Emerge Maine

A Maine native, Ashley has been living on a family owned and operated fruit and vegetable farm in Warren. Upon graduating from Medomak Valley High School, she went on to earn her Bachelors degree at Boston University in May 2009.While studying in Boston, she fostered her lifelong political interests and has spent the past four years engaged in numerous campaigns, stretching from a NY state assembly race to a London mayoral campaign.

Shenna Bellows has served as the Executive Director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union since March of 2005. She returned home to Maine, where she grew up, after spending two years as a National Field Organizer at the ACLU Legislative Office in Washington, D.C.Shenna is active in the Maine Freedom to Marry Coalition, the Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition, the Right to Know Advisory Committee, and the Maine Choice Coalition. She is a graduate of Middlebury College and has served in both the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps VISTA programs.

Kelly Bickmore is currently working as the Operations Director for a national healthcare speciality company. She is a clinical social worker with over 20 years of experience working in a variety of mental health settings. Kelly is an active volunteer in her community and has served as a school board director for over 10 years. Kelly has continued to support her small family business of construction and farming. She is a lifelong Mainer. Kelly lives in Newburgh with her children, Mathias and Claire, and a large group of cats, dogs, and horses.

Dauna Binder is a Democratic candidate for the Maine House of Representatives (District 17). A retired teacher, Ms. Binder is a lifelong advocate for Maine's children with a progressive agenda: pro-choice and pro-marriage equality. 

Pamela works at Family Violence Project as the Legal Specialist.  She is also a Professor at University of Maine with the Justice Studies Department and with the Behavioral/Human Services Department at Kennebec Valley Community College.  She has an extensive academic and professional legal background, with a concentration in domestic violence and has been certified as an expert in domestic violence by the Texas School of Law.  Academics include: Assoc. Criminal Justice, B.S.

Mary Katherine Brennan  is from York, Maine. I am a 1998 graduate  of York High School, a 2002 graduate of Colby College, and a 2006 graduate of the University of Maine School of Law. I am currently a Staff Attorney at Maine Legal Services for the Elderly Inc. since 2006. I have been a volunteer for the Volunteer Lawyers Project, the Justice Action group, the United Way of York County, and the York County Elder Abuse task force. I live in South Berwick with my husband, Smilie G. Rodgers, and our dog Olive Rodgers.

Cindy Bullens, born in Boston, is, in her soul, a life-long resident of Maine, living in both Cumberland and North Haven. Cindy is the mother of Reid and Jessie Bullens-Crewe—and the grandmother of two girls, Tobey and Charlotte. Reid lives in Cumberland and Jessie lost her life to cancer at age 11 in 1996. Cindy is a two-time Grammy nominee who's 35 year career in the music business has included working with Elton John, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, and many others. She has released nine critically acclaimed albums.

I grew up in a family of eight, the third child of six.  I learned that everything you get in life, you must create or earn, to be self sufficient and to have the attitude that I can learn to do anything.  I've been a Registered Nurse for 23 years easing people into life and out of life with care and compassion.  When the love of my life, over the last 30 years, left our partnership a few years ago, I discovered a beautiful truth through that pain.

Amy Cookson earned her BA in political science and minor in women's studies from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. She spent a semester studying at Lancaster University in England and a semester interning for the publishing department of Ms. Magazine. She then attended graduate school at the UMass Amherst and graduated with a Masters Degree in Public Policy and Administration. After two years as a budget analyst for the New York State Health Department, she returned to Maine to work as a field organizer for the House Democratic Campaign Committee.

Hallie graduated from the University of North Carolina with a degree in History and International Relations and taught American history and government in high school and college in North Carolina.  She moved to Maine in 1979 and married Stephen, a civil engineering consultant.  They have one daughter, a recent graduate of Smith College who is very interested in politics.  
In the 80’s, Hallie became a widely exhibited craftswoman and worked for several years for the Maine Festival.  She was a real estate broker until she began working for L.L.Bean where she stayed until retirement this summer.