By finding common threads among those who sustain the organization, Jen links Hurricane Island with people who believe that transformative, experiential, science-based education can and will help create a bright future for all. In other words, as Advancement Director, Jen gets to connect the dots.
She started her career as a small business owner starting a popular home and marine fabric business in Edgecomb, Maine which she ran for many years before entering the non-profit world. Prior to joining Hurricane Island, she led recruitment, marketing, fundraising and business efforts for a variety of small science-based schools and organizations beginning at the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting at the University of Rhode Island. In Maine, she served on the Board of Directors at Juniper Hill School for Place-based Education, was Interim Head of School at Coastal Studies for Girls Semester School, and recently managed lead gifts for the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens’ capital campaign. Jen first visited Hurricane Island during a fog-bound layover while sailing with her young family. She is thrilled to have been drawn back. Aside from working alongside a most impressive set of peers, Jen’s favorite thing about her role at Hurricane Island is witnessing daily the lasting bond between people and place.
Jen holds a B.A. in Women and Gender Studies from the University of Southern Maine and a M.Ed. in Integrative Learning from Endicott College. A transplant from the Boston suburbs, she has called Mid Coast Maine home for over thirty years and now lives near Rockport Harbor where she enjoys walking, writing, skiing, kayaking, and watching the seabirds and tides.