Staff

Jared Cash

Jared Cash brings more than two decades of experience across Maine’s public and private colleges and universities to his leadership of the Mitchell Institute, where he has served as President and CEO since January 2022. A first-generation college graduate, he has led the Institute into an ambitious expansion phase to serve 50 percent more Scholars each year—a milestone made all the more meaningful by its timing alongside the Institute’s 30th anniversary in 2025.

Before joining the Institute, Jared served on the executive leadership team at the University of Southern Maine as Vice President of Enrollment and Marketing, overseeing Admissions, Student Financial Services, Marketing, Public Affairs, Athletics, and student opportunity programs including the federally funded TRIO programs. Prior to USM, he was Vice President of Enrollment and Marketing at the University of Maine at Farmington, where he secured a $1.2 million financial literacy grant for the University of Maine System and cultivated a $3.2 million gift—the second-largest in the institution’s history—to launch an incentivized scholarship program rewarding student persistence. Earlier, he served as Scholarship Director at the Mitchell Institute and as Senior Associate Dean of Admissions at Bates College, his alma mater. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Bates and a master’s in education with a concentration in higher education leadership from Northeastern University.

A lifelong resident of Norway and a graduate of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School, Jared and his wife, Mallory, are the proud parents of two daughters.

Jeff Candura

As the Director of Development, Jeff will lead the work of inspiring people and foundations to make philanthropic investments in the success of nearly 600 college-going Mitchell Scholars each year from every community in Maine. Jeff comes to the Mitchell Institute from the Maine School of Science and Mathematics (MSSM) Foundation, where he served as Development Director and later Executive Director. At the MSSM Foundation, he helped to significantly increase fundraising revenues and guided grantmaking for student scholarships, faculty professional development, and facility improvements. Before the MSSM Foundation, he served as the Development Director for the Maine Democratic Party from 2019 to 2021, when his team oversaw consecutive record fundraising years, and Director of Advancement at Gould Academy in Bethel, where his office was responsible for annual giving, major gifts, capital campaigns, and several on- and off-campus events. He also held development positions at Tufts University and the United Way of Larimer County in Fort Collins, Colo. Jeff earned a B.A. in English from Ithaca College and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Colorado–Denver. Learn more about Jeff in our May 2024 announcement of his appointment.

Alex Carrier Hitchcox

As the Events Manager, Alex is responsible for the coordination and operational management of 25+ annual events for Mitchell Scholars and the Mitchell Institute community. Like every member of the staff, she engages with Scholar-facing programs and participates in the annual evaluation of scholarship applications. Alex comes to the Mitchell Institute with nearly a decade of diverse higher education experience, including professional positions in Admissions, Career Advising, Employer Relations, Student Retention, and Student Activities. She received her bachelor’s in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Public Health at the University of Richmond and a master’s in Higher Education and Student Affairs at the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education.

Lauren Ingram

As the Brand and Communications Director, Lauren leads the Institute’s brand strategy and oversees communications and marketing efforts that advance its mission. Her primary areas of responsibility include developing integrated marketing campaigns, managing digital and print communications, and elevating the Institute’s visibility among students, families, and supporters. Lauren brings extensive experience in enrollment and digital marketing to the Mitchell Institute. Before joining the team in August 2025, she served as Assistant Director of Graduate Enrollment Marketing at Mississippi State University, where she helped drive graduate student enrollment as the university invested in online and graduate education ahead of the enrollment cliff. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, Lauren is now proud to call Maine home. She enjoys exploring the state’s natural beauty, vibrant food scene, and local culture.

Erica Leighton

As the Operations Manager, Erica optimizes team-wide operations and works closely with the Scholarship Director to help ensure the execution of the scholarship selection process and scholarship programs. Her primary areas of responsibility include managing office logistics, Scholar selection operations, Scholar onboarding and enrollment verification, and overseeing the integrity of the Mitchell Institute’s databases. Erica brings more than 10 years of higher education experience to the Mitchell Institute. Prior to joining the team in spring 2025, Erica was Director of Residence Life at Southern Maine Community College. She also held various student-facing roles at the University of Southern Maine, including Assistant Director of Residential Life, Assistant Coordinator of Housing Operations, and Resident Director. Outside of higher education, Erica is a High School Equivalency Test (HiSET) ELA teacher at Merrymeeting Adult Education in Bath, Maine. She earned a bachelor’s in Liberal Studies Humanities and a master’s in Leadership Studies at USM.

Casey Near

As Scholarship Director, Casey focuses on increasing every Mitchell Scholar’s prospect for success, enhancing the wraparound supports that are a hallmark of the Mitchell Scholar experience, cultivating networks to help strengthen Scholars’ career development, and leading the organization’s holistic review process to select 200 recipients of the $10,000 Mitchell Scholarship each year. Casey came to the Mitchell Institute from Collegewise, a national provider of college admission counseling, tutoring, and test-preparation services, where she most recently served as Executive Director of Counseling and later Dean of Counselor Development. Before joining Collegewise, she was an admission counselor at Mills College in Oakland, California. After transferring from the University of Pennsylvania, she graduated with a B.A. in American Studies and highest honors from Scripps College in Claremont, California, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.

Elyse Pratt-Ronco

As the Scholarship and Development Research Manager, Elyse enables a data-driven culture through assessment, analysis, and reporting that supports program excellence and Scholar success. As a member of the Scholarship and Revenue Teams, she plays a critical role in leveraging data sources, curating relevant research, producing periodic program assessments, stewarding longitudinal survey reports, and sustaining annual demographic and outcomes dashboards. In addition, she provides direct support to Mitchell Scholars, working closely with the Scholarship Team and Scholarship Director Casey Near. Prior to joining the Institute, Elyse was the Director of Stakeholder Engagement at the John T. Gorman Foundation and the Assistant Director for the TRIO Upward Bound program at the University of Maine at Farmington, where she worked to increase college access for low-income and first-generation college students. Elyse’s scholarship focuses on building resilience in individuals, with research on poverty in Maine and advocacy for equity and access. She has worked throughout the state as a consultant for school districts and organizations, taught undergraduate and graduate courses in education and psychology, and served her community in volunteer roles. She holds a B.A. in Elementary Education from the University of Maine at Farmington, as well as an M.A. and Ph.D. in Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology from Boston College.

Lisa Sirois

Lisa joined the Mitchell Institute in December of 2006 and is responsible for the financial management and accounting of the Institute. She brings more than 20 years of financial, accounting, and analytical experience to the Institute. Prior to joining the Mitchell Institute, she worked in a variety of accounting and analytical capacities throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Lisa grew up in Augusta, attended Cony High School, and graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a B.S. in Business Administration. She lives in South Portland and enjoys the Maine outdoors.