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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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