Jordan has two daughters – Amelia who is about to turn 10 and Zoe who is 6 – and has lived in Bangor’s Capehart community for 9 years. She recently started working at Bangor Housing Authority as a Community Mental Health Ambassador for the Mental Health Outreach for Mothers program, also known as MOMS. 

Laura leads the statewide Department’s work to help employers recruit and train a talented workforce, provide workers with the skills they need, assist individuals when jobs are lost, ensure safe and fair workplaces, and research employment data. She has served as a senior executive on both the federal and state level, working to protect the rights of workers and ensure that they have access to jobs that allow them to support themselves and their families. She served as the executive director of the Frances Perkins Center from 2011-2013 and executive director of the Maine Women’s Lobby for over a decade.

As the founder, president and CEO of Partners for Rural Impact, Dreama Gentry works to ensure the success of all rural students. For 25 years, those efforts were focused on Appalachian Kentucky, where she developed strategies to increase investment and improve outcomes on six indicators of success. Through designing and leading the first rural Promise Neighborhood, she created a place-based, cradle-to-career approach for improving outcomes for rural students and communities across the country. In 2018, Gentry launched the annual Rural Summit to bring practitioners and leaders from across the nation to share inspirations and ideas for improving the educational outcomes for students from rural communities.

Deputy Commissioner Bethany Hamm assists in the oversight of the largest agency in state government, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), for which she has worked in various capacities for over 30 years. Prior to her current role, she served as the Director of the Office for Family Independence (OFI) for nearly five years, following her work as Director of Policy and Programs for OFI. Deputy Commissioner Hamm has been instrumental in advancing policies and partnerships in Maine that move families toward economic stability, reduce families' dependence on public assistance programs, and focus highly on the value of work.

Melissa is a mom to four children in rural Maine, a proud advocate for early childhood education and access to quality, affordable child care at the local, state and federal levels, and is involved in many organizations and advisory councils relating to parent engagement. She is part of the Maine State Parent Ambassador Program, has been the Policy Council chair for her local Head Start Agency, and a member of the WCAP board. She currently works with the Maine Children's Alliance as an Independent Consultant on several grants that focus on parent leadership.  

In her role, Ana helps to direct and facilitate the work of the Children’s Cabinet, the Cabinet on Aging, and implementation of the Ending Hunger by 2030 plan. Ana previously worked for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, where she provided policy advice and technical assistance to state-level non-profit organizations across the country to support their efforts to strengthen and improve the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Prior to that, Ana served for four years as chief of staff to the Speaker of the Maine House and was a senior policy analyst at Maine Equal Justice Partners.

Phillips W. Kinter is a lobsterman who resides in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Charley leads the Community Caring Collaborative, a multi-sector partnership that
works to foster collaboration and improve outcomes for vulnerable populations in Washington
County and Passamaquoddy communities. Her work focuses on creating community-level
infrastructure that strengthens collaboration; expands effective, equitable practices and policies; creates access to flexible financial resources for families; and supports creation of responsive, shared programs that align offerings across organizations to improve health, hope, and wellbeing. She lives in East Machias.

Over her more than 15-year career in higher education, Susan has devoted herself to providing opportunities for degree attainment that advance the lives of individuals within Washington County and the State of Maine. Prior to taking the role of WCCC President in 2018, she served as Dean of Students for seven years. Susan supports under-resourced students and works to improve opportunities at the College to close achievement gaps and improve retention and persistence rates. She is an advocate for decreasing barriers that impede student success, creating supports, and leveraging resources to assist students with navigating their external barriers.

Cat joined Bangor Housing in 2012 as the Director of Community Outreach, working to create and implement programs that would enhance the experiences and opportunities of families in the public housing community. In 2014, she opened the Boys & Girls Club of Bangor, a positive place for kids that has quickly become a second home, an extended family, and a life-changer for many. After an extensive background in youth development, Cat envisions the Club as a place where youth will find support, overcome barriers, and reach their full potential. 

Lydia is from Princeton, Maine, and is a mom of five kids ages 14-34 – two of whom are still at home. She also lives with her 89-year-old mother, and serves as her primary caregiver. She is a Family Futures Downeast second-year student, as well as junior at UMaine taking classes in psychology/wilderness therapy. She is a policy scholar for 23/24, working to install drug/alcohol counseling and therapies at the Washington County Jail.  She is a migratory education program coordinator for Mano en Mano in Milbridge, where she ensures that families and students have the resources needed for success.

Elizabeth provides technical assistance to Native American tribes and nonprofit organizations across the country. For more than 13 years, Liz served as Director of Health and Human Services for the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township. As a consultant, she helps with program development, grant writing, facilitation, and more. In addition, she is leading Wabanaki Aspirations, an organization that helps tribes, tribal organizations and tribal members achieve their visions and goals to develop economic, educational and social success. In her work, she spends a significant portion of her time illuminating the inequities facing Native Americans and dispelling negative stereotypes..

Rilwan was born in Somalia and lived in a refugee camp in Kenya for more than ten years before arriving in the U.S. in 2004. Rilwan is the co-founder and director of Maine Immigrant & Refugee Services (MEIRS) based in Lewiston. MEIRS provides Whole Family Services, behavioral health services, youth programs, employment services, and immigration services. MEIRS is also a resettlement agency that resettles refugees from around the world. Rilwan has a Master of Social Work from the University of New England and is a licensed mental health and substance use counselor.

Greg is one Maine's most experienced leaders in issues relating to housing and homelessness. Prior to joining GOPIF, he served as director of the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition, a diverse association of 136 private and public sector organizations committed to ensuring that all Mainers are adequately and affordably housed. In addition, he was a development officer for more than 14 years with nonprofit Avesta Housing. He is the former board chair of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and has worked for the Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless and the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless.

Sue has worked in community action for 42 years, developing systems in early childhood education and family engagement, impacting future success for families and children. During the last seven years, she has focused on local and statewide transformation to develop systems that support low-income families to achieve social and economic mobility. As a leader in Whole Family Approach, Sue has supported MeCAP’s network to transition to a Whole Family comprehensive service delivery model.  As a Certified Community Action Professional, Sue values cross collaborative work and looks for opportunities to build and establish networks of collaboration that strengthen systems.

April Sargent LSW, NCRI is a program manager at Penquis, which is a community action program serving Piscataquis, Penobscot, and Knox counties. They oversee various community support programs including Whole Families Services. April graduated from the University of Maine at Augusta and holds two Bachelors of Science degrees in social services and computer information systems.

In her role, Marjorie works closely with the executive director on the strategic direction of the program’s vision, leads convent development related to Ascend’s areas of expertise,
and oversees the development and implementation of all operations in support of achieving team goals. Marjorie has more than 20 years of experience in advancing the status of women and families at local, state, national, and international levels.  She has held key roles at the Kellogg Foundation, Washington Area Women’s Foundation, California Women’s Law Center, and the International Center for Research on Women, and is co-founder of Women’s Policy, Inc.

Melissa is responsible for advancing strategy for vulnerable populations in Greater Portland and promoting Mercy’s mission, vision, and values throughout the organization – this includes heading the McAuley Residence program for mothers in substance use disorder recovery. Melissa is also responsible for behavioral health, support services, workforce development, communication and marketing, community health, patient experience, ethics, spiritual care, patient advocacy, Gary’s House, and Mercy’s volunteer program. Her leadership efforts with the opioid crisis are seen through her leadership at McAuley Residence as well the Greater Portland Addiction Collaborative (GPAC).

Savannah facilitates parent education, support groups, community trainings and more. She has also been a student-parent advisor to Ascend at the Aspen Institute, is a parent advisor to PBSKids, and is a member of her town’s school board. She is currently working towards a Masters in Mental Health Counseling and getting her LCSW. Savannah’s goals are to continue to help support low-income families in rural areas through mental health services and school activities, utilizing the whole family approach and protective factors. Savannah is a single parent to two children and lives in Downeast Maine. 

Dr. Sarah Enos Watamura is Professor and Chair of the Psychology Department at the University of Denver where she directs the Child Health & Development Lab and co-directs the Stress, Early Experience and Development (SEED) Research Center. She has longstanding interests in children’s physiologic regulation, their development within caregiving contexts, and in understanding mechanisms and trajectories from early life stress to later outcomes. Her work focuses on the unique stressors and buffers in families experiencing poverty and among newly immigrated and refugee families, and includes testing promising intervention approaches.

Tara helps lead the Early Childhood Initiative at BPC, previously serving as executive director of the Maine Association for the Education of Young Children. Tara was also a research and policy analyst at the National Council on Teacher Quality. An early educator for many years, she has worked in early childhood classrooms teaching and caring for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarten to third-grade students. Tara completed a master’s in early childhood education leadership from Bank Street College of Education and a bachelor’s in early childhood education from Boston University.

In 2022, Nicole Witherbee became President & CEO of the John T. Gorman Foundation after serving for 10 years as Chief Program Officer. Before coming to the Foundation, Nicole held a range of positions dedicated to changing the landscape of policy and practice for people struggling to make ends meet, including the creation of a consulting firm that advised clients on policy matters, analyzing federal budget impacts for the Maine Center for Economic Policy, directing policy for the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, and acting as the Interim Government Affairs Director for the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. 

Ashley graduated from Washington County Community College with an associate’s degree in human services in 2022. Her future aspirations are to become a substance use counselor. She will be sitting for the licensing exam on October 30. She is originally from Brattleboro, Vermont, and is currently residing in Eastport, Maine. Her personal goals include buying a home within the next two years. She enjoys reading, spending time with her children at Pleasant Lake, and helping others. 

Elaine’s agency oversees work in child support, child care, refugee resettlement, child welfare, TANF, youth homelessness, family economic stability, and early childhood development. Elaine leads the Whole Family Approach to Jobs Initiative with the New England states. This initiative looks at policy and program improvements to bolster family well-being and economic mobility. It has led to state changes in law, culture, model policy and systems reform.  Before her time with ACF, Elaine was Executive Director of the Connecticut Commission on Children. She designed children’s initiatives and crafted model policy for the legislature to improve child outcomes.