We are grateful and honored that these instructors choose to share their knowledge through our professional development programs. Though they offer their expertise several times per year with the the Division of Lifelong Learning, our instructors are independent professionals with content-area expertise and applied experience.

Leah Boyd
(she/her/hers)

Leah facilitates Constructive Conversations: The Power of Giving and Receiving Feedback

 Leah is a certified trainer with the International Center for Nonviolent Communication, holds a BS in Education and is a co-founder of Clarity Services, LLC.  She is a professional mediator, group facilitator, communication skills trainer & musician. With a diverse background including special education, human resources and professional music, Leah brings wide personal experience to her work. Leah trusts the creative potential that is unleashed when all voices are heard and all needs are considered within a supportive structure, allowing creative tension to become a source of creativity.

Tom Dowd
Distinguished Toastmaster
(he/him/his)

Tom facilitates Practical Public Speaking: From Fear to Success.

Tom Dowd (also known as “Transformation Tom”!) received a communications degree from the University of Delaware. He is a prize-winning speaker, and an award-winning and Amazon best-selling author, trainer and coach. As a member of Toastmasters International, Dowd exhibits consistent success in speech competitions and achieved the Distinguished Toastmaster status in 2015. Dowd utilized his 25+ years of experience in the financial and customer service industry to start Thomas Dowd Professional Development and Coaching, LLC, where he helps people to creatively find their own paths to success.

Elizabeth Haffey
(she/her/hers)

Elizabeth facilitates Grant Writing Essentials.

Elizabeth Haffey is a Maine-based professional grant writer. Through her business, E. Haffey Grant Consulting, she helps clients develop and write proposals, researches opportunities, and trains staff and volunteers to apply for grants. Haffey received her Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from George Washington University and is currently working on her Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Southern Maine.

Will Galloway, M.A.T.
(he/him/his)

Will facilitates Mediation & the Art of Conflict Transformation.

Will offers over three decades of experience working in the field of conflict transformation.  He has served as a court-appointed mediator, was co-owner and founder of the mediation firm Charbonneau & Galloway, mediated cases with the United States Postal Service and has offered courses in basic and advanced mediation.  Currently, Galloway serves as the Head of School and co-founder of the Watershed School in Camden, Maine where the principles and practices of conflict transformation have been integrated into the design of the academic program.  Galloway lives with his wife and three children in Hope, Maine.  He enjoys biking, Tai Chi Ch’uan, and spending time with his family wherever their interests take them.

Kristen Grant
(she/her/hers)

Kristen facilitates Building Your Virtual Facilitation Skills and Strengthening Your Facilitation Skills.

Kristen’s work focuses on the interactions between the people, and ecosystems of the coast. Her work includes a range of activities to build the capacity of coastal communities to plan and adapt for their future, such as building community engagement and facilitation skills, considering housing options, addressing coastal access and waterfront development issues, and understanding erosion trends and planning for coastal hazards. To this work, Kristen brings a Master of Science degree focused on Environmental Education, and has an extensive background in outreach education and community development, as well as nearly a decade of experience in training facilitators.

Pat McCabe, MS, MEd
(she/her/hers)

Pat facilitates What’s Next? Planning Your Transition to Retirement

Pat is a New Hampshire-based human resources partner with 24 years of experience asking future retirees: What are your plans for after you retire? With master’s degrees in Counseling and Higher Education Administration, she has been connecting people to resources at non-profit organizations and in higher education since shoulder pads and big hair were in fashion.

New Hope Midcoast

New Hope Midcoast facilitates Intimate Partner/Domestic Violence Intervention Training.

New Hope Midcoast offers support to people in Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox and Waldo counties affected by domestic and dating violence and provides educational resources to assist our communities in creating a safer and healthier future.

Lori Rodriguez 
(she/her/they/them)

Lori is a domestic violence resource center advocate with New Hope Midcoast. Her background is in gender and sexuality studies, as well as in campus-based sexual violence prevention. Their current role as a Community Prevention Educator focuses on working directly with people impacted by domestic abuse, dating violence and stalking. In addition, they provide educational resources to members of the Midcoast Maine community about the dynamics of domestic abuse. Lori has a particular passion for working with survivors in the LGBTQ+ community as well as working towards enhancing community members’ and other social service providers’ ability to respond from an anti-oppression, trauma-informed lens.

Wendy Rapaport, L.C.S.W., M.S.W., Psy.D
(she/her/hers)

Wendy facilitates Helping People Change: The Power of Group Work and Integrated Wellness Solutions: The Importance of Self-Care.

Wendy is a licensed clinical psychologist on the faculty at the University of Miami School of Medicine Diabetes Research Institute and the UMaine School of Social Work. She also is in private practice in Boca Raton, Florida, and has specialized in individual, marital, family and group therapy for 40 years. A professional writer, Rapaport has published more than 65 articles and lectures around the country. She was awarded the National Health Information Award for her book, “When Diabetes Hits Home: The Whole Family’s Guide to Emotional Health.” Rapaport is also the author of “Approaches to Behavior: Changing the Dynamic between Patient and Professional in Diabetes Care”, “On the Couch with a Good Enough Poet”, “What do We Tell the Children” and “Friendship Matters”.

Restorative Justice Project Maine

RJP Maine facilitates Foundations in Restorative Practices

RJP Maine serves a diverse range of individuals and groups within midcoast Maine and offers training statewide. Their programs and trainings cater to parties causing harm, those harmed, schools, educational institutions, and the wider community, with the belief in the power of dialogue and collective action to repair harm and build stronger, more compassionate communities.

Hanlon Kelley-Dillard
(she/her/hers)

Hanlon has been practicing in the field of Restorative Justice since 2013. She has worked in Harm Repair case management for both youth and adults, led RJP’s Community Justice work in Waldo County, and has trained numerous cohorts of volunteers, school staff, and community members. She loves creating training spaces that allow us to show up as our full selves and to explore together what it looks like to bring mutual respect and care into all our relationships. A firm believer in the power of the restorative approach, Hanlon finds that this approach can bring new beauty and depth to every aspect of life.

Sarah Dyer, Ph.D.
(she/her/hers)

Sarah is a restorative justice practitioner. She has implemented restorative practices in the higher education setting. Sarah introduced restorative practices as a framework for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Husson University. Her dissertation examined how restorative approaches can support the needs of those harmed, the administration, and the community when instances of harm arise. Sarah holds a certificate in Restorative Justice from the University of San Diego. She earned her Ph.D. in interdisciplinary studies from the University of Maine. Sarah is passionate about restorative practices and restorative justice in her personal life, work, and research.

Gina Simm
(she/her/hers)

Gina facilitates Teaching From the Heart: Nonviolent Communication in Pre-K and Elementary School Classrooms.

Gina has taught in early childhood education for over 30 years. Her background in Montessori education and children’s theater launched her into the world of public schools where she spent most of her career as a first-grade teacher (including a year spent teaching English in China). Simm worked closely with Miki Kashtan, a co-founder of Bay Area Nonviolent Communication. Simm’s knowledge of Nonviolent Communication has transformed her classroom into a place where systems of the heart create a child-centered environment for moving through conflict. Simm lives in the Pioneer Valley Cohousing Community in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Peggy Smith
(she/her/hers)

Peggy facilitates Helping to Calm Strong Emotions with Resonant Language.

Peggy holds a master’s degree in literacy and language arts from the University of Pennsylvania, and is a certified trainer with the International Center for Nonviolent Communication with over four decades of teaching experience. A co-founder of the Maine Nonviolent Communication Network, Smith is at the forefront of bringing empathic thinking and communicating to midcoast Maine. Since 1991, Smith has studied with Zen teacher and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh and is a dharma teacher within his tradition. Smith enjoys designing and implementing programs that support empathic thinking and communicating as part of systemic culture change. She lives in Lincolnville, Maine and greets the day watching the sunrise over Islesboro.

Dr. Mary Smyth
(she/her/hers)

Mary facilitates SAT Preparation programs, including SAT Prep Matters, SAT Prep Bootcamp, and PSAT / NMSQT Prep

Mary has extensive experience as an instructor and tutor for Maine students in grades 2 – 12, including as a math instructor for Watershed School, Gifted and Talented Math instructor for SAD 5, tutor for SAD 28 and Five Town Community School District, and middle school math team coach. Her private tutoring specialties include test preparation for the PSAT, SAT, ACT, IB Math, AP Calculus, GRE, and GMAT. She has also been a private practice pediatrician and editor of a health and parenting newsletter.