Four Scholars Elected to the Mitchell Institute Alumni Council 
Elliott Simpson, the 2014 Mitchell Scholar from Hampden Academy and incoming President of the Mitchell Institute Alumni Council (MIAC), announced today that four fellow Mitchell Scholars have been elected to serve two-year terms on the alumni service organization.
Adam Fortier-Brown, Sadie Libby, Lauren Turcotte Seavey, and Hunter Steele will begin serving on the Alumni Council at the annual MIAC retreat to be held at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester in late June. In keeping with tradition, the four Mitchell Scholar alumni applied for membership in the past year and were recently voted to serve up to three consecutive terms by the organization’s members.
Fortier-Brown, Libby, Seavey, and Steele are joining a nearly 20-year tradition of alumni service that helps fuel the Mitchell Institute’s mission to increase the likelihood that young people from every community in Maine will aspire to, pursue, and achieve a college education. Since 2005, MIAC has provided professional development and networking opportunities to current Scholars and Alumni. Each year, MIAC organizes MILE II, an annual leadership and career development event that brings together Scholars and alumni from around the country. The Alumni Council is also responsible for supporting regional Scholar groups on various college campuses, organizing the annual Alumnathon to raise funds that support Mitchell Scholar programs and services, and providing opportunities for alumni to stay involved with the Mitchell Institute.
“On behalf of the current members of the Mitchell Institute Alumni Council, I want to thank Adam, Sadie, Lauren, and Hunter for their commitment to the success of current and future Mitchell Scholars and alumni,” Simpson said. “We look forward to their contributions to the organization’s mission. We invite all alumni to consider joining MIAC. It’s a great way to stay connected with fellow alumni and contribute to the Mitchell Institute’s impactful initiatives for current scholars.”
As Fortier-Brown, Libby, Seavey, and Steele begin their terms, four members of MIAC, including the past president, are concluding theirs.
“I also want to thank Kate Durost, Michelle Henaire, Brittany Nickerson, and outgoing president Bethany Schulberg for their service on MIAC and their steadfast commitment to strengthening opportunities for both current Scholars and alumni,” Simpson said. “Their connection in the Mitchell Institute community runs deep, and I know they will continue to be familiar faces at events and activities.”
Meet the New MIAC Members
Adam Fortier-Brown is the 2015 Mitchell Scholar from Gardiner Area High School and the 2018 Jack and Charlie Canning Pioneer Scholar. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Maine in 2019 with a B.S. in Economics and Political Science. As an undergraduate student, he was awarded a University of Maine Congressional internship in U.S. Senator Susan Collins’ office in Washington, D.C., and was the University of Maine’s first undergraduate intern for former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen’s global consulting firm, The Cohen Group. In his junior year, Fortier-Brown was named the 2017 George Mitchell Peace Scholar, a competitive program selecting one student across the University of Maine System based on demonstrated community service, leadership, and academic achievement to study abroad in University College Cork, Ireland. He spent his early professional career working in multiple different policy roles in Washington, D.C., including managing the policy efforts of an outdoor recreation trade association, for which he helped pass the Great American Outdoors Act of 2020, the largest U.S. conservation package in generations. He also worked for Deloitte & Touche LLP, a top consulting firm, where he advised senior civilian and military leadership on risk management, energy, communications, and climate resilience. Fortier-Brown is now back home in Maine, pursuing a J.D. at the University of Maine School of Law and enjoying the state’s beautiful wild spaces, coastline, and food scene. He looks forward to contributing to this organization’s continued success and providing new professional development and educational opportunities for all Mitchell Scholars.
Sadie Libby is the 2017 Mitchell Scholar from Skowhegan Area High School and a graduate of the University of Maine, where she received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and served in the University Ambulance Corps. A year after graduating from UMaine, she pursued an associate’s in nursing at Kennebec Valley Community College and soon after began work as a nurse at Maine Veterans’ Home in Augusta, primarily caring for patients on the memory care unit. Recently, she accepted a position at Lincoln Medical Partners as a triage nurse and is now working on her B.S.N. through the University of Maine at Fort Kent. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her corgi, Hiro, and her fiancé, Nico, exploring new towns and restaurants in Maine and making day trips to Portland’s dog-friendly East End Beach.
Lauren Turcotte Seavey, the 2019 Mitchell Scholar from Bangor High School, graduated from the University of Maine with a degree in sociology and double minors in Marketing and Graphic Design in 2023. As an undergraduate, she was highly involved with the Mitchell Institute, attending MILE I and MILE II several times and serving as a campus ambassador. In her senior year, Seavey spent her final semester working with the University of Maine Foundation as the Senior Giving Campaign Manager, encouraging seniors to begin their philanthropic efforts for the university by making a small donation before graduating. She is now pursuing her Master of Science in Project Management and Data Analytics at The Roux Institute at Northeastern University. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, kayaking, making ceramics, and walking the beaches of Maine to collect sea glass.
Hunter Steele, the 2019 Mitchell Scholar from Lewiston High School, graduated from Bowdoin College in 2023 with a double major in economics and religion and a minor in classics. At Bowdoin, he served as the Mitchell Institute campus ambassador, was president of the mock trial team, and played goalie for the men’s lacrosse team. He also interned for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugee, and Migration and for U.S. Senator Susan Collins. Steele currently serves as an analyst for OGx Consulting out of Centennial, Colorado, a diverse-owned management and technology consulting firm focused on strategy, transformation, and technology. He recollects how, in his first year, a member of the Mitchell Institute had to push him out of his comfort zone and what a large impact that had on his life. He hopes to be able to help more scholars feel confident in stepping out of their comfort zone with the support of the Mitchell Institute behind them.