Maine Women's Lobby

Board of Directors

Peaches Bass, Augusta, Board Chair
Peaches specializes in women in the workforce for the Maine Department of Labor. She is a program specialist for the Maine Jobs Council. Peaches has received several honors and awards, including the Presidential Award from the Maine Lesbian-Gay Political Alliance, the Mabel Sine Wadsworth Women's Health Achievement Award, and a Social Landscape Artist Award from Maine Initiatives. She has served on the Maine Women's Lobby and Maine Women's Policy Center Boards since 2007, including stints as the Secretary and Vice-Chair. Peaches was born and raised in Chicago, where she was first introduced to feminism and women’s reproductive rights in the late 60s and early 70s.  She worked for a feminist health clinic in Chicago, and after moving to Maine, she worked for MidCoast Family Planning for seven years.  In 1984, Peaches founded and coordinated the Lesbian Health Project at the Mabel Wadsworth Center and later served as the Executive Director of the Maine AIDS Alliance for eight years, before taking a brief leave of absence from Maine to work as a development coordinator for the Larimer County TANF Program in Fort Collins Colorado.

Brianna Twofoot, Westbrook, Board Vice Chair 
Brianna is the national director of organizing and advocacy for Leadership for Educational Equity, a partner to Teach For America. In her role, she supports Teach For America alumni to become organizers and advocates in the fight to end educational inequity.  Brianna was previously the Field Organizer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine.  She holds a bachelor's of political science from Bryn Mawr College and she is a member of the Emerge Maine Class of 2012.

Andrea Summers, Portland, Board Treasurer
 Andi is an Accredited Representative at the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP).  Her role includes providing legal counsel and immigration forms assistance to immigrants throughout Maine; representing clie nts at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; running ILAP's Detention Project  for individuals detained at Cumberland County Jail for immigration violations; and doing outreach/advocacy about immigration law.  Prior to her work at ILAP, Andi was an elementary school teacher for ten years.  She has taught in Freeport, Yarmouth, Portland, Costa Rica and Peru.  Andi grew up in Chelmsford, MA. She has her BA from Brown University and received a Master’s in Education from the University of Maine.

Katherine Kilrain del Rio, Portland, Board Secretary
Kathy, the daughter of two librarians, grew up in the Capital District of New York and received her B.A. from Alfred University.  She has primarily worked in the education field teaching children and adults of all ages in a variety of settings. In 2006, Kathy moved from NYC to Maine where she works with adult learners as Executive Director of Literacy Volunteers of Greater Saco-Biddeford and strives to increase access to literacy services at a statewide level as Affiliate Network Director at LV Maine.  Kathy is a 2008 graduate of the New Girls Network and a 2010 graduate of Emerge Maine and she is currently a member of its Board of Directors.  Among Kathy’s many volunteer activities, she reads for Maine AIRS of the Iris Network, serves as a team leader for the Maine Speakers Bureau for Marriage Equality, and a member of the team creating the Maine Easy-to-Read Voter Guide since 2008.  Most recently, she completed the ICL Leadership Intensive as a member of the Sigma Class.

Jodi Quintero, Richmond
Jodi currently serves as the communications director for the Maine House Democrats, where she works to advance policies that support working families in the state of Maine. Prior to joining the staff of the Maine House Democratic Office, Quintero was a strategic communications consultant for the US Military for five years. Quintero has worked and volunteered for numerous Democratic campaigns nationally and in Maine since graduating from the George Washington University in 2002 with a bachelors’ degree in Political Communication. She resides in Richmond, Maine with her husband, Chuck, and their two young children.

Ellen Golden, Woolwich
Ellen is Managing Director of CEI Investment Notes, Inc., a non-profit affiliate of Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI). CINI’s purpose is to raise capital from accredited individual and institutional social investors to support projects meeting CEI’s triple bottom line underwriting criteria, i.e., that return social, environmental and economic benefits to Maine people and communities.  Ellen has expertise in research, program, and policy development with respect to women business owners and microenterprise development.  As part of her extensive board and public service, Ellen has served on the Governor’s Task Force on Refugee and Immigrant Resettlement, the Commission on Women’s Voices in the Economy, the Maine Commission for Women, and the Association of Women’s Business Centers. She founded CEI’s Women’s Business Center.  She is a recipient of SBA’s Women in Business Advocate, Minority Advocate, and Financial Services Advocate of the Year Awards for Maine.  Ellen is a graduate of Barnard College and received a Masters of Public Policy and Management from the University of Southern Maine

Elise Magnuson, Portland
Dr. Magnuson was introduced to feminist thought at Mount Holyoke College where she studied Psychology.  After graduating with her MSW From New York University, she began working with women struggling with a variety of mental health issues.  As she became aware of the impact of violence and sexual violence against women she added work with offenders as a way to prevent more women being abused. She has run programs for sex offenders in a variety of states.  She is currently Clinical Director of Granite Bay Care, an agency that works with Developmentally Disabled people who struggle with a number of problems and has a private practice that focuses on evaluations.  Elise is an adjunct instructor at Southern Maine Community College.

Jane Gilbert, Augusta
Jane Gilbert is the retired former Deputy Commissioner of the Maine Department of Labor. Jane brings with her 34 years of Maine State Government service.  Most recently, she was Director of Human Resources for the Maine Department of Transportation; she started out as a Photo Lab Assistant in 1970.  Jane is a founding member of the Maine Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women.  Jane is known and respected not only in the New England Region, but – in certain circles  – even nationwide, for her leadership, commitment and passion for Civil Rights issues.  In particular, Jane has been a nationwide leader in successful integration of women into the bridge and highway construction industry.  In her civic involvement, Jane is a determined activist for economic equity for all people.  She currently serves as Vice President of the board of the Maine Children’s Alliance and has previously sat on the boards of the Family Violence Project, the Children’s Center, Maine Share, and the Maine Lesbian Gay Political Alliance.