Our Members

MPA is only as strong as its members. Please read below and find out why MPA is one of the most powerful grassroots organizations in Maine!

Tim Conmee, Orrington

Tim Conmee lives in Orrington and works at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Tim was first approached by an MPA canvasser who knocked on his door in 2006. They had an in-depth discussion about MPA’s plans to pass a Comprehensive Chemicals Policy and Tim wrote a check to become a member. When he didn’t get his newsletter right away, Tim’s wife called our Bangor office and they ended up sitting down over coffee with MPA organizer Adam Goode.

“I volunteer with MPA because individually my vote is my only voice, but when we stand up collectively our voice is a lot louder. The noise is heard in Augusta,” says Tim.
Tim’s most recent volunteer activity was to approach local small business owners to ask them to sign on to a letter supporting the implementation of the Kid-Safe Products Law.

Paulette Dingley, Auburn

Paulette works with the American Red Cross as a health and safety instructor and lives in Auburn. She first started volunteering with MPA during the 2000 election season. For years, Paulette has been deeply involved with MPA’s environmental and toxins work and she represents the Androscoggin Valley on MPA’s statewide Environmental Strategy Committee.

During the summer of 2004, Paulette was a field manager for MPA’s voter registration canvass and helped to register 12,000 voters across the state. Last summer Paulette again helped with MPA voter registration efforts and went door-to-door to help hundreds of low-income people and dozens of new citizens register to vote.

According to Paulette, "MPA is effective because we are very good at coordinating communities around the state to get behind particular issues that affect our members’ everyday lives.” She says that she volunteers for MPA because she knows how "important it is to get involved, and [that] without commitment from everyday people, MPA couldn’t accomplish what we have over the years, and things would never change."

Ismail Ahmed, Lewiston

Ismail Ahmed has been a member of MPA’s Androscoggin Valley Chapter for several years. A long-time leader in the Lewiston-Auburn community, Ismail currently owns a consultancy firm that specializes in training to bridge the gap between refugees and institutions like state agencies and employers. Ismail has worked with Catholic Charities Maine and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services and he serves on the board of Empower Lewiston and the Trinity Jubilee Center. Ismail’s s experience as a small business owner has made him a valuable member of MPA’s Maine Small Business Alliance.

Ismail has also been co-leading the Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition (MIRC) Organizing Team where he is working with other coalition partners to develop new immigrant and refugee leaders who can connect and become powerful voices in Augusta for the needs and interest of Maine’s immigrant communities.
“The Maine People’s Alliance is a perfect fit for me because it is so rooted in the community and gives me the skills needed for community organizing,” says Ismail.

Cathy Kennedy, Portland

Esther “Cathy” Kennedy has been a member of MPA’s Greater Portland area chapter for over five years and is a life-long advocate for affordable housing and the homeless. She got involved with the Maine People’s Alliance after a dear friend, Bobby, died from exposure to the elements due to sleeping outdoors. Cathy said his death made her realize that “something’s got to be done and I can’t do it alone.”

Cathy is also the President of We Who Care, and a regular volunteer at the Wayside Soup Kitchen in Portland. In 2009, Cathy has collected more than 20 grassroots housing surveys through outreach at her church and other organizations. When asked what motivates her activism, Cathy says “It comes from the heart. If it wasn’t for this, I would be lost. It’s the most rewarding job that anyone can do.”

Malvina Gregory, Portland

My time with MPA began as a field canvasser. I was looking for a summer job after my first year of college and found MPA, and they haven't been able to shake me since!

When I first applied, I was interested in working on environmental issues. What I rapidly learned was that I really connected with Maine People's Alliance because of all the work that they do to give a voice to Maine people. I spoke with so many people living and working in places like Machias and Presque Isle who were just so happy to have someone talk about the problems that really affect them—healthcare, wages, safe environments for their kids. And then as I kept working with Maine People's Alliance I saw that MPA helped these people make real change in Augusta.

No other organization can mobilize people like MPA. If you want people at a rally, call MPA. If you want calls generated, call MPA. If you want a solid, strategic plan on how to win a campaign, call MPA. I like what MPA stands for. I like the issues that they work on. I love Maine and MPA is the strongest organization working to make a difference for all Mainers. For all these reasons I've stayed a member, even when living away in other states.

John Henderson, Auburn

I came to MPA to make good use of my time between jobs. I knew that MPA worked on environmental issues, a concern I shared, as well as health care system reform and fair housing. Due to my own circumstances at the time, I was getting a practical education on health care and housing issues. MPA provided the impetus to learn more about the systemic root causes of these national problems, and DO something about them locally. Standing up to do something was really empowering!
 
I continue to work with MPA because the issues we address are of basic importance to everyone's lives, and the people are riotously fun. I like MPA's gritty determination to work for genuine public good, no matter how long it takes, or how steep the odds.

Milt Hillery

I was made aware of MPA when a canvasser knocked on my door, but it wasn’t until two years later that I requested information about becoming more active. Jesse Graham, the chapter organizer, immediately visited with me and the adventure was on. This happened because I have been a progressive for most of my adult life, and MPA finally helped me to become an activist rather than a complainer. The adventure has led to my involvement in many of MPA’s campaigns and in its leadership.

Nikki McLean, Portland

The first time I went to an MPA chapter meeting I was simply tagging along with a friend; it was just a stop along the way to other plans later that evening. But the discussion piqued my interest and I continued attending. I began learning so much about how things work—politics, lobbying, the legislature. There's still a lot I don't know, of course, but on those things I trust the leaders and staff of MPA, individuals who bring years of experience to their respective issue areas.

For me, MPA is different because we actually do things and get things done. Many organizations talk about change, but MPA is actually making change happen. And MPA stands for good change—that benefits everybody.

Eric and Tammy Olson, Veazie

Our first experience with Maine People's Alliance occurred shortly after we moved to Maine. A canvasser stopped by our house and told us about the work MPA was doing. As self-employed residents, we appreciated the work they were doing to make sure DirigoChoice became a reality.

We soon realized the bigger battle would be keeping DirigoChoice. We got an email from MPA notifying us of a pro-Dirigo rally in Augusta. We went—not as members of MPA but as concerned citizens.

Shortly after that we met with Adam Goode, the Penobscot Valley organizer, and realized that MPA was working on many issues that mattered to us. Since then we have become active members doing what we can to help. Now when we attend rallies or talk to others, we proudly call ourselves members of MPA.

Craig Saddlemire, Lewiston

I got involved in MPA through my work with the Visible Community—a group of residents and community members in downtown Lewiston who organize around issues of affordable housing. With the MPA office conveniently located within two blocks from my apartment, it has been very easy for me to swing by and sign up for volunteer work when time allows.

I am still a member because the staff at MPA are such terrific grassroots organizers. They bring a spirit and humility to their work that makes the Maine political scene accessible to progressive Mainers.

One of my MPA highlights is Lobby Day, when average people from around Maine go to Augusta to lobby their representatives on important issues like healthcare and zoning. It is a very empowering opportunity for people who might not otherwise have the time or even the idea that our political system allows people to do this.

What makes MPA different is that while the staff are very professional, they are not an elite club of advocates that simply work the halls at the legislature. They are down-to-earth and very involved in community organizing, which is very different—and I will go so far as to say even more important—than mere advocacy. Community organizing is where cultural change happens. Where the people who are affected by the issues take control and try to do something about it themselves. It helps to bridge the gap between the people with power and the people without power. In order for any true social change to last, Maine's people must be taking responsibility for what happens in their state, and MPA helps them to do that.

Judy Simpson, Auburn

My introduction to MPA, which occurred about ten years ago, was at a rally drawing attention to the hazards of burning toxic waste. I was very busy at that time, however, and didn't get further involved. Years later, when I saw a flyer for an MPA meeting to discuss a proposed WalMart in the Lewiston area, I remembered the great group of people I had met years earlier and decided to attend. Well, I've stuck around and am now on the Board of Directors!

I'm drawn to MPA because of work done on a variety of issues, and I like that we work in partnership with and learn from a lot of other groups. We're not stuck in our own little box. What I like most is that MPA always has a plan. The organizers and volunteer leaders know where they're going, and when they get there they know the next steps to take. It's about action and not just a bunch of rhetoric.

Wells Staley-Mays, Portland

I was drawn to Maine People's Alliance mainly because of its commitment to single-payer universal health care, an issue that I have been committed to since the time I lived in Vermont. I think MPA is different because of its unique members and staff. Each is deeply committed to issues that will benefit all Mainers and to the empowerment of the people in ways that I can't find in other organizations and parties.

Dot Treadwell, Lewiston

Four or five years ago our local organizer invited me to attend a chapter meeting. I had gone to a few when a new organizer, Jake Grindle, came along. Jake encouraged me to become more involved, and I haven't stopped since.

MPA members are good people who are great to work with. I've helped out on a number of campaigns and believe my involvement has made a real difference. MPA is action-oriented and is able to pull lots of people together when it really matters. MPA has given me an opportunity, and taught me the skills, to lobby my legislators on issues that matter to me. MPA Lobby Day is something I really look forward to each year.

David White, Bar Harbor

I was turned-on to the Maine People’s Alliance by one of my customers. He suggested that I contact Jesse Graham, the local community Organizer. The health insurance that I provide to my employees and their families had doubled in price in just two years and I decided to do something about it. Two weeks after meeting Jesse I was testifying at the State House. MPA is definitely the real deal.

I had nearly always voted, but I had otherwise never before been politically active. I held the convenient idea that politically active people tended to be angry, unreasonable “cranks” spewing more fire than fact. I was happy to discover that MPA folks are inviting and thoughtful while holding strong and well-reasoned opinions. To my great delight I soon learned that they are also extremely effective.

The best thing about MPA is that they are what they say they are—regular people working together to make things better. They aren’t “pushy”; they help me be as informed, involved and effective as I want. We aren’t a “club”. We are 32,000 neighbors from all over the state. I’m proud to be a member of the Maine People’s Alliance.

Maine People’s Alliance—Organizing for a Better Maine!

565 Congress St., Suite 200, Portland, Maine 04101; (207) 797-0967; mpa@mainepeoplesalliance.org
27 State Street, Suite 44, Bangor, Maine 04401; (207) 990-0672; jesse@mainepeoples alliance.org
145 Lisbon Street, Suite 200, Lewiston, Maine 04240; (207) 782-7876; kate@mainepeoplesalliance.org