‘I am in the right place and doing the right thing’ — Q&A with Meg Baxter

“I think that whenever we find a Mitchell Scholar, we are
finding the future of Maine,” says Meg Baxter of Cape
 Elizabeth, the new executive director of the Mitchell Institute.

PORTLAND — Two years ago, Meg Baxter retired from her job as head of the United Way of Greater Portland after 20 years leading that organization. After a short break, Baxter, 61, has returned to the nonprofit sector for what she calls an “encore career,” as the head of the Mitchell Institute, founded by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell and tasked with giving scholarships to Maine high school students. The Cape Elizabeth resident recently sat down in her new office in Portland’s Monument Square to talk  about her new mission.

Q: What initially brought you to Maine?

A: I came here for the job. I did several years with the United Way in Bedford, Mass., which is a very tough community. It was just amazing what it was like, which is funny because its geography is a lot like Portland – it’s a port city surrounded by nice little communities – but there was nothing, no vibrancy in the city, no place for people who make their money there to go to at the end of the day. When I was asked to come up and interview for the job here, I just fell in love. I said I felt like I’ve died and gone to philanthropic heaven when you look around at everything – from the symphony, the museums, the hospitals, the colleges, there’s such vibrancy in the arts community. That really was transformational.

Q: And what made you want to stay in Maine?

A: To me, it’s about the people in Maine, in terms of their values. A lot of people talk about community and oftentimes they talk about place. For me, community in Maine seems like the connection amongst us, that’s what’s really strong here, and that’s what I value. I saw it so often in my work with United Way.

Q: Why did you retire from the United Way?

A: I could see my 20^th anniversary coming up and, as I looked ahead, I could see that was also the time we were going to be finishing our five-year strategic plan, and I just thought it was time for something new for me, and something new for them. So, we had a great transition. I left happily in January 2010.

Q: After you left the United Way, the organization named its Legacy Award after you. What was that like?

A: It was weird [laughs]. We always had this award, we gave it to someone who supported the United Way in many ways, as a volunteer, but also someone who was very generous. We always talk about when people get involved in United Way it’s about time, talent and treasure, so we always try to focus on finding someone like that. So, naturally, I was totally embarrassed at my retirement party when they said they were naming it after me. And then, when they gave out the first Meg Baxter Legacy Award, I said to somebody seated next to me, “Am I dead and nobody bothered to tell me.” It’s an honor, but it’s also very weird.

Q: What was your plan for retirement?

A: I gave myself a year off. Then, the beginning of last year I started working with a coach, because I hadn’t written a resume in 25 years, preparing for what I call my “encore career.” I’ve always been committed to the nonprofit sector and I love everything about Maine. I’ve been here 28 years and I’ve been very involved in a variety of nonprofits. I chaired the board at Maine Med, I’ve done a lot of stuff like that, over and above running my own organization, so, I knew my next career was going to be somewhere in nonprofits, but I just didn’t know where.

Q: What did you do during your time off between jobs?

A: Last April my youngest sister [Judy] was diagnosed with lung cancer. It gave me, because the other opportunities didn’t come through – for whatever reason, it was fate – I was able to spend the next six months driving back and forth to Massachusetts to be with her, and help her through her journey. She died just one day short of her six-month diagnosis. She was a smoker for 40 years, so now I’m on that bandwagon. Still, it was nice to be there when she needed me and to be there for the end. My mother is 91 and she lives in Canada and it was great to get her down for some time with Judy while she was still well.

Q: How did you land the job with the Mitchell Institute?

A: Oddly enough, while I was in Massachusetts, during the week between Judy’s death and her service, I got an email from a friend, who is the president of Gorham Savings Bank, saying, “Hey, look, the Mitchell Institute job is open.” I didn’t know a lot about it. I mean, I had been to the galas and I, obviously, just love and revere Sen. Mitchell for his values and outlook on life. But that [email] started it and it was a very quick process. I had my first phone interview the week before Thanksgiving. I had my interview on Dec. 12 and I was hired before the year was out.

Q: What is it you revered most about Sen. Mitchell?

A: I think part of it is reflected in what I see happening today in politics. He was a consensus builder and he reached across the aisle. When he was Senate majority leader he was so well respected. One of the things I’ve said to folks here is that Sen. Mitchell is a part of the Maine brand of politicians who have really exemplified the virtues of Maine – hard work, honesty, a values-based outlook. Whether you go back to Margaret Chase Smith or Joshua Chamberlain or our current senators, regardless of politics we always seem to have people who are Mainers to the core.

Q: How are you linking your new role?

A: It just feels so right. I feel like I am in the right place and doing the right thing. It’s really exciting to be focusing on a single sector. I mean, United Way was so multi-faceted in terms of the many things that we did. As I’ve said to some of my many friends in education, it’s like an octopus – there are many pieces to it – but it’s still one entity in a single sector.

Q: For those who don’t know, what does the Mitchell Institute do?

A: We provide a scholarship to every public high school in Maine. Right now, that’s 127 schools. Every year a student from Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, South Portland gets a $6,000 scholarship, [divided] $1,500 per year. And we do lots of other work with them in terms of leadership training, resume writing, connecting them to internships. It isn’t just here’s your scholarship, good luck. The deadline is April 1, if somebody hasn’t heard about it or thought about it. The scholarships are based on three areas: financial need, academic achievement and community service.

Q: What drew you to this particular brand of work?

A: The senator was a first-generation college student, and I’m a first-generation college student, so that really caught me. I know what it is to have to rely on scholarships and loans. My work at the United Way clearly taught me that the path to equity is a solid education. It’s the great equalizer. If you can get a good education, your economic, social, whatever your background, it gets leveled out.

There are 525 Mitchell Scholars in school right now and there are that many alumni. A lot of them are still in Maine and, this is very interesting, 62 percent of the scholars are the first in their family to go to college.

I’ve been able to serve in the boardrooms of all kinds of different places that this kid from Boston never though she’d see. I think I can relate to a lot of the kids that we are trying to support. I think that whenever we find a Mitchell Scholar we are finding the future of Maine. Our hope is that they’ll stay in the state of Maine because they are our future.

Q: What are your short- and long-term goals for the Mitchell Institute?

A: First off, I have a map of the state of Maine being framed for my office wall and I’m going to put a dot on it where every high school is. My goal is going to be to go see every one. I may not make them all but I’ll make a lot of them, because I want to see where these kids come from. It’s really important for me, if I’m talking about the impact that we make, to get boots on the ground in some of these communities.

Then we have a goal, to be able to get the endowment to a place where we can offer $10,000 scholarships, or $2,500 a year. There’s the growing gap between what the student has and what the student needs. When we first started, we were covering almost half of it, but that gap has been growing significantly, Our goal is to raise money, and, if we can get it right – if the market will stay up – to get it to where we can do some other things. That’s part of why I was brought in.

Q: How do you raise funds in a tough economy?

A: I’m actually meeting next week with one of the marketing firms in town, to talk about how we can be a little bit more sophisticated about it. And I’ve been talking to the staff, telling them I want them out meeting people and connecting with all the communities. I want to see us at the Eggs & Issues, I want to see us if the Chamber has an interesting event. We’re part of the Maine Association of Nonprofits, so I want to see us get more involved there. If we want people around the state to really understand the importance of this, we’ve got to put some faces in front of them. Those are the kinds of things, given my connections around the state, and particularly here in southern Maine, I think I can help with that.

Q: How so?

A: I have a very external focus. That’s how I was able to do the job at the United Way. You have to out in the community, you have to be making connections. That’s what’s on my plate, to raise up the institute in the public’s awareness. Even though this is a fabulous entity, there are a lot of folks in Maine who don’t know about it. What I want to do is focus on how do we raise the brand, because with that there are so many things we can do to raise up these kids. But I’m going to be here for a while because the kind of money we want to raise doesn’t happen overnight.

Q: Do you think the connections you made at the United Way will help you in your new career?

A: It’s funny, my kids joke about it whenever they’re home, they say we can’t go anyplace without seeing somebody I know. But that’s the nature of the beast. I always say, Maine is a small town. But I’ve been in town 25 years and in a very visible position. It’s all networking where everybody knows everybody else.

Q: What is the primary message you carry into your various networking sessions?

A: People are trying to hold on while so many people have lost their jobs, their houses. That why, to me, this program is so important. Even in tough times, it’s all about helping our kids feel like their aspirations can be met, and this is one way we can do it. I’m absolutely energized by it all. I mean, it’s George Mitchell, how can you not be excited about seeing his vision succeed?