Brunswick, ME — September 26, 2019– CEI today announced the addition of three new professionals to its organization: Amy Winston as State Policy Director; Leah B. Thibault as Marketing Manager and Anna Ackerman as Women’s Business Center Program Developer.

As State Policy Director, Amy Winston will lead policy initiatives supporting the organization’s strategic objectives to expand economic opportunities, create good jobs and support environmentally sustainable enterprises. Trained as a cultural anthropologist, Amy previously conducted ethnographic fieldwork in an eastern Kentucky mining town that was seeking to diversify its economic dependence on coal following mine closures. There, she helped establish a local “action team” dedicated to participatory, sustainable development strategies. Her experience includes working as a legislative analyst at the state level and earning her Maine social work license. She holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Purdue University and an M.A. in Political Science from the University of New Hampshire.

Joining the marketing team is Leah B. Thibault, who has spent 10 years working at CEI Capital Management, a subsidiary of CEI focused on New Markets Tax Credit transactions. Starting as an office assistant, Leah was promoted several times, most recently serving as Director of Executive Administration and Special Projects. Leah has also run her own small business since 2010. She has a B.A. from Willamette University and a certificate in Human Resources Management from the University of Southern Maine.

Anna Ackerman joins CEI’s Women’s Business Center as Program Developer where she will design and facilitate training programs and workshops to help women entrepreneurs throughout Maine to start or grow their business. She brings a diverse background to the team, having served as Assistant to the Directors of the ACLU of Maine, provided research and consulting on gender and human rights issues in Myanmar for the Athena Consortium, worked as Internship Coordinator and Field Organizer for the Angus King for U.S. Senate campaign in 2018 and most recently serving as the Assistant Director at the Oak Institute for Human Rights at Colby College. She holds a B.A. in Gender and Women’s Studies from Bowdoin College and an Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.

About CEI

Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) helps to grow good jobs, environmentally sustainable enterprises and shared prosperity in Maine and in rural regions across the country by integrating financing, business and industry expertise, and policy solutions. CEI envisions a world in which communities are economically and environmentally healthy, enabling all people, especially those with low incomes, to reach their full potential. More at www.ceimaine.org