November 16, 2022, (Brunswick, ME) – Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) announces the following promotions and hires to its staff, as well as the appointment of five individuals to its Board of Directors:

Promotions
Kelsie Bouchard has been promoted to Director, CEI Notes and Portfolio Management. CEI Notes is a fixed income investment product that enables accredited investors to help finance CEI’s loan portfolio. Kelsie manages investor relationships and operations of the 15-year-old $18 million dollar fund and seeks to further grow capital balances. She also underwrites new lending deals, analyzes trends and opportunities across CEI’s expanding loan portfolio, and provides general risk management to the department. Kelsie joined CEI as Portfolio and Credit Manager in 2019.

Gabrielle Grunkemeyer has been promoted to be CEI’s Development Director.  In this role Gabby is responsible for managing CEI’s annual philanthropy program, including our annual appeal, private, organizational and corporate foundation grants, and outreach to high-net-worth individuals in support of CEI’s new strategic plan priorities and sustaining a diverse and stable funding base. Gabby brings over 16 years of experience raising funding for environmental causes and close to three years at CEI working in collaboration with colleagues to raise philanthropic support to advance our mission.

Raynor Large has been promoted to Center Director and Alison Lane was promoted to Associate Center Director of the Maine SBDC at CEI. Raynor has been a business advisor with the Maine SBDC since 2018 and Alison has been a business advisor with the Maine SBDC since 2019. Both Raynor and Alison have been recognized as the Maine SBDC State Star in 2022 and 2021, respectively. The award, given annually, recognizes a member of the Maine SBDC staff that has shown exemplary performance and a strong commitment to small business success.

Linnea Patterson has been promoted to Program Developer: Climate Justice and Environmental Resilience. In this role, Linnea will continue to be a member of the lending and investment team and will work to expand and strengthen CEI’s equitable and green lending practices. The position focuses on climate justice and environmental resilience to ensure that, as our economy decarbonizes, under-resourced communities and businesses benefit from this transition.

Leah B. Thibault has been promoted to Director of Marketing & Communications. Leah joined CEI in 2008 as the Portland office assistant. Over the next fourteen years, she took on a variety of roles in the CEI family of organizations, including grant writing, administration and HR support, before specializing in marketing and communications beginning in 2019.

Jessica Stover has been promoted to Senior Accountant and Treasury Administrator. Jessica has been a key member of CEI’s accounting and finance department for eleven years and is responsible for managing financial models and accounting practices related to CEI’s notes payable and specialized investments.

New Staff Members

Emma Enoch – Emma joins Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) as a Loan and Investment Officer, bringing with her a wealth of experiences and an evident passion for community development. Emma comes from the Vermont Community Loan Fund, where she was a Loan Officer, managing applicant and client relationships. Emma previously held roles as AmeriCorps Member, Project Manager with The Food Rescue Project, Food Bank Manager at the Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program, and Food Systems Analyst at Sterling College in Vermont. Staying true to her passion for community, she also contributes her time and talents in many organizations serving as a board member, committee chair, and volunteer. Her community engagement includes working with organizations such as Slow Money VT, Center for Women & Enterprise, and Food Solutions New England. Emma is a graduate from Sterling College with a Bachelor of Arts in Sustainable Food Systems.

Diana LeBlanc – Diana joins Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) as the new Talent and Diversity Specialist. Diana comes to CEI with several years of administrative, HR talent acquisition experience, and a passion for DEI work. She has held roles as a staff assistant and HR talent specialist at Kansas State University, as well as a Talent Acquisition Strategic Partner at KSU. Most recently, she held the role as AVP, Talent and Diversity Specialist at Bangor Savings Bank. Diana is very active outside of work as the co-chair of the Diversity Hiring Coalition of Maine, Junior Achievement of Maine and is a mentor for the Olympia Snowe Women’s Leadership Institute. Diana earned a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration on Entrepreneurship from Kansas State University, and a Graduate Certificate in Public Administration from KSU. She also holds her SHRM-CP designation. Diana is a native Spanish speaker, fluent in English, and is a beginning French speaker.

Dasha White – Dasha joins the CEI-Boulos team as the new SVP of Investments. In this role, Dasha will be helping to manage and expand the company’s investment funds focused on making high-impact commercial real estate projects across the country through the Opportunity Zone investment program. Dasha joined CEI-Boulos with over 15 years of commercial real estate investment experience. She is responsible for managing and expanding the company’s investment funds. Dasha started her career as an associate at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and a consultant in the – distressed real estate group at Otera Capital in New York. Additionally, she’s held the role of VP of Fixed Income at the Endeavor Real Estate group in Austin, Texas and most recently was the Director of Acquisitions at Paramount Specialty finance based out of Austin. She has received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

New Board Members

Sean Dundon, Director of Partnerships and Channel Development at VETRO FiberMap

At VETRO FiberMap, a CEI Ventures-backed company, Sean leads the Partner/Channel program at VETRO to provide integrated software solutions to drive SaaS revenue for fiber-optic network providers. Sean has served on the City of Portland Community Development Block Grant Program Committee and completed nine (9) years on the City of Portland Planning Board. Other board service includes Breakwater School (Breakwater Learning), Lakes Environmental Association (LEA) in Bridgton, Maine, and currently serves as Vice-Chair at Carrabassett Valley Academy (CVA).  Sean has a B.S. degree in Public Health from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, an M.S. of Nuclear Engineering from the University of New Mexico, and an MBA from Bryant University in Finance.

Safiya Khalid, Leadership Programs Manager at Gateway Community Services Maine

From 2020-2022, Safiya Said Khalid served as a member of the Lewiston, Maine City Council, making history as the first Somali-American woman ever elected to Lewiston’s City Council. Though Safiya decided not to run for re-election, she continues her work as a community organizer and activist in Lewiston and in building the next generation of leaders through her role as Leadership Programs manager, at Gateway Community Services Maine, a nonprofit organization with offices in Lewiston and Portland, whose mission is to support the wellbeing of immigrants and refugees in the Greater Portland and Lewiston areas. GCSM offers support while creating opportunities for connection between immigrant, refugee, and asylee community members and their neighbors.

Jason Parent, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Aroostook County Action Program

As Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Jason leads Aroostook County Action Program. Jason holds a Master of Science in Business Degree from Husson University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication from the University of Maine at Presque Isle. Prior to joining ACAP in 2015, Jason held communication leadership positions in higher education and healthcare for nearly two decades. He is passionate about community involvement and volunteerism and currently serves on the boards of a number of organizations, including the Maine Association of Non-Profits, Aroostook Partnership, Aroostook Aspirations Initiative, Aroostook Regional Transportation System, Aroostook Home Health Services/Valley Home Health Services, and is the Immediate Past President of Maine Community Action Partnership. Born in Canada and raised along the border in Maine’s northernmost region—the St. John Valley—Jason’s first language is French. He has been greatly involved as a volunteer leader in preserving, advancing, and promoting the area’s Acadian and Franco-American Culture.

Adler Prioly, VP, Structured Finance at Distributed Solar Development

Adler Prioly is on the Structured Finance team at DSD Renewables, a leading developer and asset owner of solar and solar + battery storage projects across the US. Adler is an active board member in the impact finance space. He recently served as a Member of the Board of Directors of Telluride Association for the past decade.  In that capacity, he chaired a number of committees, including the Spending Policy Working Group, the Budget Committee, the Audit Committee, and the Membership Committee.  During that time, he also served as a member of the Board of Custodians overseeing the management of Telluride’s endowment, strengthening financial operations, and diversifying the investment portfolio while growing the asset base.  Adler was recently elected to a 3-year term as a Member of the Board of Directors for the Clean Energy Credit Union, a leading provider of clean energy lending products nationwide.  He recently served as an advisor to Climate Finance Advisory Team, a focus group led by the Community Investment Guarantee Pool, providing advisory on financial products for mission- and impact-aligned transactions.  He currently serves as Treasurer of the Roothbert Fund and helps to manage its investment portfolio.

Krystal Williams, Founding Manager of Providentia Group

Krystal Williams, the Founding Manager of Providentia Group, likes to build amazing things with awesome people. As a business strategist and attorney, Krystal brings an important and respected perspective to limited liability companies, innovation, strategic partnerships, and board governance. She has served on the board of directors for multiple non-profits and in leadership roles at her alma maters. She currently serves as a University of New England trustee and a technology advisor for Maine Technology Institute. She is a member of the governance committee for Maine Public Radio, and a former director and Equity Officer for the ACLU of Maine. She moved to Maine after thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail and welcomes being called by her trail name, Bumblebee. Krystal holds a J.D. from the University of Maine School of Law, an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, and dual undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and Psychology from Williams College.

About CEI

Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) works to build a just, vibrant and climate-resilient future 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. More at www.ceimaine.org