Meet The Board

Ash Cardurns, MSN, PMHNP-BC (she/they)

is a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner who is dedicated to mental health access and competent care for LGBTQIA+ Mainers. They engage in a number of advocacy efforts to advance education and development of medical equity for marginalized community members. Ash formerly served as a board member for the Maine Health Equity Alliance, and worked with Northern Light Health leadership to advance awareness and policy efforts for Q+ patients and staff. Ash opened New Progress Psychiatry in 2020, to provide safe and accessible mental health care to folks of all ages and gender identities. They live in Orono with their partner and homeschool their three children. They practice gender open parenting, recognizing that all children deserve bodily autonomy and freedom to express themselves and their gender regardless of binary confines and societal expectations.

Cami Carter (she/her)

is one of the alternative education teachers at Orono High School where she also directs the OHS show choir and musicals. She is passionate about education, the arts, and equal rights for all people. She has a degree in musical theatre from NYU and a master’s in teaching from Brown University. She is a parent of one child and grateful to raise her in the incredible community of Orono.

Meghan Gardner (she/her)

is a writer, artist, and current Orono Town Councilor. Gardner holds a doctorate and master’s degree in English and a B.A. in American Studies. A published author, she has previously taught writing and literature at Husson University, the University of Maine, and Orono High School. Meg serves as a board member for the Maine Women's Lobby, and she and her husband are the proprietors of The Common Loon Public House in downtown Orono. They have a daughter in the Orono school system.

Emily Jackson Sanborn (she/her)

is the Orono Middle and High School Librarian who loves teaching middle school and high school students. She has a passion for equity in education and equal rights for all people, and works hard to make sure under-represented populations are represented in our schools’ reading material. She is the parent of two children, and is a vocal ally to the LGBQT+ community.

Laurie Osher, PhD (she/her)

is a scientist, a small business owner, a lesbian, a feminist, and the mom of twins Noam & Zivi. She is a long-time LGBTQ civil rights and social justice activist and is a member of the Bangor Pride Celebration Planning Committee, Congregation Beth El’s Social Action Committee, and the Maine Small Business Coalition. Laurie moved to Orono in 1999 to become a professor of Soil and Water Quality at the University of Maine. Her research focus was on how land can be managed to increase carbon sequestration in soils. In 2010, she launched Osher Environment Systems, a consulting and general contracting firm that assists the owners of homes and small commercial buildings to lower their energy use and thus lower their ‘C footprints’. Laurie represents Orono in the Maine House of Representatives and is the organizer and co-chair of the Maine Legislature’s LGBTQ caucus.

Maggie Tipping (she/her)

works in home health care as an occupational therapist. She is a parent of two young children and is especially interested in improving the experience of transgender youth in our community. Maggie has been involved in advocacy in Maine since the 2012 campaign for marriage in Maine where she was on the leadership team for persuasion canvassing.