1990s & 2000s

Katherine Freund ’92’s Independent Transportation Network was featured in a recent Wall Street Journal piece, “12 People Who Are Changing Your Retirement.” ITN provides transportation services to older adults. Katherine, who holds a master’s degree in public policy and management from the Muskie School of Public Service, was inspired to address elderly transportation needs after her young son was seriously injured when struck by a car driven by an elderly driver. She launched ITN in the mid-1990s.

In the Portland area, the program offers rides around the clock, seven days a week for about $8 per trip. Riders can trade in their cars to get credit for travel. Volunteer drivers can bank their hours on the road to use later. The program provides nearly 17,000 rides a year to about 1,000 members age 65 and older. The program has grown into a national organization, ITNAmerica, and Katherine serves as its president and executive director. ITNAmerica has nine affiliates, which provided about 26,000 rides in 2007, and expects to have 40 affiliates by 2010.

Kathy Dietz ’94, LCPC, published Emotion Commotion (Depot Publishing, 2006), a book written for children ages 5-10, parents, and adults who work with them. The book, comprised of illustrations, poems, and activities, was designed to draw out the emotional intelligence of children and their parents. Kathy is a coordinator in the Office of Students with Disabilities at York County Community College. She lives in Kennebunk with her husband and two daughters.

Business partners Roger L. Castonguay ’95 and Gerald “Jay” Morin Jr. ’91 opened Beechwood Property Management & Décor, LLC, serving the Portland and Lewiston-Auburn areas. Jay, with his arts background, will focus on business related to interior décor, with specialties in Feng Shui and Japanese Shoji. Roger will oversee business relating to groundskeeping, repairs, cleaning, and tenant issues.

Justin (JD) Bouffard ’99 is a graduate of the Professional Associate Underwriter Management program at AIG Private Client Group. He works out of AIG’s Berkeley Heights, N.J., office as an instructional designer, creating training materials and programs used by the company worldwide.

Jennifer Lunden ’02 has earned her LCSW and LADC and is working as a counselor at Top of the Hill Counseling in the State Theatre Building in Portland.

Kris R. Pease is the assistant vice president in the finance department at TD Banknorth in Portland. A financial analyst, Kris is responsible for corporate planning and forecasting. He joined TD Banknorth in 2005 after working in the finance division of Idexx Laboratories in Westbrook.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf ’00, ’02 is enrolled in the graduate creative writing program at the University of San Francisco and plans to go into teaching. She and her sister, Deirdre ’06, biked from San Francisco to Los Angeles in June 2007 as part of the AIDS Life Cycle program to raise money for AIDS support services and research.

Julie Delano Feltis ’03, ’06 has been named to the Board of Directors of the Libra Foundation’s Libra Future Fund. The fund was created in 2005 to help provide Maine’s younger workers career opportunities within the state by helping finance entrepreneurial economic development or job creation. Julie, who works as a category manager in the fresh food merchandising department at Hannaford Bros., serves as the fund’s secretary.

Melissa Duron ’04 was named to the board of directors of the Libra Foundation’s Future Fund. The fund was created in 2005 to help provide Maine’s younger workers career opportunities within the state by helping finance entrepreneurial economic development or job creation. Melissa works at the BioDiversity Research Institute in Gorham and is the fund’s vice president.

Pierce Atwood LLP has added Daniel Kleban to its litigation team. Daniel earned his law degree from Boston College Law School and spent two summers as a summer associate at the firm. In 2004 Daniel worked in Congressman Tom Allen’s campaign office.

Champion marathon runner Emily LeVan ’06 was featured recently in a moving article in the Portland Press Herald. The piece recounts Emily’s dual challenge of preparing for the Olympic women’s marathon trials while she and her husband, Brad Johnson, help their young daughter, Maddie, fight leukemia. Initially Emily planned to put her training on hold, but she was inspired to continue by Maddie. Emily won the 2002 Maine Marathon and was the first American woman to finish the Boston Marathon in 2005 and 2006. The family has set up a Web site to track Emily’s training and to make donations to the Maine Children’s Cancer Program, www.twotrials.org.

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