ABOUT AOK MAINE
​AOK Maine was founded and is being led by Jeff Edelstein, a public policy mediator, facilitator, civic innovator, and social entrepreneur with a thirty-year history in Maine. Jeff founded the Greater Portland Sustainability Council, the Maine Civic Innovation Initiative, Portland Greenfest, and the Portland Regional Leadership Council. Jeff's mediation work in Maine has covered a wide array of issues including resolving the South Portland Tar Sands Pipeline controversy; creating Maine's first-ever statewide building code; creating the Greater Portland Interlocal Stormwater Working Group; and much more.
Nationally, he has resolved conflict over a wide range of issues, including "fracking" in the Greater Yellowstone region; hazardous waste cleanup in New York City's Gowanus Canal, considered one of the most polluted water bodies in America; leading a national process for the federal government to create a new vision for U.S. coastal management; mediated amongst humanitarian aid groups at the US-Mexico border; led an initiative to create a US Dreamer Corps program, to support "Dreamers" in becoming US citizens through a Peace Corps-style program in which they would help address the driving forces of poverty, corruption and violence in Mexico and Central America, and more. Jeff's book From Oath to Action: Simple Acts of Courage to Rebuild American Democracy was the catalyst for the creation of the American Congressional Exchange, bringing Republican and Democratic members of Congress together for joint tours of each other's districts and states.
AOK Maine is in the process of assembling its formal Board of Directors. We have a robust and ever-expanding list of allies, collaborators, and thought-partners, including:
MAINE
Avesta Housing
Brunswick Unitarian Universalist Church
Building Bridges Maine/Braver Angels
Chaplaincy Institute of Maine
Cultivating Community
Deering Community Church
First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church
Foundation for Portland Public Schools
Good Group Decisions/MakeShift Coffee House
Hour World
Institute for Civic Leadership
Iris Network
Leadership Maine
Maien Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association
Maine Association of Nonprofits
Maine College of Art & Design
Maine Credit Union League
Maine Development Foundation
Maine Resilience Building Network
Maineworks
Mindful Employer
Northern Light Mercy Hospital
Restorative Justice Institute of Maine
Rotary International, Southern Maine District
Saint Joseph’s College of Maine
Southern Maine Agency on Aging
Spirit Corps Maine
University of New England
University of Southern Maine Center for Compassion
Maine Adult Education Programs:
Biddeford
Bonny Eagle
Massabesic
Merrymeeting
Portland
Sacopee Valley
Windham/Raymond
York
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NATIONAL
American Confidence Institute
Charter for Compassion
College and University Professional Association for Human Resources
DisruptHR
Interfaith America
National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation
The Right Question Institute
Tufts University Tisch College of Civic Life
Values in Action
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