Emerging Leaders United

Emerging Leaders United, formerly the Brick & Beam Society, is a community of driven professionals from diverse backgrounds committed to helping the next generation realize their full potential by equipping them with skills and resources for their future. Members engage in leadership development and networking while volunteering and investing in programs that ensure that youth in Southern Maine have a better chance to succeed as adults.

PHILANTHROPIC FOCUS

Members of Emerging Leaders United invest member contributions in local initiatives that help children get off to a good start and help set up our youth for success in school, work, and life by breaking down barriers to success. Members of Emerging Leaders United help advance programs that elevate and inspire young people, which fosters a future where every young person can realize their potential. Programs range from literacy development and access to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) programming to enrichment opportunities like afterschool and summer programs, college and career readiness, and family engagement.

Community Investments

Coming soon. Please check back in mid-September.

SUMMER 2023
  • Our Place Portland ($5,000) for a free 4-week summer camp serving 40 campers ages 5-12 in Portland’s East Bayside neighborhood. Campers will explore STEAM concepts, including engineering, sustainability, and geology through field trips and projects.
  • Westbrook School Department: Rise & Shine Program ($5,000) to provide incoming kindergarten students with book bags that have math and literacy materials, including culturally appropriate books, journals, crayons and markers, and enrichment activities and games.
OCT 2023
  • $47,400 to Our Place Portland for Youth Mentorship Groups + Family Advocacy Services. The program will engage middle school students as Mentors-in-Training for younger youth with a small stipend and provide afterschool programming that includes STEAM activities, field trips, meals and snacks. Our Place Portland will also provide advocacy services for caregivers and host events to engage the broader community.  
  • $28,000 to Intercultural Community Center for Project STRIVE (Support Toward Refugee and Immigrant Voices and Education), which provides accessible, free, and well-rounded academic support for high-need students in grades 5-8 in Westbrook. 
  • $25,000 to Portland Community Squash (PCS)’s Rally Portland. Rally Portland is an afterschool program for students in 6-12th grade that provides squash lessons, food, enrichment, academics, and wellness. 
  • $25,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine’s South Portland programs to enrich afterschool programming.  
SUMMER 2022
  • $13,890 to Educate Maine’s Project>Login Girls Who Code Summer Camp for the development and execution of two Girls Who Code summer camps in the greater Portland region. [Portland Press Herald Coverage]
  • $5,400 in scholarship to The Rufus Porter Museum of Art & Ingenuity’s Camp Invention for twenty-five low-income children, grades kindergarten to grade 6, to attend Camp Invention held at Stevens Brook Elementary School in Bridgton
OCT 2022
  • Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine was awarded $45,000 for Brick Hill Youth Program, a place-based afterschool program in South Portland. Brick & Beam has made the program their first signature investment. As a signature investment, Brick Hill will receive ongoing, multi-year funding and volunteer support. 
  • Gateway Community Services, Maine was awarded $15,000 for drop-in educational sessions for English Language Learners and children experiencing homelessness, specifically, children staying at hotels in South Portland. 
  • Portland Community Squash was awarded $40,000 for Rally Portland, an afterschool program for students in grades 6-12 that includes food, squash, enrichment, academics, and wellness.
SUMMER 2021
  • $4,680 in Rufus Porter Museum for Camp Invention camp scholarships. 
OCT 2021
  • Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine was awarded $50,000 for Brick Hill Youth, a pilot afterschool program for up to 24, K-5 residents of the Brick Hill Avesta Housing complex. Programs will be designed to support the academic success of early learners at Brick Hill, one of the most vulnerable communities in the greater Portland area. Kids will participate in enriching STE/A/M activities and curriculum, which were successfully developed under a previous Brick & Beam award.  [WMTW TV Coverage]

  • Foundation for Portland Public Schools was awarded $30,000 for the Mobile Makerspace – PPS Mobile Makerspace is an innovative way to ensure that every Portland elementary student has access to engaging technology, engineering, and design experiences and hands-on, rigorous opportunities in STEM. The staffed mobile makerspace will travel to elementary schools in Portland and be set up for two weeks at a time 

2020
  • Avesta Housing was awarded $45,000 for Westbrook Partnership Learning Assistance Initiative. Students who are residents of the Frenchtown neighborhood in Westbrook will be invited to participate in a mentoring/tutoring program. This will mitigate difficulties that they/their families face from remote learning.  
  • LearningWorks and Side x Side were awarded $43,000 for STEAM programming for Gifted Low Income, Minority, and English Language Learner Elementary Students.  
  • Rufus Porter Museum was awarded $6,500 for camp scholarships to support twenty-five children grades K-6. Camp Invention provides five days of “inventing challenges,” fun, and a feeling of belonging and achievement.
  • LearningWorksSide x Side, and Telling Room were awarded $10,288 for the second phase of a pilot project previously funded by the Brick & Beam Society that delivered innovative STEAM programming to local elementary schools. The three organizations will deliver a project to 50 students who are falling behind academically at low-income schools in South Portland. The foundation of the program is an engineering curriculum focused on pollination in which students think like agricultural engineers.
2019
  • Palaver Strings was awarded $19,500 for the Early Childhood Music & After-School Strings Programs.
  • Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine was awarded $50,000 to enhance the STEM Futures Program by strengthening technology infrastructure and providing access to in-house expertise. 
  • Mayo Street Arts was awarded $10,000 to expand Summer Programs for Youth by adding science and math to their RAD (Reading, Arts, Dance) program. The free lunch program provided by the Opportunity Alliance.
  • South Portland Public Schools was awarded $5,000 for a book translation project. The project will engage Pre K families in building the literacy skills of their children while cultivating a positive home-school relationship. It will allow SPPS to engage families using their native language, and break the barriers that inhibit literacy learning in their homes.
  • Literacy Kits Supplies: Members will construct literacy kits during 2019/2020 social events and donate them to local elementary schools. ($5,000)
2018
  • LearningWorks and Side X Side were awarded $50,000 to pilot an after-school program in Portland, South Portland, and Westbrook that integrates creativity and the arts with science, technology, and math.
  • Intercultural Community Center was awarded $25,000 to build a computer lab that will support online language tools and provide students access to computer science, robotics, and engineering programming.
  • Westbrook School Department: Establish bookshelves in each of three elementary school libraries. The shelves will be mobile carts which will house collections of approximately 200 books a piece ($12,915).
  • USM Portland Empowered Early Childhood Parent Engagement Initiative: Support to host shared space cafes with a focus on engaging parents around topics pertinent to early childhood ($5,000).
  • Boys and Girls Club: Logo Robotics kits and expansion kits, which allows BGCSM to offer Robotics to 2nd & 3rd graders at Portland, Riverton, and Sagamore Clubhouses ($4,928).
  • Portland Family Shelter: Supports a 4-week, 4 days/wk, 4hrs/day summer program for lower elementary homeless youth staying at Portland’s family shelter ($15,000).
  • Press Coverage: The ForecasterMaine Public
  • Sea Change Yoga: Trauma-informed yoga for youth with special needs and their parents/caregivers ($10,000).
2017
  • Mayo Street Arts was awarded $26,400 to expand Summer Programs for Youth, the RAD (Reading, Arts, Dance) program, and the free lunch program provided by the Opportunity Alliance.
  • Youth and Family Outreach was awarded $25,000 for their Families Matter Program, which educates families on how to prepare meals, shop and cook on a budget–creating building blocks that families can use to create habits of eating healthy meals together. 
  • Walker Memorial Library: Purchase of 120 books in French and Arabic, Westbrook’s two most spoken foreign languages. ($1,600).
  • Portland Public Schools Summer Reading Program: Summer book packs and staffing for 40 students at Reiche School and 40 students at Presumpscott School in Portland ($4,770).
  • Mayo Street Arts: Support for summer programming including free summer tutoring by East End School staff, free RAD literacy based arts education programming (Reading, Arts, Dance), and free lunch. ($11,000).
2016
  • The Congolese Community of Maine (CoCo Maine) was awarded $50,000 for their Dual Generation Program for Early Childhood Education, which offers English language classes, family literacy initiatives, parenting activities, and outreach to parents and children ages 2-5 ($50,000).
  • Portland Public Schools’ Summer Reading Program: Books and reading comprehension activities for 40 students in grades 3-5 ($3,800).
  • Portland Public Schools’ Summer Math Component for Elementary Summer Program: Online math learning software at one school ($2,000).
  • A Company of Girls’ “Art in the Parks” Program: Books for children at weekly art activities program in Portland ($2,200).
  • Feeding Bodies and Minds’ Summer Picnic for Children: Starting Strong tote bags with materials, lunch, and books ($2,000).

While laying a strong foundation for young people in our community, ELU members also gain access to an incredible network of peers and mentors. Members begin or expand upon their philanthropy journey with Emerging Leaders United in a way that is accessible, fulfilling, and beneficial to their careers.  By joining investment and steering committees, taking part in large-scale volunteer initiatives, and gaining access to networking and civic engagement events, members are welcomed into a deeper, more engaging level of community connection.

membership Levels

Membership is based upon an annual contribution designated to Emerging Leaders United and is open to all interested community members.

Member

$ 500+
  • Receive quarterly newsletter
  • Access to volunteer and networking opportunities
  • Public Recognition on the website
  • Ability to influence investment priorities and partnership formation
  • Option to join ELU leadership team and committees
  • Access to additional ELU events

friend

$ 1-499
  • Receive quarterly newsletter
  • Access to volunteer and networking opportunities

2023-2024 Members of Emerging Leaders United

Rebecca Alfredson
Tawny Alvarez
Marc Belanger
Jason Berry
Lori Beucler
Michael Bourque
Jean Bullens
Devin Carr
Linda Chaudron
Janet Cherbonneau

Emma Collins
William Collins
Jared des Rosiers
Erica Eysenbach
Joseph Fernandez
Eileen Fongemie
T. Griffin Leschefske
Barton Haag
Robert Hatem
Beth Kelsch

Abby Lang
Jennifer Lodewyckx
Jon Lowrance
Sean Mahony
Timothy Masse
Diana Miville
Marie Mueller
Cam Peden
Christian Ratliff
Matthew Robertson

Jon-Marc Rodier
James Romano
Liz Cotter Schlax
Mike Schultz
Michael Segal
Donald Taylor
Eric Thompson
John Violette
Tim Williams

For More Information

Picture of Mackenzie Staropoli

Mackenzie Staropoli

Sr. Donor Engagement Manager, Giving Circles
mstaropoli@uwsme.org
207.347.2333