BRUNSWICK — The Board of Directors of Maine Initiatives has appointed Philip Walsh as executive director.

Walsh comes to Maine Initiatives from Bates College in Lewiston, where he served as director of the Office for External Grants since 2011. Prior to his work at Bates, Walsh worked in Latin America for 15 years, supporting grassroots community development as a program officer with the Inter-American Foundation, director of the Mexico Program at The Synergos Institute and leader of Mercy Corps’ civil society strengthening program in Central America.

He brings to Maine Initiatives a track record of success in supporting community philanthropy that engages diverse stakeholders, as well as identifies and mobilizes the community’s human, financial, and social assets and leverages those assets for social change.

He is also an active supporter of Maine Adaptive and the Spina Bifida Association of Greater New England.

Walsh is a graduate of James Madison University and earned a master’s degree from Georgetown University. He lives in Cape Elizabeth with his wife, three daughters and a brood of chickens.

Maine Initiatives is a Brunswick-based public foundation committed to increasing social, economic and environmental justice.