Get in touch with any of the MECASA friends by clicking on their photo!
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Elizabeth Ward Saxl, Executive Director
she, her, hers Elizabeth and Dory have overall strategic and operational responsibility for MECASA’s staff, programs, expansion, and the execution of its mission to end sexual violence in Maine and to support high quality sexual violence prevention and response within Maine’s communities. In addition, they focus on initiating and advocating for victim-centered public policy at the State House and in other policy arenas. Elizabeth and Dory report directly to MECASA’s Board of Directors. When they don’t have their heads buried in Maine’s Criminal Code, Elizabeth and Dory can be found working outside with the rest of their family at their home in Belgrade; trying to spend as much time as possible in, on and by the water; and saving their frequent-flyer points miles for their next family adventure. |
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Destie Hohman Sprague, Associate Director
she, her, hers As MECASA's Associate Director, Destie spends a lot of time making spreadsheets with work plans; thinking and talking about – and sometimes working on – evaluation and how we measure our efforts; grant-writing and reporting; and helping to set the agenda for statewide prevention and programming. She also supports the staff who are coordinating programs, such as the Network of CACs, trafficking, and provider services. She is always happy to help out with questions about program development, outcome evaluation, collecting data and making it useful, primary prevention (and spreadsheets!). Destie lives in Bath with her family, where she spends a lot of time growing, cooking, canning and eating food. |
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Jennifer Wilkey, Communications Coordinator
she, her, hers As Communications Coordinator, Jennifer oversees MECASA’s communication strategies, where she strives for consistent statewide messaging and visual aesthetic. She supports both MECASA’s in house staff and state providers with a range of communication needs. Examples of this include creating digital, print, and social media content, working with Maine media, responding to current issues and events, and writing talking points, press releases, and op-eds. As an artist, design is her happy place and she loves to create engaging content utilizing her graphic design, photography, and video skills to help prevent sexual violence and improve accessibility to resources and information within our Maine community. Jennifer lives in Brunswick with her family and various critters, including her dachshund/lab mix, Olive. She can be found reading science fiction and engaging her artistic side with woodturning, drawing, or sewing in her free time. |
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Jess Bedard, Trafficking & Special Projects Coordinator
she, her, hers Jess is the Trafficking & Special Projects Coordinator. She provides technical assistance to sexual assault service providers and community members who are delivering services in complex systems, specifically with survivors of human trafficking and incarcerated survivors. Please reach out to Jess with questions around any of these issues. When she’s not at MECASA Jess enjoys hiking, traveling and snuggling her cat. |
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Katie Church, Children's Safety Partnership Coordinator
she, her, hers Katie works to coordinate the efforts and act as a resource for the Children’s Safety Partnership, an initiative that began in response to the legislation passed in 2015 mandating child sexual abuse prevention for all publicly funded Pre-K through 5 programs in Maine. When not at work, Katie loves trying out new recipes and going on adventures with her family. |
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Sarah Firth, Quality and Compliance Coordinator
she, her, hers Sarah coordinates compliance and quality; that means she can help you figure out how to offer services and develop your workplace in ways that also satisfy the regulations. You might see her doing site visits or training at staff meetings but she also works on projects to develop consistent statewide services like text/chat and support group facilitator training. She lives with her family in Vienna. |
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Canyon Sears, Intervention Coordinator
they, them, theirs As the Intervention Coordinator Canyon's primary responsibility is to assist advocates across the state in the delivery of all core SASC intervention services, including helpline, support groups, and SART. They are here to listen to advocates' needs, provide technical assistance, and support the development and implementation of intervention programming across the state. They also develop and facilitate the bi-annual intervention affinity meetings and manage the MECASA Intervention Toolkit. Canyon believes that advocates know what is best for them and want to center advocate voice and vision in the further development of SASC programs. Outside the office, Canyon is probably walking along the rocks on the coast, working on their truck, or making food with friends. They are excited to talk to you about your ideas on how we can continue to improve our core services, including making them more accessible, deeper, and aligned with anti-oppression values. They are also excited to talk to you about astrology, art, therapy, and food. |
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Katie Kondrat, Equity and Access Coordinator
she, her, hers Katie works with culturally and community-specific providers and sexual assault support centers to create accessible and equitable services for all survivors. She looks for opportunities to create community-led sexual violence services for populations who have barriers to services, and are therefore, underserved. Katie wants to work with you on supporting rural advocates and survivors, Safe Space training and gender-inclusive services, collaborating with culturally or community-specific partners, and building or finding resources for any other underserved population. When she’s not at MECASA, she can be found urban farming in Portland, swimming, or somewhere outside with her family and the Tiniest Dog. |
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Caitlin Kelty-Huber, Prevention Coordinator
she, her, hers Caitlin is very excited to join MECASA as the state-wide Prevention Coordinator. Previously, she served as School-Based, Community, and Education Program Coordinator at Sexual Assault Support Services of Midcoast Maine. She has a background in the related and overlapping fields of humane education and ecofeminism. As Prevention Coordinator, Caitlin's primary responsibility is to assist preventionists across the state as they deliver programs that shift hearts and minds around the social norms that perpetuate sexual violence. She is here to listen to preventionist's needs, desires and dreams, and deliver tangible, systemic support. She is passionate about social change, and is driven by the goal of creating safer, more tolerant and inclusive communities across the state. Outside the office, Caitlin is very likely hanging out with her interspecies family, tending the garden, or IDing wildflowers. She is excited to talk to you about primary prevention, sexual violence education, and collaboration! |
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Julie Agri, Financial Coordinator
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Julie is the Finance Coordinator at MECASA and brings many years' of finance experience with her. She enjoys spending time with her two teenage kids, road trips, kayaking, and photography.
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Julie is the Finance Coordinator at MECASA and brings many years' of finance experience with her. She enjoys spending time with her two teenage kids, road trips, kayaking, and photography.
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Looking for the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault? Head to mecasa.org. |