For immediate release:

[November 8, 2023] – Brunswick, Maine — Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI), recently welcomed its first cohort of Justice Fellows, a career development program designed to introduce early-career professionals from the communities that CEI aims to serve to the field of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and entrepreneurship development.

The Justice Fellowship consists of a one-year, full-time position at CEI, where each fellow will bring their lived experience and professional expertise to help CEI appraise current offerings, modify or create products and services, and pursue policy initiative that build a more just and equitable economy in Maine and other rural areas.

The three Justice Fellows for CEI’s 2024 fiscal year are: Azenaide Pedro of Lewiston, Maine; Winston “Tony” Orlando Anthony Antoine Jr. of Lewiston, Maine and Joelle Mikobi of Portland, Maine.

Azenaide Pedro (she/her) is continuing her career journey at CEI after serving as the Program Specialist for CEI’s Child Care Business Lab initiative since 2020. Before coming to CEI, Azenaide worked at Raise-Op, a Lewiston Maine Cooperative Organizer. Azenaide holds a bachelor’s degree in public health from Monash University in South Africa, and an associate degree in business administration and management form Central Maine Community College. She serves on the boards of Lewiston Housing Authority, and Promise Early Education, and is a part of the LA Task Force Team.

Winston “Tony” Orlando Anthony Antoine Jr. (he/him) is a passionate advocate for environmental justice who has served as a Farm Assistant at Replenova Farm, as a Climate Justice Coordinator at Maine Youth for Climate Justice, and as a Garden Engagement Coordinator at St. Mary’s Nutrition Center. He served on the Outdoor Equity Fund Community Advisory committee and has also held positions at Black Owned Maine, the YMCA of Auburn-Lewiston, Outdoor Equity Fund Community Advisory committee and at the Lewiston Housing Authority. Tony is a teacher by training, and he has performed as a Spanish Teacher, as an Alternative and Special Education Ed Tech, and as ESL/ELL Ed Tech. Tony holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Romance Languages (Spanish, French, Italian) from Bowdoin College, and has done continued education at the University of Maine Farmington on Courses in Second Language Acquisition.

Joelle Mikobi (she/her) brings a diverse skillset in customer service, operations and sales, and is passionate about work that involves helping immigrants and people living in poverty. Joelle was a 2022 Fellow of the Portland Empowered Civic and Community Engagement Fellowship and has held roles as a claims specialist with Maine Health, a customer service representative at Wex and retail sales. Joelle holds an associate degree in social communication from the Catholic University of Congo- D.R.C, and an associate degree in business administration from Southern Maine Community College. She is currently completing her bachelor’s degree at the University of Southern Maine.

The Justice Fellowship at CEI was seeded with a portion of their Mackenzie Scott grant and will hire a cohort of three full-time, yearlong Fellows per year in October 2023, 2024 and 2025.

About CEI
Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) works to build a just, vibrant and climate-resilient future for people and communities in Maine and rural regions by integrating finance, business expertise and policy solutions in ways that make the economy work more equitably. More at www.ceimaine.org.