Acadia Senior College

We are all living longer and healthier lives, presenting exciting new opportunities as well as challenges we can tackle creatively. An increasing older adult population in Maine represents an underutilized resource for the state’s economy and communities. To maximize the value of older people’s potential contribution, we need to adjust our attitudes and assumptions about what it means to grow older. We also need to adapt our homes, workplaces, and communities to enable healthy aging and active engagement.

In her talk, Maine Community Foundation Director of Grantmaking Laura Lee will share an overview of lifelong/age-friendly communities in Maine and beyond. She will also highlight some of the foundation’s efforts to change the conversation around aging and offer highlights of its efforts to ensure that “all older people in Maine are valued and able to thrive and age in their workplaces and communities with health, independence, and dignity.”

Laura Lee is director of grantmaking at the Maine Community Foundation, coordinating the foundation’s competitive grant programs. In addition to working with donors and nonprofits, she leads the foundation’s strategic goal work on aging. Prior to joining MaineCF in 2015, Lee held positions at Bowdoin College, including assistant dean of student affairs. Lee earned a BA in history from Oberlin College and a master’s and PhD in U.S. history from UCLA. Lee lives with her family in Brunswick.

Laura will be joined by her colleague, Cherie Galyean, who oversees learning and strategies to inform, improve, and share learnings from Maine Community Foundation programs and initiatives. Cherie will update us on the MCF Covid-19 response.