Featured Bloggers
Jodi Freedman | Penny Kern | Christy Monroe | Bob Moore | Margaret Puckett
Anne Schink | Larry Ullian | Chris Wolff | Bessie Wright
Jodi Freedman is a Major Gifts Specialist at the Maine Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Prior to this, she was the Manager of Volunteer Resources and Special Events at The Cedars for three years. During that time, she expanded the number of volunteers from 60 to more than 200. She holds a master’s degree in education and has completed a course in Basic Volunteer Management through the University of Maine. She is a member of the Volunteer Maine Leadership Network and volunteers at The Jewish Community Alliance, where she has been a board member for ten years.
Penny Kern recently retired from Abnaki Girl Scout Council (now Girl Scouts of Maine) as Membership Program Manager. For 17 years, she was responsible for recruiting, placing, training and supporting about 250 adults annually for the Girl Scout programs in Aroostook County. She has designed a variety of learning opportunities for adults and has been a facilitator of adult learners for a program for the State of New Jersey, International Paper and the American Red Cross since 1976. She is married to a retired Air Force Sargent. She has four grown children, 5 (soon to be 6) grandchildren and a great grandchild. Originally from Pennsylvania, Penny and her husband decided to settle in Maine after 26 years of moving all over the world.
Christy Monroe is currently serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the Maine Commission for Community Service. As a member of the Volunteer Maine VISTA Project she works to support staff, fellow national service members, and community organizations in strengthening capacity and access to new and existing training resources in volunteer management.
She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Public Administration and an Associate of Arts Degree in Liberal Studies from the University of Maine at Augusta. Her recent work includes a position as Education Coordinator and Grants Technician at the Knox-Lincoln Soil & Water Conservation District where she managed watershed grant projects, coordinated all aspects of community and school education programs, and supervised volunteers including a full-time AmeriCorps member. Her volunteer management experience also includes coordination of the Maine AmeriCorps Council, and two terms of AmeriCorps service as Community Emissary/Volunteer Coordinator at the Maine Conservation Corps.
Robert “Bob” Moore is Executive Director of Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed, located in Augusta, ME. During Bob’s tenure, membership of Friends has increased to over 5,500, with the annual operating budget increasing from $85,000 in 2003 to over $400,000 in 2008. Prior to joining the Friends, Moore was General Manager of On Target Utility Services, a utility contractor operating throughout New England and New York during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Starting with 14 employees in 1998, On Target grew to over 140 employees by 2001, with annual sales of $14 million. Prior to On Target, Moore served as Operations Manager with Central Maine Power Company from 1987 through 1997, and in the footwear industry prior to that.
An ardent supporter of local youth, Bob is a founding Board member and continues to serve on the Board of Directors of Camp KV for Kids. Bob also continues as founding member and current Chair of the 13-year old Capital City Hoop Classic, a three-day holiday high school basketball tournament held at the Augusta Civic Center. Inducted into the Kennebec Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 2005, Bob was recognized in May of 2007 by Le Club Calumet as recipient of their Outstanding Citizen Award for his “outstanding contribution and dedication to the citizens of the community”, and in June of 2007 he received the Conservation Award by the Daughters of the American Revolution for “outstanding achievement for environmental awareness.” Bob holds a B.S. degree in Accounting from Thomas College in Waterville, ME and currently resides in South China with his wife Susan and children Andrea and Dan Tyler. Older sons Jason and Ryan live and work in the greater Boston area.
Julie D. Mulkern
Julie D. Mulkern has worked in volunteer management and development for nearly a decade. For five years, she has been the Volunteer Resources & Development Manager for Spring Harbor Hospital. She oversees the Volunteer Services Program, which is the first of its kind in a private, community-owned psychiatric hospital in Maine. Prior to this, Julie started a mentoring program at Community Counseling Center in Portland and worked for the American cancer Society to expand the number of volunteer drivers in three Maine counties. Julie holds a B.A. in psychology from Bates College and has received certifications in philanthropy from the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Margaret Puckett is Volunteer Services Coordinator at St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor, Maine. Born and raised in New Hampshire, Margaret spread her wings in New York, Kentucky, Texas, Japan, Washington, D.C., and Germany. Achieving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Margaret retired from a twenty-year career in the US Army in 1994. Five years of volunteering helped ease the way from military to civilian life. Her volunteering jobs included church Christmas pageant costumer, Sunday school teacher, teacher aide, Girl Scout leader, costumer at the local community theater, school yearbook editor, and editor for a church newsletter.
With a B.A in fine arts from Stony Brook University, Margaret’s artistic talents are evident in her hobbies: crocheting, sewing, home improvement projects, genealogy research, and photo restoration. Whether she is greeting the troops at the Bangor International Airport as a Maine Troop Greeter, participating in the Volunteer Maine Leadership Network or directing her volunteers at work, it is Margaret’s love of people that shines through.
Anne Schink has been part of the Maine Commission for Community Service team since 1995. During that time she has worked directly with AmeriCorps program directors, staff, and members to strengthen programs through training and technical assistance. She has organized conferences, training events, and small meetings. Anne has also provided professional coaching support to program directors and staff on grants management, program design, goals, objectives, and evaluation. As the Disability Coordinator she supports programs to recruit, retain, and include individuals with disabilities in all parts of the AmeriCorps programs.
Anne previously worked as a large group facilitator in public policy, worked in a public policy consulting firm, and provided leadership in many nonprofit organizations. She also serves on the InforME Board which was created to support the State of Maine’s development of e-government and e-commerce. Anne continues her volunteer activities with the League of Women Voters, Jump Start, and her church. She has two grown daughters and lives in South Portland
Noble Smith
Noble Smith is President of Noble Smith Associates, a 28-year old development, fund raising management and marketing company. Prior to forming his own company, Noble served as senior development officer at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art and Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. He also served as Senior Vice President of Barnes and Roche, a national fund raising and development firm.
Noble has served as an appointed volunteer on numerous state and regional environmental, conservation and preservation commissions in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. He has taught The Art of Asking to numerous non-profits and boards of directors for the past 25 years. Noble holds degrees from Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, spends his free time bird watching and restoring historic houses and lives in Harpswell in a restored Maine cottage with his wife, Bertie, and the constant visits by their 6 grown children and 12 grandchildren.
Larry is a Director of Program Development at USM’s Muskie School of Public Service. His experience and education are eclectic and hence good preparation for his current interest in volunteer management and community service. Larry’s favorite breed of dog is a Gordon Setter - not known for having a serene personality.
Chris Wolff is Community Development Director at the Island Institute. Since 2004, she has managed the Island Fellows Program, placing over 50 recent college and master’s level graduates in coastal and year-round island communities for one to two-year assignments addressing community-identified projects. Chris has worked within AmeriCorps programs since the initiative was first founded in 1994, and her extensive experience in program management, volunteer administration and program design has been instrumental in professionalizing the Island Fellows Program. Prior to joining the Institute, Chris served for six years as a program coordinator and program director with the Student Conservation Association’s New Hampshire Parks AmeriCorps Program, and for five years as the program coordinator for the Maine Conservation Corps Serve/Maine Volunteer Leader Program.
In addition to managing the Fellows Program, Chris heads the Island Institute’s affordable-housing initiatives. Chris co-chairs the Coalition for Coastal Workforce Housing, a coalition of collaborating affordable-housing groups that develops and advocates for legislative strategies to benefit affordable housing in coastal Maine. Chris also administers the affordable-housing component of the Affordable Coast Fund, a grant-making program that provides financial assistance for affordable housing and working-waterfront purchase and technical assistance. In 2007, this fund awarded $105,000 to affordable-housing organizations in coastal Maine. Chris holds a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Maine, Orono.
Bessie Wright is from Buxton, Maine. She has a B. S. in Ecology and Environmental Sciences as well as a B. S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Maine. She is currently completing her second AmeriCorps term as an Environmental Educator for the Maine Conservation Corps. She serves with the Penobscot County Soil and Water Conservation District.