Peter Dugas (Cheverus class of 1993) serves as the Northeast Regional Director for Citizens Climate Lobby and serves as the Maine State Coordinator, Portland chapter co-leader and as co-liaison to the office of Senator Angus King (I-ME). Peter has been concerned about anthropogenic climate change since earning a degree in Physics and Engineering from Brown University, is a first generation accredited EN-ROADS Climate Ambassador from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and won the 2021 Maine Sunday Telegram Source Award for his work building bipartisan support for effective and equitable climate policy at the highest levels of policy-making. Peter is also a working musician, an avid winter sports enthusiast, and stays busy rehabbing his historic building for energy efficiency in downtown Portland, Maine where he lives with his wife and daughter.

Abigail Hayne is a marine scientist and youth climate engagement coordinator at the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future. She works to create opportunities for young Mainers to engage with climate action at state, regional and local scales, particularly with the Maine Climate Council and the state’s climate action plan, Maine Won’t Wait. Abigail holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in marine science from the University of New England.

Louise is an Environmental Hydrogeologist with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. In her position with the DEP she works to protect Maine’s groundwater by evaluating and cleaning-up sites with a wide variety of contaminants, including petroleum, PFAS (‘forever chemicals’), and chlorinated solvents. She completed a bachelor’s degree at Hamilton College in Geosciences and a master’s degree in Oceanography at the University of New Hampshire. She is a Maine native and spends time coaching ice hockey with various programs throughout the state.

Civic-minded, understanding, generous, and thoughtful, Mufalo is gifted with a tremendous ability to relate across all ethnic communities no matter how different their experiences or needs may be. As an immigrant community leader representing 100+ members and partner organizations including immigrant constituency and advocacy groups as well as direct service and grassroots community organizations, Most recently was recognized as Spurwink’s 2023 Humanitarian of the Year and 2022 Maine Biz Women to Watch honoree for her work as an immigrant advocacy leader at Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (MIRC). Mufalo works to elevate the voices of new Mainers as they find their way and cultivate a more diverse and inclusive Maine for future generations of immigrant children to come.

Joel Furrow is the Executive Director of The Root Cellar, a Christian ministry established in 1984 that seeks the social, economic, and spiritual wholeness within an impoverished neighborhood of Portland, Maine. At The Root Cellar, Mr. Furrow has overseen development of initiatives to address needs within the surrounding neighborhoods by recognizing the God given dignity of each neighbor and welcoming them not as only someone in need, but as one who is also needed. The Root Cellar serves 1,500 to 2,500 neighbors annually at each site. Before joining The Root Cellar’s ministry in 2012, Mr. Furrow implemented and directed the Bridging the Gap Juvenile Diversion program in Boston, serving nearly 100 juvenile offenders annually. Early in his career, Furrow was impacted greatly by work within refugee communities in Amman, Jordan and Clarkston, Georgia. He discovered God’s great love for these vulnerable communities, as well as the gift that refugees and immigrants offer to a welcoming city.

Angela Stone is the Founder and Executive Director of Maine Needs. Maine Needs is an all-hands-on-deck community effort to meet the basic material needs of people throughout Maine. After practicing interior design for 13 years in Chicago and becoming a mother, she moved back home to Maine. As a result of children being separated from their mothers at the Southern border, she was pulled to help asylum-seeking mothers, which quickly expanded to include local Maine families, unhoused neighbors, domestic violence survivors and people leaving incarceration. The goal was to utilize social media and the local community to establish a safety net for people who didn’t have one and redistribute quality resources so that everyone could feel more cared for and have their basic needs met. That safety net is now over 47,000 people, with over 4,000 volunteers, 5 employees, and countless local businesses, schools, churches, and people collecting, making essential care kits, and fundraising for others.

Steve is currently the Co-Chair of a workgroup seeking to expand social connection infrastructure in healthcare for the Massachusetts Coalition to Build Community and End Loneliness. Previously, he was the East Coast Regional Director for the Ignatian Spirituality project. His work focuses on increasing resiliency, empowering leaders, and on the spiritual elements of interconnectedness with vulnerable populations, such as the unhoused.

Caitlin Eldridge is the Director of the Social Work program at Saint Joseph’s College in Standish, ME. Caitlin holds a BA in English from Bates College and a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of New England. She has worked in various sectors of the social work field, including case management, international adoption, HIV/AIDS care, and program management. Caitlin is now a social work educator and she is passionate about helping people find ways to serve their communities and become strong advocates for themselves and for others. 

Dr. Peter ODonnell is a Doctor of Nursing and Family and Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, currently serving as a psychiatric provider at the Veterans Health Care Administration. With extensive experience in treating Veterans with mental health disorders, Dr. ODonnell is passionate about promoting mental health awareness and providing compassionate care. Their expertise and commitment to mental health make them a valuable advocate and educator in the field.

Andrew Bove (he/him/his), LCSW,  is the Vice President of Social Work at Preble Street, a state-wide nonprofit agency that offers a variety of programming to individuals experiencing homelessness. Andrew has worked in the homeless services field since 2008 and is also a licensed clinical social worker, a local therapist, and a published qualitative researcher. Andrew believes in strengths-based, low-barrier approaches that prioritize human connection and relationship

John is the director of an innovation office at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the national agency overseeing housing, and his office seeks new ways to serve low-income and homeless populations. He began serving people experiencing homelessness as a Jesuit Volunteer in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles, and he has continued this work at the local and federal levels. In addition to being a Cheverus alumnus, he received his BA from the College of the Holy Cross, and a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Washington.

Mayor Mark Dion is a native of Lewiston, ME. He later earned a B.A. in criminology at the University of Southern Maine, an M.A. in human services administration from Antioch University New England, and a J.D. from the University of Maine School of Law. He has also completed the Senior Executive Program for State and Local Government at the JFK School and the Mayoral Orientation Program at the Bloomberg Institute for Cities. A Democrat, Dion was elected for three terms as Sheriff for Cumberland County, Maine, in 1998. In 2010, he successfully sought a seat in the Maine House of Representatives. He was later named Chair of both the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee as well as the Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Technology. In 2016, he was elected to the Maine Senate, where he served one term. Dion was first elected to the Portland City Council in 2020 and won the election for Mayor on November 7th, 2023.

Lt. Robert J. Doherty is an over 30-year veteran of the Portland Police Department and is currently assigned to the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.  Lt. Doherty works with a team of detectives from all over Maine and is assigned to oversee the Cumberland County District Task Force, with a mission to reduce the distribution, availability, and use of illicit drugs throughout Maine.   

In addition to his duties within the Portland Police Department, Lt. Doherty is a national instructor for the Verbal Judo Institute and has instructed thousands of people in this de-escalation program. Verbal Judo is a series of plans providing a process that uses words to prevent, de-escalate, or end conflicts.  

Living and working in the same community where he grew up has given him a unique perspective on the many changes in Portland.  Lt. Doherty lives in Portland and graduated from the 283rd session of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia.