Gannett Scholarship recipients meet in Portland at a networking luncheon hosted by Madeleine Corson, an advisor to the fund. Left to right: Justin Chenette, Kegan Zema, Julia Butler, Corson, Nick McCrea, Eliza Duggan, and Peter Logue. Photo by Carl Little
When the five Maine gubernatorial candidates met at Unum in Portland for a forum on education last fall, the framing questions came from “An Educated Workforce for a 21st Century Economy,” a special report prepared by the Mitchell Institute for the Compact for Higher Education and the Maine Community Foundation.
One of the issues addressed in the report is financial access to college. The Maine Community Foundation manages nearly 450 scholarship funds, many of them geared to high school students pursuing post-secondary education. One of them, the Guy P. Gannett Scholarship, has helped 86 Maine journalism students pay for college and graduate school while providing valuable networking opportunities. Gannett scholars are at work in media outlets across the U.S. and around the world.
Other Ways the Community Foundation is Building an Educated Workforce
- The Program for Nonprofit Effectiveness, managed by the Maine Community Foundation and Common Good Ventures (CGV), is currently focusing its efforts on higher education. The community foundation and CGV are helping nonprofits work together to make higher education and specialized skill training more accessible to youth and adults. Our 2009-2012 partners are Literacy Volunteers of Maine; College for ME--Androscoggin; and the Rockland After School Alliance, a program of Broadreach Family Services, Youthlinks, and MSAD #5.
- Because it is crucial that more Maine workers obtain higher education if the state is to remain competitive in the national and global economy, the community foundation supports the Maine Compact for Higher Education, whose mission is to increase enrollment in colleges, universities, and technical schools. The Maine Employers’ Initiative, a part of the Compact, encourages businesses to “take one more step” in encouraging their employees' educational aspirations.
To learn more about the Maine Community Foundation's work to build an educated workforce, and how you can support this work, contact Peter Taylor by e-mail or by phone, toll-free, at 877-700-6800.