The mission of the University of Southern Maine Alumni Engagement Council (AEC) is to serve as a liaison between all graduates of the University and its predecessor institutions and the University of Southern Maine.
The Council believes that Alumni have a responsibility to actively assist the University in meeting its mission of providing students with a high-quality, accessible, and affordable education. The AEC encourages Alumni to establish a relationship with the University as advocates, ambassadors, and financial contributors, to take seriously their role as mentors of students and leaders in the community, and share their ideas for improving University and Foundation programs and accessibility.
Current AEC Members
Kelly Barden is the Director of Corporate Communications at MEMIC in Portland, Maine. She is responsible for shaping and projecting the corporate image and brand identity and overall reputation for MEMIC’s many stakeholders. She has worked for the company for over 20 years as a member of the Communications Department. She graduated in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Southern Maine and earned the American Society of Workers’ Comp Professionals (AMCOMP), Worker’s Comp Professional (WCP) designation in the spring of 2014. Kelly is a native of Southern Maine.
Al started his journey with USM as a student-athlete in 1973 as a member of the baseball team. An exceptional player, he was inducted into the Husky Hall of Fame in 1989. Al’s 45-year professional relationship with the University began when he became an assistant baseball coach. He would go on to hold the positions of Sports Information Director, Assistant Athletic Director, and finally Director of Athletics – a title he has held with distinction for 31 years. A double alumnus of USM, Al earned his bachelor’s here in 1979 and his master’s in 1992.
Since taking up the Director of Athletics mantle, Al has overseen the unprecedented growth and success of the University Athletics’ NCAA Div III program to include its 23 varsity-sport offering, and participation of nearly 500 student-athletes. He has worked tirelessly to improve the student-athlete experience at the University of Southern Maine, including the construction of the Costello Sports Complex fieldhouse, the USM Ice Arena in the late 1990s, and soccer field in the early 2000s. Al also initiated newer facility upgrades, such as the completion of the USM Softball Stadium, Ed Flaherty Field, and the Hannaford Field turf.
After nearly 31 years as Director of Athletics at the University of Southern Maine, Al Bean ’77, ’92G retired at the end of August, 2024. Few other individuals have had such a long and lasting impact on USM. He will now serve as the Commissioner of the Little East Conference.
A.J. Chalifour is an attorney and a 2008 graduate of USM with a degree in Political Science. He is currently a Captain in the Maine Army National Guard (MEARNG), serving as a full time Judge Advocate for Joint Force Headquarters in Augusta, and on drill weekends as the Brigade Judge Advocate for the 52nd Troop Command in Bangor where he advises commanders and senior leaders on issues from military justice, domestic operations, contracts and fiscal law, and federal ethics law. Prior to working full time with the MEARNG, AJ was an Assistant District Attorney, prosecuting criminal cases in Cumberland and Sagadahoc counties and Middlesex county, Massachusetts,
trying approximately a hundred felony and misdemeanor jury and bench trials and arguing a handful of cases before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Right after graduating from USM, AJ began his career in the law as a paralegal for the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine from 2008-2011, before moving on to earn his Juris Doctor with honors from the Suffolk University School of Law in 2014, concentrating in trial and appellate advocacy. As a student at USM, AJ was the president of the Model United Nations Organization, Secretary General of the Maine Model UN Conference, and served as USM’s 3 rd Student Body President from 2007-2008. In addition to volunteering with the Alumni Engagement Council, AJ is also the coach of the Cheverus High School Mock Trial team. While AJ is a native of Beverly,
Massachusetts, he has long called Southern Maine his true home, and currently lives with his wife and two children in Gorham. Maine.
Sigourney is a proud 2021 graduate of the University of Southern Maine, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management. Her professional journey began with an internship at Tyler Technologies, which sparked her interest in human resources and led to her first role as an HR Generalist at MEMIC. There, she earned her Workers Compensation Professional certification and developed a strong foundation in recruitment and talent development.
In 2022, Sigourney joined Unum Group as an Early Career Talent Advisor, where she championed diversity and inclusion initiatives and helped shape programs to attract and retain emerging professionals. Her passion for strategic thinking and organizational growth led her to her current role as an Associate, Corporate Strategy, with a focus on Strategic Intelligence.
Sigourney lives in Brunswick, Maine, with her husband, Pavel, and their two adored pups, Zahra and Ochi. She remains deeply connected to the USM community and is committed to supporting fellow alumni and future graduates through her work with the Alumni Engagement Council.
Nancy Davis Griffin ’82 credits her 40-year career in higher education to the staff and faculty of USM. When she was a senior, she served as a resident assistant working with disabled students living in Robie-Andrews Hall. During this time, her faculty advisor and the director of housing at USM both suggested she consider working with students as a career and set her on the higher education career path through their guidance, mentorship, and friendship.
Nancy’s professional work wrapped up at the same place where it started. She worked at USM from 2015 to 2020, serving as Chief Operations Officer and Vice President for Enrollment Management & Student Affairs before retiring. After her retirement Nancy was hired by USM to work with the senior leadership to develop USM: The Next Five Years 2020-2025. Between stints at USM, she worked in enrollment management, student affairs, and auxiliary services at Fairfield University, Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, Western Connecticut State University, Saint Anselm College, and Johns Hopkins University. Nancy received a graduate degree in counseling at Fairfield University and did her doctoral work at the University of Hartford in educational leadership. She currently lives in Castle Rock, Colorado.
Josephine graduated from USM with a B.S. in Finance and General Management. Originally from D.R.C., Kinshasa, she arrived in the U.S. in 2014 as an asylum seeker. She lives for nonprofit involvement through volunteerism or partnership. Josephine is a domestic violence advocate and the program coordinator of AWICA. During her college years, she worked for the city of Portland General Assistance program as a Financial Eligibility Specialist. Today she works for a community bank, Bangor Savings Bank, as a Community Development Banking and CRA Coordinator, and she sees herself making a career in banking.
She hopes to share the experience of the growing community of immigrants and asylum seekers who are or were USM students.
Jon has more than 40 years of experience in communications, public relations, marketing and media. He spent nearly 20 years in radio broadcasting on-air, programming and leading various radio stations. At the age of 17, he became the youngest ever on-air personality in the Tampa Radio Market, a top 20 media market. During his broadcasting career, he also had many other milestones including becoming the youngest Program Director in Maine radio, consistently capturing strong ratings for stations and numerous station awards.
In 1994, Jon left full-time radio to utilize his writing, communications and marketing talents to lead the Public Relations and Marketing Department at a local college. Spending more than six years in this role, he doubled the college’s enrollment, significantly raised its profile and awareness and helped the college to achieve full regional accreditation status.
In 2000, Jon was offered a position to lead the communications at the Maine Credit Union League, the state’s trade association representing Maine credit unions. During his 18-years at the League, Jon had numerous accomplishments and eventually lead the League’s Governmental and Public Affairs Department as its Senior Vice President for many years. Under his leadership, credit unions became a leading resource for financial services with the media and increased membership by more than 200,000 members.
When an opportunity to join Town & Country in a newly-created role as Vice President to lead its Public Relations Department, Jon accepted and has played a significant role in helping the credit union become a leading resource for media, dramatically increasing media coverage of the credit union and cultivating new partnership and relationships. In the fall of 2020, Jon was promoted to the position of Senior Vice President of Communications, Marketing and Community Relations and oversees all aspects of the credit union’s outreach efforts.
Among awards Jon has received, he received the Edward R. Bernays Award in 2010 from the Maine Public Relations Council, signifying the top public relations practitioner in Maine.
Jon has a B.A. in Communications and an M.A. in Public Policy from the Muskie School of Public Affairs at the University of Southern Maine. He has served on numerous community and non-profit boards over the years including the Maine Public Relations Council; March of Dimes; Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine; and ProsperityME. He currently serves on the Maine Children’s Cancer Program Board; the Jump$tart Coalition of Maine Board; and the University of Southern Maine Athletic Advisory Council.
Jon and his wife, Kathi, live in Portland with two of their three children. The oldest child is a sophomore at Brown University.
Lona Peter is a 2022 graduate of the University of Southern Maine, where she earned a Bachelor’s in Business Administration with a minor in Economics. Having spent most of her life in Portland, Maine, Lona has a strong connection to the local community and a deep appreciation for the role USM played in shaping her personal and professional growth.
She currently is the Human Resources Manager at Cintas, where she leads efforts in talent acquisition, employee relations, compliance, and workforce development. Previously, Lona held key roles at MEMIC and MaineHealth, where she designed and led initiatives in leadership development, onboarding, and employee engagement across complex organizations.
Grateful for her USM experience, Lona is passionate about giving back to the university through meaningful alumni involvement and student support. She brings a collaborative, results-driven approach to her work and is committed to strengthening connections across the USM community.
A 1996 graduate of the University of Southern Maine, Sarah Rodgers holds a BS in Business Management. Sarah has been in the financial services industries since 1998 specializing in merger, acquisition and integration leadership. Her first exposure to the M&A world was with Unum when they merged with Provident in 1999. In 2002 she joined what is now TD Bank and helped to lead the company in their growth along the eastern seaboard. In 2012, she moved to Los Angeles to lead the retail bank expansion and corporate bank restructuring for MUFG Union Bank and later moved to New York City where she has spent the last several years. She is currently an M&A Director at Affirm.
She has recently relocated back to Maine and is leading the M&A integrations team for Affirm. She also spends time giving back in her profession by speaking on change management during mergers and acquisitions. When Sarah isn’t working on a merger, she can be found supporting young women with their own personal change through career, health and wellness coaching at Empower Change ME.
A native of Southern Maine, Mary-Elizabeth graduated from USM with a Bachelor’s in Business Management in 2015 and went on to earn her Master’s in Public Health as well as a Master’s in Business Administration from USM in 2017. She also holds a graduate certificate in Patient Safety and Quality Improvement.
She is passionate about building strong community networks and improving access to affordable healthcare. She currently works in product strategy at HealthFirst in NYC, a non-profit healthcare company that insures close to 2 million New Yorkers.
Mary-Elizabeth lives in Midcoast Maine and can be found exploring new trails and beaches and plotting adventures abroad in her time off.
A Maine native and 2019 graduate of the University of Southern Maine, Jack Zinn holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a Major in Finance. In addition to his degree, Jack holds the Accredited Asset Management Specialist℠ (AAMS®) and Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor℠ (CRPC®) Professional Designations through the College for Financial Planning. Additionally, he is a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA), a designation earned through the Exit Planning Institute. Jack is a Wealth Advisor at Zinn Wealth Management in Portland, ME. While at USM Jack participated in many of the school’s involvements, including volunteering in the Portland community through the Husky Day of Service.