We, the Lewiston Auburn team, proudly represent one of Maine's most diverse and engaged communities. Despite significant historical challenges, Lewiston Auburn has become a model of economic rebirth and innovation, multicultural resilience, and grassroots persistence.
Initially a group of 83 stakeholders came together to imagine a WCC Design Phase grant. Dozens of us participated in a series of deliberative dialogues about the workforce in relation to issues of power, privilege, voice, and representation in our community. Those dialogues fed into a democratic nomination and voting process from which emerged the Leadership Team.
Our most meaningful progress as a team has been actually becoming a team – a slow, arduous, and beautiful unfolding. It requires patience, courage, vulnerability, and a stubborn refusal to give up.
We hold many hats and intersectional identities: We are resilient residents, business and organization leaders, and representatives of private and public sectors. We are immigrant business owners. We oversee agencies in the non-profit sector. We include a former city councilor who founded a youth-led nonprofit. We bring both personal and professional skills in strategic planning, budgeting and finance, collaboration and business creation. We are experts in both K-12 and higher education.