PORTLAND — An Aroostook County professional is among the second class of the John T. Gorman Fellowship, a leadership program in Maine for exceptional nonprofit and public sector professionals, announced the John T. Gorman Foundation last week.
Jason Parent, 
executive director of the Aroostook County Action Program in Presque Isle, joins 11 others from across the state who will participate in a series of six two-day seminars in Portland starting in March. The Fellowship aims to help participants become more focused on results and build the vision, confidence and competence required to advance change and improve the lives of vulnerable people in Maine.
The 12 participants come from across the state and range widely in terms of interests, experiences and skills, said Gorman Foundation officials. Each member works on issues related to the Foundation’s mission and investment priorities: improving educational achievement for young children, promoting successful transitions to adulthood for vulnerable older youth, helping struggling parents to support their families and enabling more low-income seniors to remain in their homes as long as possible.
“We selected this group of Fellows because of their commitment to solving the problems that most profoundly affect Maine’s children, youth, families and seniors,” said Tony Cipollone, president and CEO of the foundation. “By investing in these extraordinary leaders, we expect to reap significant returns for the participants and the organizations they represent and, most importantly, affect long-term change for our state’s most vulnerable people.”
Through the upcoming seminars, the foundation will bring the fellows together to reflect on their current leadership styles and explore new skills and ideas. Discussions, exercises, and practice around results-based leadership, data, collaboration and communication, among other things, will be woven into both group work and individual activities.
The Foundation expects participants will apply these skills in their current positions and, ultimately, on a broader scale within their own organizations, systems, and communities. A key element of the program will be exposing Fellows to national experts and innovative programs and policies.
Other 2017 fellows are: Angela Atkinson Duina, Title I school improvement coordinator for Portland Public Schools; Liz Cotter Schlax, president and CEO, United Way of Greater Portland; Catherine Hamel, director, Boys and Girls Club of Bangor, Bangor Housing Development Corporation; Stephanie LeBlanc, executive director, Oxford County Mental Health Services, Rumford; James Martin, director, Office of Child and Family Services. Department of Health and Human Services, Augusta; Jenna Mehnert, executive director, NAMI-Maine, Augusta; Robyn Merrill, executive director, Maine Equal Justice Partners, Augusta; Kaylene Mitchell, dean of enrollment and student success, Southern Maine Community College, South Portland; Rilwan Osman, executive director, Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services, Lewiston; Eliza Townsend, executive director, Maine Women’s Policy Center, Augusta; and Shawn Yardley, president and CEO, Community Concepts, Inc, Lewiston.
