FARMINGTON – While Deb Burd, executive director of the Western Mountains Alliance, wasn’t one of 17 leaders across the nation to receive the 2003 Leadership for a Changing World award from the Washington, D.C.-based Advocacy Institute, she is thrilled to have been one of 29 national finalists out of more than 1,400 leaders proposed for the award.

In notifying Burd of the results of a six-month selection process, Kathleen Sheekey, president and CEO of the Advocacy Institute, told Burd, “Your work has inspired much awe, respect and immense gratitude from the National Selection Committee, the Ford Foundation, and the Advocacy Institute.

Sheekey also thanked Burd for the “extraordinary work” that she did and “for inviting us to learn and experience your work. You have helped us understand and appreciate more deeply the issues and communities in which you work.”

“The national recognition of my work underscores the continuing importance of the Alliance’s mission in western Maine,” says Burd, who has been directing the Alliance’s sustainable development work in Oxford, Franklin, Somerset and Piscataquis County for almost 10 years. To support her continuing work, the Institute gave the Alliance a National Finalist honorarium of $5,000.

On June 27, Sheekey visited Farmington, meeting with regional leaders who have worked with Burd. Among those joining her were Michael Cormier, superintendent of SAD 9; Deb Gorham, R.N. Rumford Community Hospital; Bruce Towl, Piscataquis County artist with the Finding Middle Ground project; and Phil Brennan, woodworker and member of Maine Woodnet/Sugarwood Gallery.

Leadership for a Changing World recognizes the achievement of outstanding leaders who are not well known outside their immediate communities and provides financial support and other assistance for their work.

Established in 1988, the Western Mountains Alliance strives to improve the quality of life and to strengthen the regional identity of the western mountains region of Maine.

Copy the Story Link