Above: Back row: Marion Howard, Scott Beebe, Charkie Quarkoo, Alison Carnduff, Liz Mygatt, Karen Scheu. Front row: Kevin Conners, Dan Townley, Roseanne Saalfield, Laura Warren, Kyo Bannai, André Heard, Jeff Desjarlais, Jeff Eberle
Dear Chewonki community,
I’m very pleased to announce new appointments to our board of trustees, and share my immense gratitude to several trustees who have completed their terms of service and are rotating off the board.
First, please join me in welcoming André Heard as our new Board Chair. André was unanimously voted into his new role at our spring board meeting on May 3rd. André is a long-time friend and supporter of Chewonki, holding several key volunteer and governance positions over the past decade, including advisor, trustee, board development and governance committee vice-chair, and executive committee member. André is stepping in as the successor to Roseanne Saalfield who recently completed her second term as board chair.
André brings a wealth of independent school management experience to his role, thanks to more than two decades at Milton Academy where he currently serves as the Associate Dean of Students, and his volunteer work with The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS).
André’s two children, Zoë and Aimée, have both attended Camp Chewonki and Chewonki Leadership Expeditions for many years. Aimée is a graduate of Maine Coast Semester 69 and Zoë will be returning for a third summer to work with the camp and trip staff. André’s wife Danielle has also served as a Chewonki Advisor and is the current Head of School at Nashoba Brooks, a long-time partner school that sends their 8th-grade students to experience the Outdoor Classroom program on Chewonki Neck.
I can think of few families more involved in the mission and programming of Chewonki, or an individual more enthusiastic and committed to serving as our Board Chair. Please join me in welcoming André!
I would also like to welcome three new trustees to our board of directors, Colby Holtshouse, Sandy Bandhu, and Matt Kingsbury.
Colby Holtshouse joins us from Mountain View, California, and is a graduate of Maine Coast Semester 14. Sandy Bandhu hails from Cape Elizabeth, Maine, and has seventeen years of experience with Camp Chewonki as camper, trip leader, challenge course coordinator, and Boy’s Camp Program Director. Matt Kingsbury joins us from Arlington, Massachusetts, and likewise has deep roots at Chewonki with several years as a camper, trip participant, camp staff member, and is a graduate of Maine Coast Semester 37.
Welcome new trustees, we appreciate your volunteer service and the years of shared experience you bring to the organization.
This is also a good moment to recognize and thank the trustees who have completed their terms in office, including Roseanne Saalfield, our outgoing Board Chair, Jeff Eberle, our outgoing Finance Committee Chair, and Michael Fleisher our outgoing vice-chair.
All Chewonki trustees put a great deal of care and effort into their time on the board, but I want to especially thank and highlight these three trustees for the extraordinary commitment and dedication they showed through the Covid pandemic and the subsequent recovery years. Their leadership through that period required time and energy that went far beyond what was ever envisioned or expected from a trustee, and we are immensely grateful to them. As they transition out of their formal trustee roles, I expect it is only the beginning of the next chapter in their Chewonki story, and one that I hope is more relaxed and full of joy. Thank you one and all.
Nancy Kennedy
Acting President
Chewonki Foundation
