Jennifer is Vice President of Conservation Grants for the Open Space Institute (OSI). In addition, Jennifer serves as OSI’s New England/Southern Canada Field Coordinator. Jennifer provides oversight for OSI grant programs from Southern Canada to Alabama and also develops and administers OSI’s land conservation funds and programs in the northeast – including the Resilient Landscape Initiative, Community Forest Fund and Transborder Land Conservation Fund. Prior to joining OSI in 2008, Jennifer worked for the Trust for Public Land (TPL) for 12 years, establishing TPL’s first Maine field office. Previously, she served as the Conservation Director at the Appalachian Mountain Club and worked as a planner for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, holds an MA from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and lives in Freeport with her husband, Alex Abbott, and teenage daughter Grace (with occasional visits from their college-age son Caleb).
Anna Brown is the Founding Principal of Aequita Consulting LLC. Originally from Maine, Anna has spent nearly 20 years focused on climate adaptation and resilience, inclusive urban development, economic inclusion, and sustainable development in Asia, Africa, and North America. Anna is an interdisciplinary thinker and practitioner. Her life and career have focused on addressing two of the most pressing issues of our time: climate and social equity. At The Rockefeller Foundation, Anna managed the groundbreaking Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN), a nine-year, multi-country initiative. She is a contributor to the Global Commission on Adaptation, has led a North America regional climate adaptation strategy for The Nature Conservancy, and has supported strategy development for Coastal Enterprise, Inc (CEI), and World Resources Institute (WRI). Anna serves on several boards from local to global scales, in addition to actively participating in efforts to promote equity, justice, and climate action in her own community. Anna earned an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from Brown University and a Master’s in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
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Brad is president of Covenant Health Foundation and Senior Vice President of Covenant Health of Tewksbury, Massachusetts. The foundation supports philanthropy at Covenant Health facilities in Maine and several other northeastern states. He and his wife, Elizabeth, a Congregational minister, live in Bangor. They are the proud parents of three children. He is a graduate of George Washington University and the University of Maine School of Law.
Two of Brad’s favorite activities are canoe paddling and hiking. For many years Brad and his frequent paddling partner remarkably have managed to finish fourth in their class, just missing out on glory. One of Brad’s greatest joys is that all three of his children love hiking and have hiked Katahdin countless times since they were just nine years old.
Tom Kittredge is an Investment Officer at the Maine Technology Institute (MTI), where he supports innovators and entrepreneurs across the state. Tom has an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain, and a Bachelor of Arts in International Development from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. During his time in Barcelona, Tom was named by Poets & Quants as one of its 100 Best and Brightest MBAs for his work organizing two major conferences on entrepreneurship and sustainable business – TechStars Startup Weekend and the DGDW Responsible Business conference.
Tom grew up along the Maine coast and his deep love of Maine’s natural heritage is rooted in his childhood paddling its waters and exploring its forests and mountains. He spent many years working in outdoor education at the Chewonki Foundation, which instilled in him a deep appreciation for the soul-stirring power of the natural world. Tom firmly believes that a radical reorientation of business models is necessary to combat the climate crisis and is excited at the opportunity that Maine has to be at the forefront of a movement integrating environmental and social priorities into core business practices. Tom serves on the board of Startup Maine and is a Lead Mentor for the Maine Center for Entrepreneur’s Top Gun program. He is part of Leadership Portland, Maine Accelerates Growth, and is on the Natural Resource Council of Maine Rising’s leadership team. When not working with clients, Tom can be found backpacking, sea kayaking, sailing, and getting lost in the Maine woods.
Penny has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Chebeague & Cumberland Land Trust for 13 years and served as President of the Board for 7 years. As President, Penny led the organization through a national accreditation process and CCLT became the 12th all-volunteer land trust to receive the national award. Penny also serves on the Maine Land Trust Network Steering Committee which sets goals and policies for the land trust community throughout Maine. As a member of the Town of Cumberland Conservation Commission for 10 years, Penny led efforts to inventory vernal pools and New England Cottontail populations in the town. She has received awards for her environmental work from the Natural Resources Council of Maine, EcoMaine and the Cumberland/NY Lions Club. Penny has a Law Degree and a Masters in Environmental Studies from Vermont Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bowdoin College. Prior to coming to Maine, Penny worked for the MA Office of Environmental Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency Region I and a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C.. She currently lives in Cumberland with her husband and three children and is a stay at home mother. Penny enjoys outdoor adventures with her family and sharing her environmental interests with the local community.
Laura Bither is an intersectional climate justice activist and the Director at JustME for JustUS, where she supports youth in rural Maine so they can be climate justice leaders and a political force. She sits on the Governing Circle of the Tri-Town Equity and Inclusion Committee and works with several local equity groups where she lives in Freeport, on the ancestral land of the Abenaki Nation. She graduated from Wesleyan University with High Honors in Biology and Environmental Studies and a minor in African Studies
Michael Boland is an entrepreneur who lives in Bar Harbor with his wife and two daughters. A 1994 graduate of College of the Atlantic, Michael led the Student Environmental Action Coalition on campus and was the head naturalist for a local whale watching company. He has opened and operated several restaurants over the past two decades including in Bangor, Winter Harbor, Portland and Bar Harbor. Michael bought, renovated, and sold the Criterion Theatre in 2001-2006 and spearheaded a campaign to re-purchase the Criterion this past year as a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Michael has served on the boards of the Abbe Museum, COA Alumni Association and is currently chair of the board of the Criterion. For five years, Michael served as President of the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce.
Marpheen Chann is a Portland, Maine-based thinker, writer, educator and speaker on social justice, equity, and inclusion. As a gay, first-generation Asian American born in California to a Cambodian refugee family and later adopted by an evangelical, white working-class family in Maine, Marpheen uses a mix of humor and storytelling to help people view topics such as racism, xenophobia, and homophobia through an intersectional lens.
Marpheen has a strong commitment to public service and serves as: President, Cambodian Community Association of Maine; Member, Maine Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights; Member, Planning Board for the City of Portland; Board Member, Equality Community Center in Portland.
Marpheen works as a community impact manager in the nonprofit sector. Marpheen holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Southern Maine and a law degree from the University of Maine School of Law (but does not practice law).
Sara is a recent law school graduate focused on building her career in environmental policy and advocacy. After growing up exploring coastal Maine, she earned a degree in marine science at the University of Maine before taking a sharp turn and moving to Bozeman, Montana. After three years of exploring the mountains, she boomeranged back to Maine to pursue law school. Sara spends her free time training her dog, singing karaoke, and sitting on porches drinking coffee.
Adam Lee is Chairman of the Board of Lee Auto Malls. He has been with Lee Auto Mall for 24 years, serving as president and assuming the position of Chairman in June 2010 upon the passing of his father, Shep Lee. He currently serves on the Muskie Board of Visitors, the MPBN Board, and the Advisory Board for Maine Audubon.
Lee served as the Chairman of the Efficiency Maine Trust and Chair of the Maine Audubon Corporate Partners. He also served two terms on the M.O.F.G.A. board, the Maine Franchise Review Board and the Nature Conservancy Corporate Partners Board. He is the past chairman of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the Maine Energy Conservation Board and a past member of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, Maine Historical Society, Maine Energy Council, Governor’s Advisory Council, Center for Cultural Exchange and the OSHER Map Library.
Lee is a graduate of Vassar College and the recipient of environmental awards from the Natural Resources Council of Maine and the Maine League of Conservation Voters. Lee lives in Cumberland with his wife; he has 23 year old twins, 1 horse, 2 cats, 2 dogs and 8 chickens.
Sarah Russell is a community organizer and activist with a passion for the outdoors. She holds a BA from Bowdoin and an MBA from Boston University. Sarah served on the Chebeague & Cumberland Land Trust for six years, assisting in the national accreditation process for the organization. She was a founding Board Member of Girls on the Run - Maine, launching the empowerment program for 3rd-5th graders, and she served for two terms on Bowdoin’s Polar Bear Fund. Sarah is an accredited endurance coach for The Sustainable Athlete where she trains, coaches and teaches classes for people of all ages. She and her husband live in Cumberland with their 4 kids and spend as much time as possible outside, enjoying Maine’s cherished environment.
Lucas St. Clair is President of Elliotsville Foundation, which owns 125,000 acres of timberland in Northern and central Maine that Lucas’ family has been purchasing since 1998. In 2016, President Barack Obama accepted the gift of 89,000 acres of land from the Elliotsville Foundation and created the newest unit of the National Park Service, Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. Lucas and EF continue to play a role in the development of the region and enhancing the community’s ability to capitalize on the newly realized asset.
Lucas has a strong interest in outdoor pursuits. He has hiked the Appalachian Trail, paddled the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, taken a NOLS semester in Patagonia and has climbed peaks in Alaska, Washington, Peru, Chile and Argentina. He has also worked as a fly fishing guide and helped Eddie Bauer with designing fishing apparel. He has had the great fortune to fish in some of the most beautiful waters in the world.
Lucas lives in Falmouth, Maine with his wife, Yemaya, and two children.
A political and non-profit professional, Katie Mae Simpson has led campaigns and helped train dozens of women to run for public office. Interested in power structures, privilege, hierarchies, and how to break them down, she is committed to the broad themes of equity and justice, and being part of those ongoing movements for change. She's spent her career organizing groups to fight for their collective rights, and subsequently training pockets of those people in the skills necessary to run for office and win, thereby building more equality into the public institutions we all rely on. She has worked in various field organizing roles, as a campaign manager and completed a tour of duty as the Executive Director of the Maine Democratic Party.
Climate change and a thriving planet has been her chief career motivation for almost two decades; politics is the tool she has chosen to use to push for that goal. She is currently the director of the Maine Democracy Collaborative, raising funds for progressive political movements in Maine.
Katie Mae grew up in Washington County, and spent almost a decade in Boston before moving home to Maine in 2010. After eight years in Portland, Katie Mae, her partner and two kids moved to Cumberland in 2019, mainly for the trees & trails. Besides parenting (and working), Katie Mae is a runner, baker, and home gardener.