age-friendly leadership circle

Jane Danforth (jdanforth@mrhme.org) has worked for Millinocket Regional Hospital for 21 years as the project director for several grant funded public health initiatives.  In 2015, her focus shifted from tobacco and substance use prevention to aging in place initiatives.  As a MeHAF Thriving in Place (TiP) grantee, Jane led local assessment and coalition building activities to address the needs of the Katahdin region’s older population.  In 2019, she also led the municipal effort for the town of Millinocket to become a member of AARP’s Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities and currently chairs their age-friendly committee.  In addition to her public health work, she also manages the Lifestyle Fitness Center for Millinocket Regional Hospital, is a Town Councilor and is a proud grandmother to twins, Tommy and Clara

Julie Fralich (j.fralich@gmail.com ) was director of the Center on Aging and Disability at USM’s Muskie School of Public Servic until she retired in 2016. After retirement, she became more involved in local affairs and in 2022 helped to form a grassroots group called Building Livability in New Gloucester – BLING for short. The group started with a number of small “low hanging fruit” projects including a partnership with the Red Cross and the local EMS/Fire Department to install fire alarms in people’s homes. Slowly the work of the group expanded to include a Volunteer Rides program to medical and dental appointments. In 2024, BLING partnered with the Town of Gray in offering the GNG Community Connector pilot – funded by UMaine and the Governor’s office on Aging – a program that continued in 2025 and 2026. In 2025, BLING became a 501( 3).

In the spring of 2025, BLING heard about and partnered with the WindowDressers Project. In January of 2026, Window Dressers/BLING hosted its first community build of window inserts. Over 120 volunteers came together to build 226 window inserts for 50 family/organizations.

Lisa Joyce (ljoyce@southportland.org), MLIS, has been the Outreach Librarian at the South Portland Public Library for over 20 years and a few years ago  joined Age Friendly South Portland of which she is now Co Chair. She became a Community Fellow in 2022. Lisa lives in Portland with her spouse.

Jean Saunders (Saundersjean75@gmail.com),RN ,MSN, MPH is originally from the Central Maine area but now lives in Saco and is Vice-President of the Age-Friendly Saco Board. She spent her career both as a Nurse and hospital administrator in New Hampshire, NYC and most recently at Maine Medical Center helping to initiate such projects as Turning Point, a Cardiac Rehab program.  Her interest has always involved building new programs and she became very interested in helping the City of Saco join the Age Friendly Network.  Since starting in 2016, Age Friendly Saco has developed multiple service programs such as a program to assist homeowners with small home modifications and repairs in addition to a Technology Handy Helper group that has helped older residents become more digitally connected.  In conjunction with the City of Saco, Age Friendly Saco helped produce a video on how a simple echo dot might function as a virtual personal assistant.  Most recently Age Friendly Saco has created a volunteer driver program  to provide rides to medical appointments for our older residents. In 2018,  Age Friendly Saco was able to make their public beach accessible with the support of an AARP Challenge Grant to place beach mats at the beach.   In addition to her Age Friendly work, Jean enjoys supporting her husband’s electronics manufacturing company as well as spending time with her 3 children, dog, and 2 cats.   

Anne Schroth (aschroth@healthypeninsula.org) is the Executive Director of Healthy Peninsula, a job she came to after working with the team for seven years as the Healthy Aging Coordinator, a role which supported Healthy Peninsula's  leadership role in community planning and collaboration. Initially, Anne coordinated Thriving in Place Downeast (TiPD), which developed strategies and partnerships to help older community members and those with chronic health conditions remain healthy and thriving in their own homes and communities. Building on TiPD, Anne coordinated the region-wide Age-Friendly Coastal Communities initiative, whcih she still leads. Anne grew up in Maine but left to practice poverty law in Washington, D.C. and Ann Arbor, Michigan, most recently as a Clinical Professor at the University of Michigan Law School.