9  September 2025

PRESENT: Janet May, Kelsey Preecs, Andres Velez

STAFF: Michael Ashmore, Maureen Kendzierski, Lucy Martin, Jamie McFaul

Meeting started at 3:03

Agenda

  1. Welcome
  2. Novice Volunteer Management Course and Micro credential
  3. AmeriCorps Member Conference October 10th (Jamie McFaul and Andres Velez)
    1. Movement from Spring to Fall
    2. Content for the Conference
      1. Keynote: Maya Williams
      2. Member Experience Spotlight – opportunity for members to share their experiences with one another
      3. Federal job applications – use USAJobs portal and the process of application to working in the field
      4. Leading with Purpose – based on service term where want to go
      5. Department of Labor discussing Maine Apprenticeship Program
      6. Department of Labor resume building workshop; Augusta Career Center
      7. Interviewing workshop – prepare for a job interview, how to answer questions, present yourself in an interview
      8. AlphaLegal is how to build your own parachute lesson
      9. Public lands career panel
      10. State job applications from the Augusta Career Center
      11. Lunch
      12. Network?
        1. Have something on the back of their ID tags that offers their names etc.
      13. Raffle/Event Wrap Up – Closing Plenary Brittany Gleixner-Hayat
    3. Commissioners are welcome to come for the morning breakfast to meet members and have conversation and potentially at the end of the day
    4. Staffers from the congressional offices to meet members?
      1. In the past they’ve come in the morning and offered their thanks to the members for serving (3 minutes each – 10-12 minutes total)
      2. Picked a member to pay attention to the congressional office staffer
    5. Zeffy registration
      1. Give discount to member experience participants -- $10/$20 off
  4. AmeriCorps
    1. Release of OMB funds on training funds and Conservation Corps
    2. RFA Announcement
      1. Open from now until October 15th
      2. Information session on September 15th
    3. Grant Reviewers needed
  5. Maine Service Fellows
    1. Recruitment for Host Sites for 26/27 year
      1. Deadline not until January
      2. Beginning recruitment for sites starting at the Maine Municipal Association Conference October 8-9th
    2. What is the target what is the opportunity – should we expand so that each site automatically has two years/limited to two years
      1. Framework: Limitation of two years per host site to prevent the organization from replacing a full time position with a Maine Service Fellow in perpetuity
        1. 10 months is not necessarily enough time
        2. Prevents opportunity from being accessed in other parts of the state as well and grow the program
      2. For AmeriCorps the limitation is three years
      3. Create a draft policy for host site year limitations and bring into the next meeting
        1. Sites and Fellows choose 10 month or 20 month terms?
        2. Talk to the host site supervisors
  6. Climate Corps Network
    1. One-pager/ Climate Corps update for funding
    2. Brenda trainings
      1. Climate Corps Network or Volunteer Maine branded
        1. Volunteer Maine branded training
      2. Module Overview
      3. Task Force Role

Meeting ended at: 4:00