Elizabeth Ward Saxl, Executive Director
Elizabeth has overall strategic and operational responsibility for MECASA’s staff, programs, expansion, and the execution of its mission to end sexual violence in Maine and to support high quality sexual violence prevention and response within Maine’s communities. In addition, she focuses on initiating and advocating for victim-centered public policy at the State House and in other policy arenas. Elizabeth lives in with her family in Belgrade.
Destie Hohman Sprague, Associate Director
As the Associate Director, Destie leads MECASA in developing the agency’s work plan; working on evaluation and how we measure our efforts; grant writing and reporting; and helping to set the agenda for statewide prevention and programming. She also helps to support the staff who are coordinating programs, such as the Maine Network of Children’s Advocacy Centers, the Maine Sex Trafficking and Exploitation Network, and member services. She is happy to help out with questions about program development, outcome evaluation, collecting data and making it useful, primary prevention (and spreadsheets!). Destie lives in Bath with her family.
Jennifer Wilkey, Communications Coordinator
Jennifer oversees MECASA’s communication strategies, striving for consistent statewide messaging and visual aesthetic. She supports both MECASA’s in house staff and state providers with a range of communication needs, including creating digital, print, and web content, working with Maine media, responding to current issues and events, and writing talking points, press releases, and op-eds. Jennifer loves to create engaging content utilizing graphic design, photography, and video to help prevent sexual violence and improve accessibility to resources and information. She lives in Brunswick with her family and various critters, and can be found reading science fiction, dancing to Queen with her toddler, and engaging her artistic side with woodturning, drawing, and sewing.
Julie Agri, Financial Coordinator
Julie is the Finance Coordinator at MECASA and brings many years’ of finance experience with her. She enjoys spending time with her two teenage kids, road trips, kayaking, and photography.
Erika Allen, Program Coordinator
As Program Coordinator, Erika enjoys spending her time planning conferences, webinars, and trainings, and playing with numbers in MECASA’s database. While she’s not at our office, Erika is busy living her best life in Portland: going to farmers’ markets, picking out glittery stickers for her planner, and writing to her senators while watching episodes of Scandal and RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Jess Bedard, Trafficking & Special Projects Coordinator
Jess is the Trafficking & Special Projects Coordinator. She provides technical assistance to sexual assault service providers and community members who are delivering services in complex systems, specifically with survivors of human trafficking and incarcerated survivors. Please reach out to Jess with questions around any of these issues.
Katie Church, Office Coordinator
Katie is the Office Coordinator and supports MECASA's day to day operations. She previously worked as the education coordinator at SARSSM before moving up to the Augusta area and is thrilled to have the opportunity to join the MECASA team. She holds a B.A. and M.S. in psychology from UMF and USM, respectively. When she’s not at work, Katie loves to explore the outdoors with her family and try new recipes.
Sarah Firth, Quality & Compliance Coordinator
Sarah coordinates compliance and quality where she helps Maine’s sexual assault support centers figure out how to offer services and develop their workplace in ways that also satisfy the regulations. She conducts site visits and trainings on these issues, and also works on projects to develop consistent statewide services like text/chat and support group facilitator training. She lives with her family in Vienna.
Meg Hatch, Children’s Advocacy Centers Network Coordinator
Meg is the Network Coordinator for the Maine Network of Children’s Advocacy Centers. Her work is focused on providing support to Maine’s existing and emerging CACs and multidisciplinary teams. The Network also creates a monthly Resource Round-up, maintains the CAC website and updates the online CAC toolkit. Meg’s goal is to create programs across the state so that all children have access to high quality intervention services provided at CACs. Meg lives in Whitefield, Maine and when she’s not working she enjoys spending time outside with her family, running, creating delicious food and reading.
Katie Kondrat, Equity & Access Coordinator
Katie works with culturally and community-specific providers and sexual assault support centers to create accessible and equitable services for all survivors. She looks for opportunities to create community-led sexual violence services for populations who have barriers to services, and are therefore, underserved. When she’s not at MECASA, she can be found urban farming in Portland, swimming, or somewhere outside eating ice cream with her family.
TBD, Prevention Coordinator
The MECASA’s Prevention Coordinator work is focused on providing technical assistance and support to prevention educators at all of Maine’s sexual assault support centers. This includes supporting the development and implementation of prevention programming and evaluation across the state, facilitating bi-annual prevention affinity meetings, managing the MECASA Prevention Education Toolkit—MECASA’s online resource for preventionists—and creating round ups of relevant tools and trainings.
You can reach any of our staff by filling out our contact form.
Elizabeth has overall strategic and operational responsibility for MECASA’s staff, programs, expansion, and the execution of its mission to end sexual violence in Maine and to support high quality sexual violence prevention and response within Maine’s communities. In addition, she focuses on initiating and advocating for victim-centered public policy at the State House and in other policy arenas. Elizabeth lives in with her family in Belgrade.
Destie Hohman Sprague, Associate Director
As the Associate Director, Destie leads MECASA in developing the agency’s work plan; working on evaluation and how we measure our efforts; grant writing and reporting; and helping to set the agenda for statewide prevention and programming. She also helps to support the staff who are coordinating programs, such as the Maine Network of Children’s Advocacy Centers, the Maine Sex Trafficking and Exploitation Network, and member services. She is happy to help out with questions about program development, outcome evaluation, collecting data and making it useful, primary prevention (and spreadsheets!). Destie lives in Bath with her family.
Jennifer Wilkey, Communications Coordinator
Jennifer oversees MECASA’s communication strategies, striving for consistent statewide messaging and visual aesthetic. She supports both MECASA’s in house staff and state providers with a range of communication needs, including creating digital, print, and web content, working with Maine media, responding to current issues and events, and writing talking points, press releases, and op-eds. Jennifer loves to create engaging content utilizing graphic design, photography, and video to help prevent sexual violence and improve accessibility to resources and information. She lives in Brunswick with her family and various critters, and can be found reading science fiction, dancing to Queen with her toddler, and engaging her artistic side with woodturning, drawing, and sewing.
Julie Agri, Financial Coordinator
Julie is the Finance Coordinator at MECASA and brings many years’ of finance experience with her. She enjoys spending time with her two teenage kids, road trips, kayaking, and photography.
Erika Allen, Program Coordinator
As Program Coordinator, Erika enjoys spending her time planning conferences, webinars, and trainings, and playing with numbers in MECASA’s database. While she’s not at our office, Erika is busy living her best life in Portland: going to farmers’ markets, picking out glittery stickers for her planner, and writing to her senators while watching episodes of Scandal and RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Jess Bedard, Trafficking & Special Projects Coordinator
Jess is the Trafficking & Special Projects Coordinator. She provides technical assistance to sexual assault service providers and community members who are delivering services in complex systems, specifically with survivors of human trafficking and incarcerated survivors. Please reach out to Jess with questions around any of these issues.
Katie Church, Office Coordinator
Katie is the Office Coordinator and supports MECASA's day to day operations. She previously worked as the education coordinator at SARSSM before moving up to the Augusta area and is thrilled to have the opportunity to join the MECASA team. She holds a B.A. and M.S. in psychology from UMF and USM, respectively. When she’s not at work, Katie loves to explore the outdoors with her family and try new recipes.
Sarah Firth, Quality & Compliance Coordinator
Sarah coordinates compliance and quality where she helps Maine’s sexual assault support centers figure out how to offer services and develop their workplace in ways that also satisfy the regulations. She conducts site visits and trainings on these issues, and also works on projects to develop consistent statewide services like text/chat and support group facilitator training. She lives with her family in Vienna.
Meg Hatch, Children’s Advocacy Centers Network Coordinator
Meg is the Network Coordinator for the Maine Network of Children’s Advocacy Centers. Her work is focused on providing support to Maine’s existing and emerging CACs and multidisciplinary teams. The Network also creates a monthly Resource Round-up, maintains the CAC website and updates the online CAC toolkit. Meg’s goal is to create programs across the state so that all children have access to high quality intervention services provided at CACs. Meg lives in Whitefield, Maine and when she’s not working she enjoys spending time outside with her family, running, creating delicious food and reading.
Katie Kondrat, Equity & Access Coordinator
Katie works with culturally and community-specific providers and sexual assault support centers to create accessible and equitable services for all survivors. She looks for opportunities to create community-led sexual violence services for populations who have barriers to services, and are therefore, underserved. When she’s not at MECASA, she can be found urban farming in Portland, swimming, or somewhere outside eating ice cream with her family.
TBD, Prevention Coordinator
The MECASA’s Prevention Coordinator work is focused on providing technical assistance and support to prevention educators at all of Maine’s sexual assault support centers. This includes supporting the development and implementation of prevention programming and evaluation across the state, facilitating bi-annual prevention affinity meetings, managing the MECASA Prevention Education Toolkit—MECASA’s online resource for preventionists—and creating round ups of relevant tools and trainings.
You can reach any of our staff by filling out our contact form.
