ABOUT THE KATAHDIN COLLABORATIVE

The Collaborative started in 2015 as an informal roundtable of interested Katahdin area individuals and community groups including local town representatives. Its intent is not to duplicate or replace the unique work of any individual group but to encourage collaboration, engagement and creatively leverage resources. Participation is open to all individuals and groups living and working in the Katahdin Region to increase communication and collaboration towards the revitalization of the region.

In 2017, the Collaborative launched a visioning process to create a community-led vision and action plan. The result is the Katahdin Gazetteer: A Roadmap to the Future, which was released in April 2019 and serves as the guidepost for grounding, coordinating and implementing future work.

The Collaborative currently hosts quarterly open meetings and monthly huddles for organizations, businesses and individuals in the region to share updates, discuss opportunities, successes, learnings, gaps, upcoming events, challenges, and ask for help. These are positive spaces to share ideas and information and provide a platform for collaboration and support.

In 2022 the Collaborative was awarded a three-year Working Communities Challenge (WCC) grant, systems change grant effort distributed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston to advance local collaborative efforts that build strong communities, healthy economies, and address economic growth, while reducing the inequity of opportunities tied to race, ethnicity, education, and other aspects of identity. The Initiatives Director will work on behalf of the Collaborative to support the individuals and organizations who are implementing the Katahdin Gazetteer’s six big ideas.