Mission & Vision
Mission
The Maine Humanities Council, a statewide non-profit organization, uses the humanities—literature, history, philosophy, and culture—as a tool for positive change in Maine communities. Our programs and grants encourage critical thinking and conversations across social, economic, and cultural boundaries.
Vision
Maine communities transformed by the power and pleasure of ideas.
Equity & Inclusion
The Maine Humanities Council acknowledges that the humanities often privilege some groups over others, reflect our society’s structural racism, and define the contours of humanity in exclusionary ways.
The MHC has shifted our priorities in an effort to acknowledge and address the marginalization that exists in our culture and within the humanities. It is our hope that our shifts can begin to make amends for the ways we have knowingly or unknowingly reinforced oppressive systems and exclusion.
By the Numbers
Connecting Communities
95%
of participants feel more connected to their communities*
Supporting State Cultural Organizations
$1,198,184
total grant awards*
Engagement
95%
of participants feel inspired to learn more about a topic discussed in their program*
*Since January 2020
public humanities prize holders
Joseph Jackson
2022 Constance H. Carlson Public Humanities Prize
Carol Dana
2022 Constance H. Carlson Public Humanities Prize
Wendy Allen
2022 MHC Facilitator Prize
Literacy Volunteers of Franklin & Somerset County
2022 MHC Partner Prize
Staff
Sampson Spadafore
Program Coordinator: Communications and Content Creation
he/him they/them
Contact Sampson
Board of Directors
Greg Fahy
Board Chair
Hallowell
Luis Millones
Vice Chair
Portland
Ted Kelleher
Treasurer
South Portland
Julie Sheehan
Secretary
Auburn
Lawrence Boyle
Biddeford
Paul Buck
St. Agatha
Reid Byers
Portland
Joe Conforti
Portland
Jean Deighan
Bangor
Martha Tod Dudman
Northeast Harbor
Joseph M. Hall
Lewiston
Tam Thanh T. Huynh
Augusta
Mazie Hough
Orono
Margery Irvine
Brooklin
Georges Budagu Makoko
Portland
Larissa Malone
Portland
Rosalani Moore
Verona Island
Amie Parker
Buckfield
Lise Pelletier
Fort Kent
Iva Sussman
Houlton
Latest News
Accepting Nominations for Public Humanities Prize
Read more »
Summer 2023 Mini Grant Awards
Read more »
Read ME 2024 Recommending Author
Read more »
Summer 2023 Arts & Humanities Grant Awards
Read more »
