Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 19 M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 2 2 T he Children's Museum & eatre of Maine exists to inspire discovery and imagi- nation through explora- tion and play, with a focus on science learning, community engagement, performing and visual arts, and early childhood education. Most recently, Pezzino led the suc- cessful application for an American Rescue Plan grant of $150,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts to aid recovery from the pandemic. She's led the organization to greater diversity in hiring, board of directors recruitment, programming and com- munity partnerships. Before arriving in Portland, she was executive director of Grow Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. She has been a princi- pal consultant for Butcher Consulting, working with nonprofits nationwide. Pezzino serves on the board of directors of Full Plates, Full Potential. Mainebiz: What brought you to Portland? Julie Butcher Pezzino: I ran Grow Pittsburgh for eight years and left because my husband and I had a young family. We loved Pittsburgh. It was great place to start our careers. But we were ready to be in a place where we knew we'd stay a while. Portland hopped on the map pretty quickly. My husband's family has been coming to Maine for generations. Every summer we'd drive through Portland and thought it looked like a fun and interesting town. MB: What led to you Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine? JBP: I had not been seriously looking for another executive director job. But Suzanne Olson, the longtime executive director before me, was retiring. She and the board, advisory council and staff had done incredible work to get the organi- zation to a jumping-off point for launch- ing this major capital campaign publicly. I knew there was work ahead of us, and Leader of top community resource for children She brought to completion the $15 million Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r Maine's credit unions are here for you. mainecreditunions.org Leading the way to your best financial future. Maine credit unions give you a new chance, new approach, and new possibilities. Our focus is on improving your financial life. From savings, checking, and loans to convenient services like surcharge-free ATMs, shared branching, and digital banking, we are the financial partners that are committed to you. C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » The new 30,000-square-foot Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine appears as a beacon at Thompson's Point in Portland. The successful completion, commemorated in a June 24, 2021, ribbon-cutting attended by Gov. Janet Mills, was led by Julie Butcher Pezzino, the organization's executive director. Pezzino arrived at the organization in 2019 and led it through the completion of a $15 million capital campaign that resulted in simultaneously opening the brand-new building, tripling staff and dramatically increasing visitor capacity, all while navigating the pandemic.

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