Fredric W. Williams – Board Chair
Fred is president and managing director for the Investment Management & Consulting Group in Portland. In addition to providing pro bono work for organizations like the Children’s Dream Factory and the Live Poets’ Society, Fred has served on a variety of cultural and community boards including the Portland String Quartet, the Portland Symphony’s Ovation, Seventy-Five State Street and the Community Television Network. He is also on the Dream Factory’s National Board of Directors, based out of Louisville, where he currently serves as member of the Executive Committee and chair of the Finance Committee. Fred is a guest lecturer in the University of Southern Maine’s graduate and undergraduate business school, while also being a member on a number of investment management boards. Fred graduated from Vassar College in 1978 prior to returning to Portland for graduate work, has two grown sons, as well as his first grandson, and currently resides in Portland.
Meg Sideris – Board Vice-Chair
Meg has lived in Camden for more than 30 years, and has been involved with nonprofit organizations and education most of that time. In 1983, she and a few others started Peopleplace Cooperative Preschool where she served in a variety of capacities, including board chair, executive director, and teacher; the school continues to thrive today. She served on her public school board for six years and on The Community School board for eight years, working on the Merger Committee and now serving as vice president of The Community Schools. In 2008, Meg opened High Mountain Hall, a new center for fitness and special events in the heart of Camden. She lives on a small farm with her animals and gardens, and her grown daughters reside in Maine, Louisiana, and California.
Maynard “Bob” Young, III – Treasurer
Bob recently retired after 40 years in public education as a teacher, coach, principal, and superintendent of schools. He currently resides in Vassalboro, Maine. Bob received his bachelor’s, master’s, and certificate of advanced study at the University of Maine and completed his doctoral work in educational leadership. He has been a board member at The Community School since 2004. He has three grown children.
Kim Dorsky – Secretary
Kim has worked in small business management, marketing, product and brand development since graduating from college. She recently left her family’s business, Downeast Concepts, in pursuit of starting her own small business with her sister here in southern Maine. Kim grew up in Yarmouth, Maine and is a graduate of St. Lawrence University. She lives in Cumberland with her husband Dan and two children, Grace and Henry.
Jade Arn
Jade is a program manager at Coastal Counties Workforce, Inc. (CCWI), the entity responsible for administering federal Workforce Investment Act dollars in the six coastal counties from Waldo to York, where she oversees a statewide U.S. Department of Labor funded grant and other employment and training related initiatives. Jade came to CCWI after working for three years in the Workforce Solutions Division of Goodwill Industries of Northern New England; prior to that she served two terms as an AmeriCorps VISTA strengthening Maine’s nonprofit sector by promoting collaboration, partnerships, volunteerism and best practices in volunteer management. Jade is a graduate of The Community Schools’ Residential Program and holds a BA in Social Science and an AA in Social Services. A Camden native, she and her daughter now reside in Portland.
Cheryl Bascomb
Cheryl is the marketing and business development director for BerryDunn, the largest CPA and consulting firm headquartered in Northern New England. Over the course of more than 25 years in marketing, Cheryl has worked for consumer product companies, professional service firms, insurance companies, and nonprofits. She has worked in sales, direct marketing and forecasting, and—her favorite area—developing marketing initiatives designed to help a company’s growth strategy. At BerryDunn, she is responsible for the firm’s branding and marketing communications and recently completed a brand and corporate identity update. Cheryl is a graduate of Dartmouth College and serves on the boards of Maine Delta Dental, the United Way of Greater Portland, and The Community Schools at Opportunity Farm and Camden. She lives in New Gloucester with her husband, David Van Wie.
H. Lowell Brown
Lowell is an attorney whose practice focuses on compliance. He has also been appointed as special compliance monitor for the Raytheon Company and the DIRECTV Group. Formerly, Mr. Brown was assistant general counsel of Northrop Grumman Corporation. Since leaving Northrop, Mr. Brown has practiced law in Maine. He currently serves as a director of two foreign-owned corporations engaged in work for the U.S. Government. Mr. Brown began his career as assistant United States attorney for the District of Columbia. He also served as assistant general counsel of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and was a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Heron, Burchette, Ruckert and Rothwell. He resides in Falmouth with his wife Ella, who is also an attorney, and their four children.
Martha Coolidge
Melissa A. Duffy Melissa is a managing partner with Duffy Anderson Investment Management LLC, and a graduate of the Williston Northampton School and Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She is a native of the Portland area and returned to Maine in the spring of 2002. Melissa and her husband, John, reside in Cumberland, Maine with their two daughters. Melissa is a sustaining member of the Junior League of Portland, Maine and has served as the League’s vice president of Public Relations. Melissa and her husband are also active supporters and volunteers at The Ronald McDonald House of Portland.
James M. Giffune
Jim retired from Fraser Paper, Inc. in 1995 as senior vice president for operations after serving 37 years in the paper industry. Jim attended the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, earned a BS from New York State College of Environmental Science and Forestry and completed post-graduate studies at Northeastern and Harvard. Jim currently resides in New Gloucester, where he has served on the town’s planning board and other committees. He and his wife, Mary Ellen, have four grown children.
Sarah J. Halpin
Sarah, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional,is an associate vice president-investments with The Danforth Group of Wells Fargo Advisors in Portland, Maine. Sarah has more than twenty years of investment management experience in both the United Kingdom and the United States. An accomplished educator, she is a sought-after speaker and has successfully developed and delivered financial education programs to numerous local and national organizations. Sarah is also a frequent guest and financial contributor to Maine’s news channel WCSH6 Morning Show. Through appointment by the Governor’s office, Sarah serves on the Advisory Council of Maine Centers for Women, Work & Community, a statewide economic development organization. She also serves on the Board of Advisors for the American Friends of Meali Primary School which helps children in the rural area of Karatu Tanzania achieve higher academic and life opportunities.
Michael Hayes
Michael is currently the product line manager overseeing the sSporting equipment division at L.L. Bean. He has been with L.L. Bean since 1993 and spent the majority of his career in corporate marketing, most recently heading up the Corporate Advertising division. Prior to L.L. Bean, Michael was involved with The American Youth Foundation as an experiential educator leading wilderness trips for kids. Michael graduated from Wittenberg University in Ohio with a BA in Economics. He has volunteered for the Portland Chapter of the United Way and Mt. Abram’s Ski Patrol. In addition, he has been involved with the National Outdoor Leadership School and Outward Bound in Colorado. Michael and his wife, Heidi, reside in Pownal.
Heather Hearst
Heather’s career began in Marketing and Business Development within the fast-paced high-tech industry after graduating with a BS/BA in Marketing. After ten years in the field, Heather’s focus shifted from the culture of software brands to that of the individual. Heather tapped into her knowledge of connecting brands to people and parlayed it into a commitment to connect people to their passions. This drove Heather to earn her Masters in Arts in the field of Career Development from John F. Kennedy University and establish Insight Career Consulting, a private career counseling practice. Heather now focuses her business skills as head of business development and marketing of Hearstudios, a high-end music production and engineering studio in Camden, Maine. Also dedicated to bolstering her community, Heather proudly serves the Center of Maine Contemporary Art (Rockport, ME) in her positions as Auction Chair and Trustee Board Member as well as The Community Schools at Opportunity Farm & Camden as its Co-Chair of the Development Committee and member of the Board of Trustees.
Betsy Kelly
Betsy retired from L.L. Bean where she was a vice president in Merchandising and Product Development. Her career spanned 25 years, and she was responsible for the launch and growth of their children’s business, L.L. Kids. She has served on the boards of the Portland Stage Company, Trust for Public Land, Outward Bound, and Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. Betsy has three grown children, and five grandchildren, and resides in Yarmouth with her husband, John.
Marcia King
Marcia is the director of Academic Support at Hebron Academy, where her husband John is the headmaster. She is a former English teacher and received her BA in English from Goucher College in Maryland. Marcia has been a volunteer and on the board of several community organizations including the Duxbury Education Foundation, an agency for abused women, and a literacy tutor for women.
Susan Koch
Susan currently holds the position of executive director of AIA Maine. AIA Maine is a 225 member chapter of the American Institute of Architects. She works directly with the Board of Directors and oversees all activities of the chapter. Prior to this, Susan worked in schools at all levels, from pre-school through high school. Susan holds a BS in elementary education from the University of Maine Farmington and a Certificate in Mediation from the University of Southern Maine. She has served on the Board of Directors of Peopleplace, The Children’s Museum of Maine, and as a committee member for several other organizations. A native of Maine, Susan has two grown children and currently resides in Scarborough.
Lincoln F. Ladd
Lincoln is a retired educator who was a member of the English faculty at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro before returning to Maine with an invitation to organize the Maranacook High School English department and to teach at the University of Maine at Farmington. Lincoln continues to do research in specialized areas of English literature. He is an active volunteer who has served on the boards of Bates College and Maine Public Radio, in addition to serving as recent past chairman of the Filene Foundation. Lincoln and Gloria Ladd live in Wayne, Maine.
Catherine M. Martin
After growing up and attending nursing school and college in New York City, Catherine married and moved to Alabama, New York, and Minnesota, before settling in Maine in 1991. She and her husband both received master’s degrees at the University of Maine Orono. She is still very involved in teaching Montessori education, primarily to adult learners now; she is involved in community activities such as the USM advisory board, peace and social justice committee at her church, area choir and the art museum. Catherine loves outdoor activities, such as running, snow shoeing and tennis, despite bad knees! She and her husband have five adult children, and six (soon to be seven) grandchildren; they keep Catherine and her husband young and eager to spend time with them. Catherine has been on the board for about ten years and has watched the program grow and change in great ways.
Jane McKean
Risa Moon
Risa is a psychotherapist maintaining a private practice in Portland, Maine, specializing in couples and family work, including mediation, with a particular emphasis on eating disorders. She consults to schools and small businesses about staff, peer, and student related issues. Risa moved to Maine several years ago after having maintained a clinical and mediation practice for 25 years in Boston. Prior to her practice, she co-founded and taught at a public alternative school focused on mainstreaming students in grades k-8. She also founded the children’s program for IMPACT/Model Mugging, which teaches the art of self-defense to men, women, and children. Risa’s other volunteer work has included “Guiding Eyes for the Blind” (a Seeing Eye dog training program) and “Riding to the Top.” Along with her husband Richard, she is an avid equestrian, and on her own, an avid snowshoer and reader. Richard and Risa have four children.
Samuel Rowse
Barbara Russo
Barbara is an associate broker at Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty in Camden, Maine. Before beginning her career in real estate in 2002, Barbara was an administrative secretary in the Music Department at Colby College in Waterville. She is a member of the Coastal Mountain Council of the Mid-Coast Board of REALTORS® and is a past co-chair of the annual “Realtors Giving Back” Benefit Auction for Habitat for Humanity. In 2007, Barbara was chosen by her peers as recipient of the Realtor of the Year Award for her reputation of honesty and integrity, service to the Maine Association, and service to the community. Barbara is a past president of The Community Schools’ Board of Directors and is a member of the Development Committee. She was also a member of the Board at The Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockport. Barbara and her author husband, Richard, have lived in Camden since 1999 and enjoy the wonderful advantages of living on the coast.
Richard Schotte
Richard spent his career in finance after finishing graduate school at Columbia. In that career he provided long-term financing to small companies, was a venture capitalist, and for twenty years managed mutual funds and pension accounts. He was in the asset management business at a time when American managers became global investors. After retiring from the mutual fund business, Richard moved to northern California and later to Camden, where he, his wife, Mary Jane, and their daughter Sarah enjoy sailing. Richard has been a supporter of and involved with a number of environmental organizations for many years.
Curtis M. Scribner, Jr.
Curt is a licensed clinical social worker, licensed drug and alcohol counselor, and family therapist. Curt holds a bachelor of science degree from Lake Forest College and a masters in Social Work from Syracuse University. He is currently employed by Spring Harbor Hospital in the Child Psychiatry Department. Curt began his work in the human service field working with Hurricane Island’s Outward Bound Programs. Curt lives in Portland with his wife, Meghan, and three children.
Jeanne Bamberger
Fred Bay
Martha Dudman
Ed Foster
Virginia Kahn
Rushworth Kidder
Arnold Langberg
Deborah Meier
Joe Nathan
Wayne Newell
Emanuel Pariser
Ray Pariser
Jim Patterson
Robert Rheault
Dr. Julius Richmond
Richard Russo
Ella Brown
Catherine H. Cloudman, Trustee Emeritus
Jordan Denning
Emiy Dickinson
Henry T. Donaldson
Fred Forsley
Bet Foster
Sandra Goolden
Linda Harroff
Amy Hawkes
Michael Healy, Trustee Emeritus
Margaret C. LePage, Trustee Emeritus
Elizabeth C. Linnell
John E. Palmer, Jr., Trustee Emeritus
Brian Petrovek
Christopher A. Pierce
John Staples, Trustee Emeritus
Mary Howe Stewart, Trustee Emeritus
Mary Ellen Tetreau
Michael Tompkins
Karen Watterson
Seth Webber
Michael J. Welch
The Community School Staff
” The common sense and the uncommon compassion of the Community School has improved hundreds of young lives and enriched the surrounding neighborhoods.”
– Former U.S. Senator George J. Mitchell
