Contact Us
The New England Environmental Finance Center sits within the Catherine Cutler Institute at the Muskie School of Public Service, the research arm of the University of Southern Maine. Our staff are based in Portland, Maine and serve the New England region.
Our Staff
Martha Sheils
Director
Email: martha.sheils@maine.edu
Key Competencies: Adaptive program management, advancing projects to implementation, education, community engagement and outreach, amplifying lessons learned and outcomes, transferring successful models to other states, funding and financing, and promoting inclusivity of all communities in need of climate resilience funding and financing.
Martha leads the New England EFC team and the programmatic expansion of New England EFC’s services. She has over 25 years of experience in community capacity building to move environmental projects forward to the funding and financing and implementation phase.
Jack D. Kartez, PhD
Senior Advisor & Emeritus Director
Email: jackk@maine.edu
Key Competencies: Community engagement and outreach, effective training methods, culturally sensitive consensus building processes, fiscal analysis, emergency management, knowledge transfer.
Dr. Kartez is an environmental planner, mediator, and consensus-building specialist supporting municipal, non-profit, state, and multi-state clients across New England. He co-founded the New England EFC in 2001 and currently serves as a senior advisor, delivering services on cost-effective stormwater management, climate adaptation and resilience planning, local infrastructure finance, and risk communication. He also co-founded the Texas A&M University Hazard Center and has long worked on natural and environmental hazards research and training.
Chloe Shields
Deputy Director
Email: chloe.f.shields@maine.edu
Key Competencies: Climate action planning and resilient communities, inclusive community engagement, project management, partnership development, funding and financing.
Chloe supports the strategic direction of the New England EFC and designs and delivers training, capacity building, and technical assistance with an emphasis on climate resilience planning and financing. She has a diverse background in environmental planning, public health, and international development. With more than 10 years of experience supporting underserved and disadvantaged groups both in the U.S. and internationally, Chloe brings knowledge of inclusive, equitable program delivery strategies.
Phaeng Southisombath
SNEP Network Project Manager
Email: phaeng.southisombath@maine.edu
Key Competencies: Database management, defining, tracking, and reporting metrics, strategic planning for communications and outreach, and consensus building among partners.
Phaeng manages the Southeast New England Program Network and coordinates 16 technical assistance partners to provide capacity building and access to funding and financing. Phaeng has a background in project management and planning, with expertise in tracking output/outcome metrics, data management and visualizations, and developing processes for collaborative structures.
Leah Soloway
Policy Assistant
Email: leah.soloway@maine.edu
Key Competencies: Community engagement, program reporting and administration, communications and outreach, website management.
Leah supports the programmatic direction and administration of the Southeast New England Program Network, including planning, tracking, and reporting deliverables and managing communications, outreach, website, and promotional materials. She has a background in environmental science and business administration and expertise engaging communities on sustainability initiatives.