Garrett Martin Email & Phone Number

Augusta, Me, Us

Newcastle, Maine

I coach my local high school cross country and track teams mentoring over 100 young people, close to 20 percent of the student body, every year. In 2017, I was selected the Maine State Cross Country Coach of the Year after our boys team won the state championship for the first time in 72 years. I have been selected Conference Coach of the Year eleven times and take great joy in seeing team members from a wide range of backgrounds become lifelong runners and help build a supportive and inclusive team culture.

Augusta, Maine

I have positioned MECEP to effectively engage in strategic initiatives that have helped reduce poverty, increase access to health care, and sustain public resources needed to support thriving communities and promote economic opportunity in Maine. During my tenure, I have increased contributions from individual donors five-fold to increase the organization's staffing and reach. I have also built an organizational culture that encourages and rewards individual initiative built on a foundation of teamwork.

Ellsworth, Maine

I helped develop and implement systems to evaluate and improve grantmaking and donor engagement at the foundation. I also laid the groundwork for the foundation's first major program related investment focused on sustainable agriculture. I worked directly with major donors to help them advance their philanthropic objectives and managed the Maine Policy Scholars program in partnership with Angus King and faculty at each of the campuses in the University of Maine system.

Portland, Maine

I taught a graduate course on community economic development practices at the request of Professor Mark Lapping who was going on sabbatical. I continue to give six to ten guest lectures a year to college and high school classes in Maine on issues related to community economic development and public policy.

I helped double the size of the loan fund by securing new investments from banks, the CDFI fund at the Department of Treasury, and state and national foundations. I underwrote loans and provided hands-on assistance to affordable housing and community facility's projects in Maine. I also led the development of the fund's initiative aimed at helping to sustain year-round communities on Maine's islands.

I worked with ECD CEO Bill Bynum to develop and implement the Emerging Markets Partnership, a comprehensive initiative to stimulate economic development in the Delta regions of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. This initiative was underwritten by a $20 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, one of the largest single grants for a comprehensive community economic development initiative in the United States, and a $45 million dollar commitment from Fannie Mae. I also directed ECD’s efforts to monitor program impacts and used evaluation results to inform new program development and ECD's public policy engagement. Finally, I managed ECD's delivery of technical assistance to over 60 businesses located in the Delta.

Brooklin, Maine

I established a summer youth employment program targeting low-income youth in a rural Maine community with the support of a $50,000 Community Development Block Grant from Department of Housing and Urban Development. The program continues to this day with ongoing funding and support from the local community.

Estes Park, Co

I taught social studies and leadership classes working directly with head of school Robert Burkhardt. I co-lead a three week wilderness trip for new students from across the United States who had struggled to succeed in a traditional school setting.

Madurai Area, India

I helped an indigenous nongovernmental organization implement systems to assess and improve the impact of rural lending cooperatives funded by the Ford Foundation in southern India. This project required significant time in the field piloting participatory planning and evaluation methods with predominantly women-led banking groups.

Menlo Park, California

I helped organize a community development organization in East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park that worked to secure resources and support for the community in their efforts to reduce crime, fight drug addiction, and promote opportunity for young people in the community. The organization I helped found, Belle Haven Against Drugs, was still in existence 15 years after its founding and had secured significant community improvements in partnership with local elected officials.

Mpa, Economics, Policy Analysis

Activities and Societies: Truman Scholar. Secured fellowship to study child labor in Guatemala.

Ba, International Studies

Activities and Societies: Morehead Scholar. Phi Beta Kappa. Member of the cross country and track teams and academic all-conference award.