Jean Deighan holds her puppy, MacK, in her Bangor office. Art with the theme of Lady Liberty is from an exhibition she organized earlier this year. Photo by Thalassa Raasch/MaineCF
Jean Deighan was born in an Army hospital at Fort Dix, New Jersey. After a brief stint in Birmingham, Alabama, her family “saw the light” and moved to Maine. They settled in the Bangor area, where she attended local schools, skied in winter, and sailed in summer. Deighan graduated from Hampden Academy, Tufts University, and the University of Maine School of Law.
Deighan practiced law briefly before joining a bank trust department where her interest in financial planning and portfolio management began. In 1994, she founded her own firm, Deighan Associates, with a colleague. She wanted to “step out from under the glass ceiling,” to grow a business “where merit is the only measurement.” Earlier this year the Bangor Regional Chamber of Commerce awarded Deighan its highest honor, the Norbert X. Dowd Award (video here). She also was one of 50 Mainers recognized for their contributions to the state in the October issue of Maine magazine.
You have been a member of MaineCF’s Investment Committee for many years. Can you reflect on that association and the committee’s work to navigate markets and “preserve and enhance” the real value of assets over time?
MaineCF is fortunate to have such a dedicated, involved investment committee. The committee is comprised of investment professionals, many of whom have sophisticated backgrounds and experience working with very large portfolios. I am privileged to serve with this august, caring group led by Peter Rothschild, another former MaineCF board member who now serves as the foundation’s chief investment officer, and committee chair Elizabeth Hilpman, a New York City money manager.
Investment results have been very good for a very long time, and this has been no accident. A great deal of time and thought goes into our strategy. We always work with an eye to the long view, but with serious acknowledgment that we have important short-term obligations as well. A big differentiator for MaineCF is Peter Rothschild’s determination that the work of the committee be transparent and accessible to donors as well as to the wider MaineCF community through his conference calls and well-considered writing.
The committee works hard. Peter and Liz travel the globe to investigate new markets as they unfold. Now, under their leadership, MaineCF has taken institutional investing in Maine to a new level by inviting the senior staff and board members of other large Maine nonprofits to a summer investment conference. Our Investment Committee is doing all it can to help Maine by helping its institutions thrive.
What is a favorite memory of your time on the MaineCF Board of Directors?
My favorite board memory is being on the search committee to replace our CEO Hank Schmelzer in 2007. We conducted an earnest and thorough nationwide search. We looked very hard at some wonderful candidates, but in the end, we found the best leadership solution in Meredith Jones.
It was pretty wonderful to realize the best solution for us, countrywide, was right here within our ranks. Meredith had a sterling national reputation in the community foundation world. Immediately following her appointment, we were hit with the great recession. She led us through that challenging time with elegant strength. We were fortunate she was at the helm.
You played a major role in establishing the Penobscot County Fund through the transfer of the Junior League of Bangor’s endowment. What are your thoughts on the fund as it approaches its 10th anniversary?
Ten years ago, the Junior League of Bangor Maine was facing its last chapter. The mission of the organization was to “train community volunteers and to show the effectiveness of trained volunteers.” The organization was founded during a time when women were not really welcomed in many civic organizations because many of them were male-dominated or male-only.
By 2009, men and women were serving together on most community boards, so the organization had served its purpose, and it was time to move on. However, we had a $100,000 endowment. The income from the Junior League of Bangor was traditionally used to seed community projects. The birth of the Penobscot County Fund at the time of the passing of the league was a happy confluence of events given our like missions. Several former Junior League leaders stepped up and served on the initial Penobscot County Fund committee, including co-chair Susan Carlisle. Sue served the Penobscot County Fund for many years, fueling its growth. She certainly showed the Junior League’s effectiveness of trained volunteers!
Each year you host an exhibition of Maine artists in the Deighan & Associates offices. The sale of their work benefits them and a chosen nonprofit. What inspired you to start this?
I believe that artists are one of Maine’s most important “natural resources.” Worldwide, Maine is known as a haven for artists. However, the life of an artist is often filled with financial sacrifice and frustration. We wanted to help.
We started actively supporting artists in the year 2000 by collaborating with an artist annually to produce a Thanksgiving holiday card. The annual gathering has become almost a cult event for friends and clients who can hardly wait each year to discover who will be the new artist. Our September “Seasons of Maine” art show began a few years later. We convert our offices into a gallery for the holiday card artists and throw a party for clients and friends of the firm. We cover a wide audience now. Everyone has a wonderful time, and artists and their sponsoring galleries have another venue through which to reach an audience.
Earlier this year you organized an exhibition of images of Lady Liberty at a restaurant in Bangor. Why this subject and why now?
The Lady Liberty project grew out of January musings with an artist friend about how artists have traditionally led the way for social change, offering inspiration by example. We thought, “What if we issued a call to artists to paint the Statue of Liberty recreating the original intention and grand spirit that accompanied this gift from France?”
Looking back, the creation and siting of the statute was a true community effort. It took ten years for France to design, build, disassemble and ship Lady Liberty as a Centennial gift. Meanwhile, Americans were busy selecting a site and preparing her foundation. American artists played a role in the effort. In fact, Emma Lazarus’ iconic poem, “The New Colossus,” was written in 1883 as part of an artists’ fundraiser two years before the statue was erected in New York Harbor. The statue was finally dedicated in 1886, and Lazarus’ poem was added in bronze to the base of the statue in 1909.
The purpose of our exhibition was to remind us that what truly made America great was our founding ideals and the diverse people from all over the world who came here to live by those ideals, thus becoming the fabric of our community. Leading through inspiration has always been the important work of artists; this exhibition was another wonderful example of it.
