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CEI Communications
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30 Federal Street, Brunswick, ME 04011
She/They

Leah Batt

Director of Marketing & Communications

About Leah

Leah Batt is the Director of Marketing & Communications at Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI), a Maine-based community development financial institution with a mission to build just, vibrant and climate-resilient futures for people and communities in Maine and rural regions by integrating finance, business expertise and policy solutions in ways that make the economy work more equitably.

As CEI’s Director of Marketing & Communications, Leah oversees media outreach, public relations, social media & website management and storytelling. She is passionate about the power of stories and positive representation to shape perceptions and motivate change. Their writing has been featured in Triple Pundit, Green Money Journal, the Daily Yonder and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’s Investing in Rural Prosperity.

Leah joined CEI as the Portland Office Assistant in 2008 and has held several roles across the family organizations, including most recently as Marketing Manager at CEI and Director of Executive Administration and Special Projects for CEI Capital Management LLC. Since 2010, they have run their own small business, Ms. Cleaver Creations, as a freelance crafts pattern designer. Leah is an avid collector of whimsical clothing and accessories, who believes getting dressed in the morning should be fun.

Education

  • Willamette University, B.A. in Performance Studies
  • University of Southern Maine, HR Certificate

Community Connections

  • Girl Scouts of Maine, Troop Leader and Service Unit Manager.
Get To Know Leah
What is unique about the town you grew up in?

I grew up in Napa, California, where we have an urban legend about "Rebobs," which are carnivorous winged monkeys (kind of like in the Wizard of Oz) that live in a local cemetery.

What was your most memorable job as a teenager?

Sorting accounting files in a refrigerated trailer full of travel-sized toiletries for a hotel under construction.

What book, film, tv show or album do you return to again and again?

One Man’s Meat by E.B. White

image of A Slice of Local Love: Two Fat Cats Bakery

A Slice of Local Love: Two Fat Cats Bakery

"Two Fat Cats Bakery has been delighting Portland, Maine with scratch-made sweets since 2005. Using premium ingredients like local eggs, wild Maine blueberries,…"

image of Coelle Travel

Coelle Travel

"Coelle Travel is an international travel startup based in Wabanaki/Maine, owned by an indigenous immigrant woman, Khadija El Barkaoui, with roots in Amazigh/Morocco.…"

image of A Dream Realized: Kasha's Journey to Creating a Successful Home Child Care Program 

A Dream Realized: Kasha's Journey to Creating a Successful Home Child Care Program 

"In the wake of personal loss and an empty nest, Kasha Haggarty found her calling – establishing a unique home-based child care program.…"