since 2011.  He and his husband have been together for nearly 30 years and they have two daughters, age 9 (Bancroft Elementary) and age 12 (Doherty Middle).  After living in Chicago and Atlanta, they decided to come back to New England to be closer to their family shortly after their first daughter was born. As they were looking for a community to settle into, they chose Andover because of its reputation for its public schools. 

Sandis has worked in health insurance for over 25 years and is currently with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (based out of Washington DC) where he is a Managing Director for the Federal Employee Program. 

He is also a co-chair of the Pride LGBT Associate Resource Group and participates on the Diversity Council.  In these roles, he facilitates consensus building to find common ground on a variety of issues, all while challenging the status quo – all skills which are transferable to the school committee. 

With his kids being in Andover elementary and middle schools, he has worked closely with the school staff, teachers and other families through leadership roles on parent teacher groups and by participating on several committees, such as community awareness at Bancroft and Doherty, and he has worked with the district-wide cultural climate committee (C3).

He is in his second year on the board of A Better Chance of Andover, which strives to address gaps in educational equity for young female students of colors.  He and his family also host one of the ABC scholars and works with the program to provide support and resources to all ABC scholars who attend Andover High School.

He is also in his second year on the Town of Andover’s Commission for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, which is focused on addressing issues of systemic racism and discrimination, ensuring Andover is inclusive and welcoming for everyone.  He is proud of the work that the commission has done so far, especially creating a strategic plan which includes components to support our youth and to endorse equity and inclusion efforts throughout Andover public schools. 

He co-coordinates Andover’s Community Service Day held on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday to promote a ‘day on’ of service (2022 will be the 2nd annual service day).  In this role he works with Andover schools to engage students, parents, teachers and the broader community to give back by volunteering on a number of service projects.  

He has also served previously as a Destination Imagination team co-manager.