NEW HIRES
Rippleffect has re-hired Adam Shepherd as its executive director.
Shepherd joined Rippleffect as director of advancement and adult programs in 2013. He later left the organization to become co-founder of Brown & Shepherd Nonprofit Consulting.

Live and Work in Maine has hired its first employee, Nate Wildes, as engagement director.
Wildes, of Harpswell, was previously an independent consultant focusing on startups, business development and e-commerce. Prior to that, he served as assistant brand manager at Eureka.

Sunday River Resort in Maine has hired Heath Weatherbee as its new director of group service within its conference and wedding department.
Weatherbee brings over a decade of experience in the hospitality industry to Sunday River\. Weatherbee spent the past six months backpacking across Asia.

Aroostook Aspirations Initiative promoted Kristen Wells to serve as executive director.
Wells, of Hodgdon, joined the organization in April of 2015 as director of advancement. In August, she was named interim executive director.

The Board of Trustees of the Maine Community College System has appointed Lisa Larson as president of Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor.
Larson, vice president for academic and student affairs at Hennepin Technical College in Minnesota, will assume her new post this spring.
Larson brings more than 20 years of community and technical college experience to EMCC. From 2013 to 2015, she served as interim president of North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. She was selected from a field of 30 candidates following a national search. She will succeed Lawrence Barrett who left EMCC this past summer to become president of Florida Gateway College.

Renee Kelly, director of economic development initiatives for the University of Maine, was elected director of The First Bancorp and its banking subsidiary, The First, N.A.
Kelly joined the University of Maine in 1997 and serves as a liaison to the state’s economic development community and identify opportunities for the university to partner with national, state, regional and local organizations to improve Maine’s economy.

Ellen Russell joined the American Cancer Society as senior director for Relay For Life for Maine, New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts.
Russell, of Cape Elizabeth, brings over 25 years of nonprofit leadership and partnership experience to the organization. She was formerly with the American Red Cross Blood Services.

Steve Lovejoy, a business adviser for Maine Small Business Development Centers, was recently named center director at its Portland office.
Lovejoy has been a business adviser with the Maine SBDC for over four years, most recently serving the York County area. He brings more than 20 years of experience in banking and finance.

Carol Holt joined the Salvation Army of Northern New England as director of donor relations.
Holt brings a background in fundraising, communication and customer service skills. She has 11 years of marketing and professional development and fundraising experience in the nonprofit sector.