What is your role at UWSM?
I am the Community Impact Manager, Operations and help support the CI team with a variety of different things. I also support many of United Way and Thrive2027’s Cabinets, Committees and Council.

What’s your favorite work moment so far?
At many Thrive2027 Council meetings I have seen collaboration and action happening in real time to help community members and it is truly incredible! All my favorite moments have been working with passionate coworkers, volunteers, partners and community members to make measurable change and work towards an equitable and thriving community.

How do you take your coffee?
I’m more of a mint tea or chai latte person.

What’s your favorite book?
Always hard to choose. I recently read White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo again and highly recommend it. I also recently read the Harry Potter books for the first time and loved them.

What’s on your bucket list?
I have a pretty long bucket list! Lots of it is travel but some are things like learning to juggle fire and playing the melodica.

What is your role at UWSM? Senior Director, Operations.

What’s your favorite work moment so far? It’s hard to decide, especially when we have both sides of the equation here – amazing coworkers and really impactful work. But, if I have to choose… I think I’d choose one of our Women United events when we had the opportunity to both hear about the work that is happening (and its successes) and got the chance to meet some of the moms who have been helped along the way.

How do you take your coffee or tea? I take my coffee (preferably flavored… hazelnut crème is my favorite for the moment) with a little sugar and oat milk.

What’s your favorite book? Such a hard question! I’ll take a turn here and say my favorite book(s) that I’m reading with my son right now are the Spirit Animal series. I love that it’s something we’re reading together, he gets really into them, and we can have a good conversation about the lessons you can learn from the characters.

What’s on your bucket list? Travel! I love traveling, experiencing new cultures – the architecture, food, customs, language … all of it! I have so many places on my list still to visit. But, I’d say bringing my kids with me is the next big thing – wherever it may be. I want them to be able to experience new and different places and people as well.

What is your role at UWSM? Senior Director, Financial Stability

What’s your favorite work moment so far? I am inspired every day by the work happening in our community. Recently I had the opportunity to see a group of high school students, from A Company of Girls, present a short play that they wrote, produced, and performed that represented a day in the life of a typical high school girl. Poignant, heart-wrenching and a wonderful reminder about the impact of our investments.

How do you take your coffee or tea? With milk and sugar.

What’s your favorite book? Too many to choose!

What’s on your bucket list? Travelling: to the Grand Canyon, Sedona and returning to England and Italy.

What is your role at UWSM?

I support annual grant processes including applications, trainings, external communications, and reporting, as well as Thrive2027 partner engagement to move partners meaningfully along the Thrive2027 continuum.

What’s your favorite work moment so far?

My favorite work moment is more of a constant realization and confirmation. I’m not a local Mainer and I am so grateful that I have been able to find the southern Maine community through my work and because of my work. I think everyone knows how beautiful Maine’s natural landscape is, but the people here are genuine and hardworking and caring. Everyone is a neighbor and people really want to help each other.

How do you take your coffee?

Cold brew with almond milk and a little maple syrup

What’s your favorite book?

I’m a true Romantic, in the literature/arts sense, so it’s a toss up between Frankenstein and Dracula

What’s on your bucket list?

I want to buy a house and live in Maine forever so that is top of the list!

What is your role at UWSM? I am currently the Director of Public Policy and Advocacy

What’s your favorite work moment so far? This is a hard one to answer for me because there have been many favorite work moments. For now, let me say that my two favorite work moments so far are – (1) developing relationships with key public policy stakeholders, and (2) listening to the issues community members bring to the table.

How do you take your coffee or tea? Black

What’s your favorite book? The unique powerful essay by the Martinique Poet/Politician Aime Cesaire - “Discourse on Colonialism.” It is claimed to be the pioneering work in the study of post colonialism.

What’s on your bucket list? Earning a Ph.D. and Visiting Indigenous Communities across all continents!

What is your role at UWSM? As the Senior Community Impact Manager, Financial Stability, I support United Way’s work related to Thrive2027’s Goal 2. I am a proud AmeriCorps VISTA alum and graduate of the University of Vermont.

What’s your favorite work moment so far? From community conversations and workplace rallies to reader trainings and food drives, I love how UWSM brings together people from different parts of our community to ensure that Southern Maine is a great place for everyone.

How do you take your coffee or tea? Herbal tea for me.

What’s your favorite book? I don’t like picking favorites, but if I had to, it might be a three-way tie between "To the Lighthouse" by Virginia Woolf, "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster, and "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer.

What’s on your bucket list? I have always wanted to take a ride in a hot air balloon!

Director, Evaluation
mmadden@uwsme.org

What is your role at UWSM? Senior Community Impact Manager, Education. I support Thrive2027’s Goal 1 Cabinet, supporting community partners in their work and interactions with us as well as connecting stakeholders in a meaningful way to Goal 1 related needs.

What’s your favorite work moment so far? Recently, I conducted focus groups within various schools in Cumberland County. While all were incredibly interesting and important to drive our work forward, the high school student group was my favorite. It reminded me how intuitive students can be to the challenges they are facing – they discussed the barriers their peers were up against to being successful graduates and creative solutions. It was also inspiring to hear them speak of all the ways they are supported through their school, community and peers.

How do you take your coffee or tea? A little bit of cream.

What’s your favorite book? Always changing! Right now, “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran

What’s on your bucket list? Backpack the fjords in Norway!

What’s your favorite work moment so far? We do a lot of work with our education partners. One of my favorite things is to start the day in an elementary school classroom. There is so much energy. Teachers in that age group are amazing. I love seeing the students when something clicks and they are able to identify a new letter or read the sentence that has been a struggle for them. Their minds are always soaking in information and they're full of questions.

How do you take your coffee or tea? Coffee. Strong. Black (no sugar).

What’s your favorite book? There's no way I can answer this with just one title.

What’s on your bucket list? This is such a long list…travel mostly, Galapagos, Alaska, and Delaware are at the top…can’t explain Delaware…it’s just there.