Essie
Essie is the proud mom of two TCC kiddos who have made their way from minis all the way to pre-k. The Haimes family lives in Portland, where Essie and her husband Mike work together as the proprietors of two Portland-area event venues, Flanagan Farm and Walnut Hill.

Prior to moving into the events and hospitality world, Essie spent the majority of her career in the non-profit sector. She started her career working in international development across Southern Africa and then spent 10 years leading fundraising and communications as the Chief External Officer for iMentor, a national college and career success organization based in NYC.

Essie is deeply passionate about equity in education and is excited to be a part of supporting the amazing TCC community.

George
George has served on TCC’s Board of Directors since 2004. He has been board president, vice president, and, during the balance of his tenure, an at-large director. He has also served on multiple committees over his 15+ years on the board. He is the proud parent of two TCC alumni – Jonna (age 17) and Shay (age 14). George has been at USM’s Muskie School since 1999. He has been promoted several times, most recently to managing director of the Children, Youth and Families-Justice Policy program area.

Hannah.

Hannah is Mom to Madeline in the Blue Room and Noah in the Pinecone Room at Minis. She joined the TCC community in 2021 and is new to the board this year. Hannah is excited to contribute to the work of the Governance Committee and help build the Minis community.

Hannah and her family live in Portland, and she enjoys biking, hiking, cooking and gardening whenever she can. In her professional life, Hannah consults with utilities and other energy industry players on issues related to energy efficiency, transportation electrification, and building decarbonization.

Ryan
Ryan lives in Portland with his wife Emily and two children Tessa and Arthur. Both Tessa and Arthur have flourished at The Children's Center with the wonderful care and guidance from the TCC team. Emily and Ryan have enjoyed the close community at TCC and are happy to help contribute toward TCC's continued success.

Professionally Ryan works in corporate accounting with 15 years experience in high growth software companies. Ryan enjoys spending time with family in the Maine woods or building backyard construction projects.

Ben

Ben is the sleep deprived dad of going-on-12 Red Room toddler Juniper, and soon to be Minis-menace, Avery. Ben currently serves on the DAM Committee and is excited to get involved and support the TCC community. Maine outdoors and hiking, and Portland restaurants, sure, but for this NYC expat, carving spoons beneath the front yard apple trees, watching the block kids wreck havoc is home.

Following stints in software development and journalism, Ben has been a commercial photographer for over 15 years. Capturing the built environment, from the boiler room to the board room, is his specialty. Ben’s studio also handles retouching for CVS Health. In addition to his commercial work, Ben is a practicing and (occasionally) exhibiting artist working in various mediums.

Bruce
Bruce is a developmental psychologist and professor at USM whose focus is on children’s language and cognitive development. Bruce has worked with teachers, parents, and children at TCC for approximately six years on research projects that have placed university students in the classroom as interns and volunteers. Bruce currently works with the Building Committee and the Teacher Excellence Committee. He grew up in Maine but lived abroad in Scotland for his university and graduate school days. Bruce feels very lucky to have the chance to work with the TCC community and to build long-lasting connections to his own work as an educator.

Luke
Luke has served on TCC’s Board of Directors since 2016 and today serves as both Vice President and chair of the Development & Marketing Committee. An entrepreneur, Luke founded Baxter Brewing Co. in Lewiston in 2010, a feat which earned him recognition as one of Forbes magazine’s “30 Under 30” most influential young entrepreneurs in 2011. Today he is co-founder of Brickyard Collective, a Product Lab & Consultancy in downtown Portland. Luke lives in Falmouth with his wife Chelsea (the chair of TCC’s Community Committee from 2017 to 2019), their daughter Harriett (Purple Roomer), their son Everett, who is in 2nd grade at Falmouth Elementary and is a TCC alumnus (class of 2019), and too many pets to list.

Ryan
Ryan joined the Board of Directors in 2023 to help support this incredible community of educators, kids, and families. Ryan and his partner have three wonderful boys that are fortunate to have TCC roots and call Maine home. He can usually be found racing his boys down a trail or on some grand adventure with his family.

Professionally, Ryan has a background in regional planning, economics, and finance and currently operates an economic research consulting practice focused on economic and workforce development issues for public and private sector clients. Previously, he ran an economic research unit at USM and UMaine System.