Executive Committee Meeting

 

September 2, 2025

 

PRESENT: Luke Shorty, Celeste Branham, Pam Proulx-Curry, Bill Guindon, Kelsey Preecs, Scott Adams, Brittany Gleixner-Hayat, Maria Milllard.

 

Committee members convened at 3:30 pm in person with an option for virtual participation. Executive Director, Brittany Gleixner-Hayat was present. Volunteer Maine Consultant Maria Millard was present.

 

1. Commissioner Quorum and Attendance:

 

  • Present: Luke Shorty, Celeste Branham, Pam Proulx-Curry, Bill Guindon, Scott Adams, Kelsey Preecs.
  • Absent: Diane Lebson.

 

2. Urgent and Timely Issues from Volunteer Maine Staff:

 

  • Update on OMB Hold
    • OMB hold on FY25 AmeriCorps funding has been lifted. This is a huge relief for Volunteer Maine as the CIF grant represented a significant operational revenue stream. The announcement affects Volunteer Maine grantee, MCC as well as for the SMAA Senior Companion program both of which will be able to continue programming as a result of this decision. A letter of appreciation to Senator Collins was sent from Commission Chair Proulx-Curry for her signing of a bipartisan letter to OMB urging the immediate release of these funds.

4. General updates and planning:

  • Volunteer Leadership Conference Appreciation
    • Commissioners expressed appreciation for the Service Program task force and Commission Preecs’s leadership for the completion of a highly successful 39th Maine Volunteer Leadership Conference.
  • Governor Appointed Aylenne and Janet as are new commissioner!
    • Executive Director Gleixner-Hayat announced that both nominations for new Commissioner were accepted by the Governor. All re-appointments were also approved. Swearing in will occur during the Commission retreat on September 15th.
  • September 15 Retreat Agenda Overview
    • Volunteer Maine consultant and facilitator for the annual retreat, Maria Millard, provided an overview of the proposed retreat structure and approach for Commissioner feedback.
  • External Engagement/Collaboration Updates
    • Executive Director Gleixner-Hayat met with Maine Association of Nonprofits Executive Director Jennifer Hutchins to discuss areas for collaboration. These include coordination on training opportunities for nonprofits in volunteer management, dialogue on opportunities for enhancing civic engagement, and potential engagement of MANP on using servemaine.org as a venue for posting non-profit board membership opportunities.
    • Volunteer Maine staff recently contacted all United Ways in Maine to offer a meeting to discuss collaboration on data sharing for volunteer matching websites. United Ways involvement in servemaine.org will be critical for its success.
  • Finance Task Force
    • Finance task for met to review a new reporting format and approved the approach. A discussion on the merits of pooling DICAP with other MOCA offices into a share pool resulted in a recommendation that Volunteer Maine pool DICAP.
  • RFA Released
    • Commissioner Guidon announced that a Request for Application for AmeriCorps rural grant would soon be issued.