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In the news, we hear shocking stories about missing people on an almost daily basis. The searches and the work of the local police officers and other teams involved are well publicized while the privacy of the families is well protected, thanks to experienced and compassionate search-and-rescue professionals like Kate Braestrup.
Kate Braestrup’s true story, Here If You Need Me begins with a memory she relives nearly every day: the last time she saw her husband, Drew, a Maine State Trooper, alive. As a young, grieving mother of four, Kate Braestrup coped with his death by becoming a Unitarian Universalist minister, and, eventually the chaplain for the Maine Warden Service, which conducts search-and-rescue operations when people are reported missing.
Kate’s role in the process is quiet yet powerful. She rejoices with the parents of a six-year-old girl when she is found alive after an exhaustive search. She also is the first to inform a wife that her husband’s snowmobile fell through the ice and he did not make it out of the freezing cold water alive. She has witnessed miraculous rescues of people who fell hundreds of feet into rocky ravines and of swaddled infants left in the cold by drug-addicted suicidal parents. She is there, often when nobody else is, to share smiles and tears of elation - and body-wrenching sobs of heartbreak. And, she has written about how these experiences change everyone involved, including herself, in her truly unforgettable memoir, Here If You Need Me.
Kate’s deeply poignant writing enhances her vast and sometimes unbelievable experiences, and in person she is just as moving and eloquent. With poise and grace, she brings to life the truths and complexities of a sometimes unbearable subject that continues to affect millions of people every day—whether in the news or in one’s own backyard.
Kate Braestrup is one of the first chaplains ever appointed to the Maine Warden Service. She is the author of a novel, Onion (Viking, 1990), and has written for Mademoiselle, Ms., City Paper, Hope and Law & Order. She lives in Maine with her husband, Simon van der Ven, and their six children. Here If You Need Me won the Barnes & Noble Discover Award in Non-Fiction.
At the podium, Kate discusses coping with the loss of a loved one who’s job is dangerous; how faith has helped her in her searches; which of her cases was the most difficult to work on and what does it mean to be the first chaplains to work with the Maine Warden Service?
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Gil Sperling currently serves as the Senior Advisor for Policy and Programs for the Office of Weatherization and Intergovernmental Program (OWIP) in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy with a budget in excess of $11.6 Billion. At DOE, Gil has been charged with transforming legacy programs into current, market responsive efforts that support large scale energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Under Gil’s leadership, the OWIP team is implementing and successfully executed the first disbursement of American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) stimulus funds at DOE that include: $5 Billion for Weatherization Programs, $3.1 B for State Energy Programs, and $3.2B for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Programs.
Prior to joining DOE he served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Verdant Power, Inc., a company that generates electricity from the free flow of water in oceans, tidal areas, rivers and man made waterways. His responsibilities included the Company’s overall project and technology commercialization plan, corporate finance and all legal, regulatory and legislative issues.
Gil also served as Vice President and General Counsel of Pipeline Research Council International, Inc., the not for profit technology and research development arm of the oil and natural gas pipeline industry. Gil was brought on to work directly with the President of the organization to re-invent pipeline research to ensure that vitally needed research and technology development would be robustly funded and expertly conducted at a time when most pipelines were more than fifty years old. Gil’s cooperative efforts resulted both in a transformative approach to planning, funding and directing research and technology development and the effective coordination of private pipeline research efforts with the Department of Transportation’s pipeline research program. The result of the effort was the establishment of a long term, consistently funded program.
Mr. Sperling served in private practice for more than twenty years before joining DOE, providing regulatory, corporate, and finance related services for companies developing power and related energy projects in the U.S. and overseas. While in private practice, he served for eighteen years as General Counsel to the Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition and as Senior Energy Policy Advisor for INFORM, Inc. In the mid 1980s, Gil served as Senior Counsel to the House Subcommittee on Energy Conservation and Power, chaired by Congressman Edward J. Markey, and to the Subcommittee on Transportation and Hazardous Materials, chaired by Congressman Tom Luken, both were Subcommittees of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Gil received his Bachelors of Arts from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and Jurist Doctorate from New York University School of Law where he was a Root-Tilden Scholar.
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John Anton joined Northern New England Housing Investment Fund (NNEHIF) in 1997 as Vice President, and has been President since May 2000.
Prior to joining NNEHIF, John held a number of positions in the affordable housing field, including acquisitions officer for the Enterprise Social Investment Corporation in Columbia, Maryland and project manager for the Arlington Housing Corporation of Arlington, Virginia.
In addition to serving as President of NNEHIF, John serves on the Portland City Council. In the past, he has served on the Portland Planning Board and boards of the National Association of State and Local Equity Funds, the Genesis Community Loan Fund, and the Portland (Maine) Housing Authority. He has a BA from Yale University and a Master's in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina.
Douglas Barley has been MaineHousing’s Homeless Project Coordinator since 2007, working primarily with the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). Doug also works on special projects such as the housing registry that will be shown and discussed at the 2009 Affordable Housing Conference.
Prior to his employment at MaineHousing, Doug worked for six years in international admissions at Indiana University, where he interacted in six languages with applicants from over 130 countries.
Douglas completed his Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University in December of 2008. He also holds a Master of Music from the North Carolina School of the Arts, a BA from Oberlin College, and a Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory.
Jennifer Boardman is a MaineHousing Financial Officer in the Asset Management Department, where her duties include administration of Housing Assistance Payment contract renewals with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This involves verifying accurate disbursement of over $59 million in housing assistance payments annually and ensuring data and information is compliant with HUD regulations.
Jennifer has been at MaineHousing since 1998 in the Asset Management division. Prior to that she worked at a small nonprofit group and for the State of Maine.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Maine at Augusta.
Jon Bradley, who has worked for more than 25 years with high-risk adolescents and people who are homeless, is Associate Director of Preble Street, where he has developed the Preble Street Teen Services and a “housing first” program to provide permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless adults.
Prior to his current position, Jon was Director of Mental Health Services at The Door, served as Director of Programs at Ingraham, and has taught social policy and advanced research at the University of Southern Maine. Before moving to Maine in 1991 he was a research scientist at Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute.
Jon holds a Masters and Doctorate in Social Work from Columbia University.
Daniel Brennan is MaineHousing’s Director of Development, where he is responsible for overseeing MaineHousing’s multifamily and supportive housing lending programs that fund over $30 million in construction projects annually throughout Maine.
Dan has been with the MaineHousing since 1993, previously serving as the Director of Asset Management and as the Internal Auditor. Prior to joining MaineHousing, he worked for the Bank of New England, Maine National Bank, and RECOLL Management Corporation.
Brennan is a Certified Internal Auditor and received his BA from the University of Maine, Orono.
Joanne T. Campbell has been Senior Vice President Risk Management for Camden National Corporation since 2005.
Joanne joined Camden National Corporation in 1996 as vice president, manager of Residential Real Estate, and in 2002 was promoted to senior vice president, Compliance, Audit & CRA. She was named senior vice president, Risk Management in 2005, and joined the executive team in 2008.
Prior to working with Camden National she worked for Salem Five Mortgage Corporation and the Fleet Mortgage Group.
Tom Cary has served as Treasurer of MaineHousing since 1984. One of Tom’s responsibilities is structuring the bond issues which fund MaineHousing’s single family and multi-family housing programs. Prior to joining MaineHousing, Tom worked at the Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company in New York City.
He holds an MBA from the State University of New York and a BA from Williams College.
Amy Cole Ives has an architectural conservation and preservation consulting practice located in Augusta. Amy specializes in federal and state Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit applications and local Certificates of Appropriateness for historic commercial rehabilitation projects, as well as historic research and preservation plans.
Amy was one of the original authors of the legislation that created Maine’s Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit in 2007.
Justin Dobson has been Money Management International’s / Consumer Credit Counseling Services Regional Director of Counseling since 2002, where he is responsible for overseeing 55 Housing and Credit Counselors in Maine, New Hampshire and Maryland.
Justin has been with the MMI/CCCS since 1996, starting as a Credit Counselor in Portsmouth and later managing the Client Services staff.
He is a Certified Consumer Credit Counselor through the Nation Foundation of Consumer Credit, and received his BA from the University of Maine, Orono.
Daniel Drost is the Asset Operations Manager for Multifamily Programs at MaineHousing’s Asset Management Department. Daniel is responsible for managing information and documents, coordinating training and informational resources, developing and implementing new processes and procedures, all related to MaineHousing’s multifamily portfolio. He has also participated in numerous housing industry trainings and meetings throughout the county.
Daniel has been with MaineHousing since 2000, previously serving as Program Officer, Financial Officer, and Asset Manager. Prior to joining MaineHousing, he worked in public education administration and finance, the Maine State Retirement System, and other governmental and non-governmental, non-profit institutions.
He is a Certified Occupancy Specialist and holds a University of Maine Certification in Human Resources Management. He is completing a degree in Public Administration in the University of Maine System.
Nina Fedele, Director of Communications for Socialserve.com., started at Socialserve.com® in 2002. Nina has an extensive background in nonprofit work, including work in long term care and with alternative and arts therapy in the medical arena.
She joined Socialserve.com to field calls for assistance as the housing locator services expanded across the nation. Since then, Nina has helped develop a professional call center, managed several special needs housing projects, and has assisted in developing contracts with 27 states to date.
Socialserve.com®, founded in 1998, is a national not-for-profit organization whose mission is to help communities increase access to affordable housing and housing program information by providing leading edge technology at a fraction of market rates. The non-profit serves 27 states, acting as an innovative online clearinghouse of affordable and special-needs housing for over 65,000 unique client and service provider inquiries daily.
Nancy Fritz has been Maine’s first Director of Homeless Initiatives in Maine since her appointment by Governor John Baldacci in 2005. Nancy serves as the Governor’s primary liaison on homeless issues and is a member of his Cabinet; her position is funded by MaineHousing, where she also serves as Director of the Homeless Initiatives Department.
Prior to assuming her current role she led several Maine nonprofit organizations, including those that focused domestic abuse, serving young children with disabilities and their families, and a community action agency.
Nancy is a founding member of the Maine Association of Nonprofits and the Maine Children’s Alliance, and she was a previous chair of the Maine Affordable Housing Network and the Maine Community Action Association. She holds a BS in Human Development degree from the University of Maine at Orono, is a graduate of Bangor Theological Seminary, and is an ordained clergywoman.
Eric Frohmberg is the manager of the Maine Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, which investigates cases of childhood lead poisoning and works extensively in primary prevention.
Prior to working in the lead prevention program, Eric worked extensively in the healthy housing issues of well water safety, radon, and risk communication.
He holds a masters degree in Environmental Science and Policy from Clark University in Worcester, MA.
Van Gottel is the founder and CEO of Non-Profit Industries. Van blends over 25 years of corporate and Fortune-50 managerial, technology and social work practice into the highly successful affordable housing service known as Socialserve.com®.
Along with the Socialserve.com team, Van fosters the vision of Socialserve.com: efficiency, customer service, and the development of leading-edge technology solutions to serve the affordable housing continuum from homelessness to homeownership.
Socialserve.com®, founded in 1998, is a national not-for-profit organization whose mission is to help communities increase access to affordable housing and housing program information by providing leading edge technology at a fraction of market rates. The non-profit serves 27 states, acting as an innovative online clearinghouse of affordable and special-needs housing for over 65,000 unique client and service provider inquiries daily.
Sheryl S. Gregory, ABR, CRS, GRI, SRES, is a broker at Homestead Realty in Winthrop and a member of the MaineHousing Board of Commissioners. Sheryl has nearly 20 years experience in the real estate business, and has served as a local board of Realtors president as well as the 2002 Maine Association of Realtors president. An advocate of continuing education, she has earned several designations equipping her to better serve customers, and teaches the real estate commission’s associate broker classes through the Arthur Gary School of Real Estate.
Nationally, Sheryl serves on the Housing Opportunity Committee for the National Association of Realtors and was an active participant on their Equal Opportunity/Cultural Diversity committee. An active volunteer, she shares her time with the KVCAP board, the Kiwanis Club, the Maine Association of Realtors Foundation, the local Chamber of Commerce, Monmouth mentors, and the local Habitat for Humanity, including a trip to Mobile after Katrina to help build a house.
Sheryl was first appointed to the Maine State Housing Authority Board by Governor King, and re-appointed by Gov. Baldacci.
Bill Jenkins is the Pandemic Influenza Coordinator for the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness.
Prior to his current position Bill was the Maine Health Alert Network Coordinator, where he was instrumental in developing and implementing an emergency communication system that can notify healthcare workers, first responder, and public health officials in the event of a bioterrorist event. He also worked for MaineHousing as a Lead Program Officer for the Lead Hazard Control Grant.
Bill earned his BS in Plant and Soil Science from the University of Maine at Orono in 1998, and a MS from the University of Southern Maine's Muskie School of Public Service in 2006.
Mike Johnson is the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Incentive Coordinator, Grants and Easements Reviewer, and Technical Advisor for the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, which he joined in 2002.
Prior to joining the Commission, Mike interned with Yosemite National Park’s Historical Architecture, Resources Management Division, and worked in the building restoration trades and as an archaeological field technician with cultural resource management firms throughout the United States.
Mike holds a Master of Science degree in Historic Preservation from the University of Vermont.
Debbie King-Johnson, a senior homeownership officer with MaineHousing, has over 20 years experience in the residential mortgage industry. Her responsibilities include First Home program compliance and administering the housing counseling grant program. She is an advocate of homebuyer education in Maine and is committed to helping people achieve homeownership.
Debbie began her career with Gardiner Savings Institution and later with Maine Savings Bank. Since 1986, she has held several positions in MaineHousing’s Homeownership Division. She left MaineHousing in 1999 to oversee the outreach and marketing of the Maine Municipal Bond Bank programs, and returned in 2002.
Adam Krea has been Deputy Director of MaineHousing since 2005. Prior to that Adam served as Assistant State Treasurer for the State of Maine from 1998-2004.
He is a graduate of Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont with a degree in Government.
Catherine Lee, Esquire, is Managing Director and founder of Lee International Business Development. Since 2003, Catherine’s practice has been devoted primarily to climate change and carbon trading, advising public and private sector entities on the development of carbon emission reduction projects under the Kyoto Protocol, including the structuring of such projects and the sale of qualified emission reductions. She also advises and works on emerging US programs.
Catherine advised Maine, and later all ten states, on the development of aspects of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. She has been working with the Maine, New Jersey and Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agencies on a Ford Foundation funded Model Carbon Trading program to benefit low income people.
Catherine is a member of the New York and Maine State Bar Associations and is licensed to practice before the Supreme Court.
Steven Levesque, Executive Director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority (MRRA), has over 28 years of experience in land use planning, community and economic development, environmental services and business management, in the private and public sectors. MRRA is responsible for implementing the Reuse Master Plans for the redevelopment of Brunswick Naval Air Station and Topsham Annex, which are scheduled to close in 2011.
Steven previously was Executive Director of the Brunswick Local Redevelopment Authority, President of a management consulting firm in Hallowell, and served as the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development from 1998-2003. In his private sector career, he has worked for and owned several environmental management and community development consulting firms.
Steven holds a BA in Political Science and an MS in Environmental Studies from California State University, Fullerton.
David Lloyd has been Principal at Archetype Architects, an eight person, commercial based firm with housing as its major specialty, since 1983, and a practicing architect in Maine since 1978.
Archetype has designed and built over 1,000 units of housing, which can be seen on their web site at www.archetype-architects.com, in Maine and New England. Archetype’s major focus over the past five years conversion of historic structures to new uses. Among the latest are The Mill at Saco Falls, a 66 unit MaineHousing-financed project in Biddeford that is slated to start construction in October, and The Old Woolen Mill in North Berwick, a 40-unit Maine Housing senior housing development that is ready for occupancy.
Archetype also is in the final design stages of the conversion of the Baxter Library building in Portland to office use, and the conversion of the double barracks building on Great Diamond Island to a boutique hotel. Both will be developed under the guidelines of the State and Federal historic tax credit programs.
Tony Lyons has served as a Vice-President and Regional Manager for the Northeast Region of the National Equity Fund (NEF) since 2002, overseeing NEF’s acquisition and asset management activities in nine states. NEF provides equity financing to builders and developers of affordable housing.
Tony has been with NEF since 1997. Prior to that he was a Senior Project Manager with The Community Builders in Philadelphia, and a Rehabilitation Specialist at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington D.C.
He graduated from Southern Connecticut State University and received a Master’s of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Oregon.
Sheila Malynowski, President and CEO of Preservation Management, Inc since 2001, has over 35 years experience in affordable housing. Her experience includes more than ten years with HUD and twenty years at the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority as Director of the Housing Management Division, where she led the agency’s participation in FHA risk-share lending, Section 8 contract administration, and Mark to Market underwriting.
Sheila holds a BS in Business Management from Franklin Pierce College and an MS in Administration from Springfield College. She is a licensed Real Estate Broker and has earned a number of industry specific certifications.
Richard McCarthy is the Senior Plans Examiner for the Office of the State Fire Marshal and is responsible for reviewing plans for new and renovated commercial buildings, verifying ADA compliance, reviewing above ground storage tanks, and inspecting mechanical rides and motor vehicle racing venues.
Richard has been involved in the construction industry for his entire career, including 15 years service as a volunteer firefighter. He is a member of the Technical Building Code and Standards Board.
Richard holds an AS in Architecture from the University of Maine at Augusta.
Dale McCormick has been Director of MaineHousing since 2005, where she has received state and national recognition for her leadership in the housing and energy fields, including the Green Building Leadership Award and an award from the National Association of Women in Construction. In 2007 she was inducted to the Maine Women’s Hall of Fame.
Prior to becoming Director Dale served eight years as the first woman Treasurer of the State of Maine, and served three terms in the Maine Senate. She also founded Women Unlimited, a program that successfully trains women on welfare to compete for high-paying jobs in trade and a technical occupation, ran her own construction and design firm, and is a successful author.
She is a member of the Advisory Council for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston.
Dale holds a BA from the University of Iowa and is the first woman to complete a carpentry apprenticeship with the carpenter’s union.
Craig McEwen is professor of sociology at Bowdoin College, where he has taught since 1975. Craig and his students at Bowdoin are beginning their third year of partnership with the Brunswick Housing Authority researching housing affordability in mid-coast Maine.
For over two years Craig has served as convener of the Mid Coast Community Housing Coalition.
Craig earned his BA in sociology from Oberlin College and his PhD in sociology from Harvard University.
Dr. Thomas McLaughlin is a faculty member in the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of New England in Portland, where his research focuses on cost analysis of providing social services versus the alternative of a reliance upon emergency social service systems.
Thomas has presented findings of this research at both national and international conferences. In 2008, he served as a Fulbright Scholar in Brno, Czech Republic were he taught and researched on issues relating to cost effective social work services in emerging communities.
Thomas holds a PhD in Social Welfare Policy from the Union Institute and University, and an MSW from the University of New England.
Melany Mondello is the Statewide Grant Coordinator at Shalom House Inc. in Portland, Maine, a housing and support services non-profit organization serving adults with mental illness. Melany manages rental subsidy programs and is the lead staff person in the Cost of Homelessness grant. As the Grant Coordinator she has been an integral part of the expansion of the federal Shelter Plus Care Program (SPC) and state Bridging Rental Assistance Program (BRAP) initiatives, whose missions are to serve people with disabilities. Melany is one of two Co-chairs for the Maine Balance of State Continuum of Care and is active in the GAPS Analysis/HMIS committee.
Previously she worked as a Quality Improvement Coordinator, managing licensure compliance and reporting for mental health and crisis response programs. She is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine with a Bachelors degree in psychology.
Robert C. Moss is Senior Vice President and Director of Origination, Affordable Housing, for Boston Capital. Robert has 23 years of affordable multifamily housing experience, including syndication, preservation and development, debt financing, tax credit applications and property management. Prior to joining Boston Capital in 1993, where he has originated over $1 billion in tax credit equity and debt and directs the Origination Department nationally, he served as vice president for a private management and development firm in Portland, Maine.
Robert serves on the boards of several national and state housing organizations, is the Chairman of the Housing Advisory Group (HAG) that is active in preserving the credit program in Congress and served as the Federal Legislative Subcommittee Chair for the Housing Credit Group of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). In 2007, he received the NAHB’s Daniel B. Grady Memorial Award in recognition of his commitment to the industry. Robert recently testified before the House Ways and Means Committee during Tax Credit Modernization hearings.
He holds a BA from New Hampshire College.
Cindy Namer, Manager of Homeless Initiatives at MaineHousing, has been with the agency since 1989 and has created a variety of programs for people who are homeless. Cindy is responsible for the day to day operations of MaineHousing’s various homeless programs, including the implementation of Maine’s statewide Homeless Management Information System (MIS). She has been a member of several initiatives, including the Brunswick Naval Air Station Base Closure Homeless Advisory Group and the New England Regional HMIS since its inception.
Prior to working at MaineHousing Cindy worked in the real estate community in Portland and in local town government in Bowdoin.
Catherine Parker, who has over 25 years experience in the mortgage lending field, is President of Mortgage Training Solutions.
Catherine began her lending career as a mortgage processor and also worked as an underwriter, department supervisor, and compliance officer before moving to the production side. Prior to her current position she served as Vice President of Residential Lending for a community bank for seven years.
She also was an instructor with The Center for Financial Studies (formally AIB), where she received the Instructor of the Year Award in 2001, and has taught many banking courses.
Catherine is a 1998 Graduate of The New England School of Banking.
Tina Pettingill has been in the field of Public Health for over fifteen years where she currently is the part-time Executive Director of the Maine Public Health Association and a public health consultant in secondhand smoke policy and environmental work.
Tina is the co-founder of Smoke-Free Housing New England, a private consulting group that provides technical assistance and resources to property owners and housing authorities around New England. She also is the founder and Chair of the Smoke-Free Housing Coalition of Maine, a state-wide coalition that has been successful in helping eighteen of the twenty Maine public housing authorities and hundreds of private landlords implement smoke-free policies.
Tina has spoken extensively in New England and at many national conferences on smoke-free housing and the efforts of the coalition.
Kathy Poulin has been with MaineHousing for eight years, initially as manager of Resident Services and since 2006 as Special Projects Administrator.
Prior to joining MaineHousing Kathy served as Assistant Marketing Manager for NorthCenter Foodservice in Central Maine. She also has worked for Senior Spectrum and as Director of Marketing and Development for Home Resources of Maine.
She is a graduate of the University of Maine at Farmington.
Peter Roche is president of Development Synergies LLC, a private firm providing real estate and business development advisory services to development firms and institutions engaged in housing and community development. Development Synergies specializes in complex development initiatives, including mixed income and mixed-use developments, large-scale redevelopment projects, and community development strategies by large institutions, particularly Universities.
Peter previously served as Director of Development at MaineHousing. He also was Founding CEO of Maine and New Hampshire Housing Investment Funds, Founding Executive Director of NeighborWorks Greater Manchester, and Director of Commercial and Economic Development for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. In these capacities, Peter has served as lender, investor, developer, or consultant to community developments representing nearly $1billion in capital investment in some of the nation’s most complex markets.
Carol Sweeney, with over 25 years experience in the field of energy management, works for Honeywell as Program Manager for New York’s EmPower New York Program. The program serves eligible LIHEAP customers throughout that state.
Prior to her current position she served as Weatherization Director for two counties for the New York’s Weatherization Program, leaving there to manage a utility program in Northern New York for 12 years.
Carol earned a BA from Cortland State University and taught middle and high school English for five years.
Richard Taylor is the Senior Research and Planning Analyst with the Maine Fire Marshal’s Office where his responsibilities include writing rules, drafting legislation and testimony, conducting research on the fire burden in Maine and its cost, writing grants, and developing outreach and public education and awareness programs.
Richard is a member of Maine’s Injury Prevention Group, Home Safety Council Expert Network, Vision 20/20 - A National Strategy for Fire Prevention, and PARADE (Prevention Advocacy Resources Data Exchange).
He holds earned a BA in History and Philosophy from Bradley University; an MA in U.S Constitutional History from Minnesota State University; and an MA in Public Policy Management and Analysis from the Muskie School, University of Southern Maine.
Tom Tietenberg retired from Colby College in 2008 following a thirty-five year career teaching environmental and resource economics, serves as a Trustee for Maine’s Energy and Carbon Savings Trust, and is a member of the Board of its successor organization, the Maine Efficiency Trust.
Tom is a former President and a current Fellow of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists and is the author of over 100 articles, essays and books. He was the team leader for the United Nations project that laid the foundation for the design of the emissions trading, joint implementation, and clean development mechanism components of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. He is also a panel member of the National Academy of Science study “America’s Climate Choices”, funded by Congress to advise it on climate change polices.
Lucy Van Hook, an independent carbon consultant, is currently managing the Carbon Quantification Project at MaineHousing, and has been since its inception in January 2008. Lucy has studied the ecology of climate change since 2000. She is part of a technical team that is developing a weatherization methodology to measure, monitor and sell the carbon emissions avoided from weatherizing single family and multi-family dwellings. The larger scope of the Carbon Project includes the development of a Project Document that will allow Housing Finance Agencies (HFAs) to quantify and sell carbon emission reductions from solar thermal installations and energy efficiency measures in the housing projects they sponsor. Lucy oversees the participation of the state HFAs that have joined the Program during the development stage, and will continue to do so as other interested agencies join the Program.
Lucy is a Maine certified energy auditor, and received her BA in Biology and Environmental Studies from Bowdoin College.
Sheldon Wheeler’s career in housing has spanned 20 years and since 2000 has been with the Department of Health and Human Services, where he is responsible for securing tenant rental assistance administered through his office. The grant making efforts he has led over the last nine years has resulted in more than $45 million in federal funds coming into Maine assisting homeless persons struggling with mental illness.
Sheldon also assisted the Attorney General’s Office and the Department by developing financial, administrative and needs analysis tools to demonstrate trending patterns and demographics, as well as preparing and delivering testimony in Superior Court, and the Legislature. He has been a speaker at regional and national conferences regarding his work on homeless issues that include designing and implementing transparent, accountable systems, initiating the nation’s first rural Cost-Benefit Studies of homeless populations in Maine, and helping lead data driven decision making in government.
Prior to coming to Maine, Sheldon helped build a real estate portfolio in New York City that included the first privately syndicated and financed Low Income Housing Tax Credit project in the nation by a non-profit, community-based organization.
Sterling Williams is Chief Risk Officer for Gorham Savings Bank, where he is responsible for credit policy and underwriting for the bank’s commercial, consumer, and mortgage loan portfolios, as well as the bank’s enterprise wide risk management program.
Sterling joined Gorham Savings Bank in 1998 to start up its commercial lending division and helped develop the Chief Risk Officer role in 2004. Prior to joining Gorham Savings Bank, he served as head of commercial lending at Northeast Bank and in various commercial lending and workout capacities at Fleet Bank of Maine.
Sterling, who currently serves as President of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Maine, holds a B.S. from Colby College.
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