A New Chapter

Deborah Ellwood, president and CEO

Big hearts and resilience have propelled Maine people through the past few months, and we aren't a bit surprised: That's what we do when times get tough.

Neighbors helped neighbors, led by nonprofit organizations that knew critical services couldn't slide when people got sick, lost jobs, or needed to fill the fridge.

Donors again answered the call with giving that allowed Maine Community Foundation to award more than $1.2 million in proactive grants for pandemic-related relief. Grants came from donor-advised funds, MaineCF's unrestricted funds, individual contributions, corporations, private foundations, and MaineCF's endowed fund for food security.

While we are all eager to see the pandemic behind us, additional long-term challenges await: housing availability, food and energy costs, mental health concerns, and ripple effects of two very difficult years. We continue to address these growing concerns through MaineCF's Invest in Maine Fund, an unrestricted fund. We're inspired by our donors who understand the need for this flexible source of funds - and grateful for their confidence in MaineCF, our staff, and dozens of hard-working county advisors, board members, and other volunteers with their feet on the ground and eyes on the future.

Gregg Collins, Board of Directors chair

The community foundation has been truly fortunate to have Sterling Speirn at the helm for the past year as our interim president and CEO. His years of experience leading other foundations have served us well as MaineCF concluded five years of strategic program work in areas we identified in 2016. We focused on improving services for children, adult learners, racial equity, support for older people, and entrepreneurship and innovation so more Maine people would have opportunities to contribute to their communities and Maine's economy.

We look forward to engaging you in discussions about MaineCF's work as we enter a new chapter with the arrival of Deborah Ellwood as our seventh president and CEO. Deborah joins us with a love for Maine and an impressive history of work in the community foundation field, most recently as executive director of CFLeads, the country's network of community foundations. You will have an opportunity to meet Deborah in July at receptions in Portland and Dedham (see page 24).

Your input will help guide our initiatives as we look forward to MaineCF's 40th year in 2023 and celebrate notable anniversaries this fall of our county and regional funds in Oxford, York, and the Western Mountains (Somerset and Franklin). We thank you for your continued support of the Maine Community Foundation as we continue our mission to improve quality of life for all Maine people.