Photo by Matt Cosby
How do we give our students a full and rich educational experience? Maine is known for its exceptional schools, dedicated teachers, and administrators. Recently, community members have started engaging with their school systems through education foundations, which fund additional enrichment activities. Today we speak with Kate Snyder, executive director of the Portland Education Foundation, and Gabe Weiss, president of the Yarmouth Education Foundation.
Gabe Weiss, president of the Yarmouth Education Foundation, is a native of central Maine. He graduated from Hamilton College and holds law degrees from the University of Maine School of Law and Panthéon-Sorbonne University in Paris. He is an in-house corporate attorney at WEX Inc., prior to which he worked at law firms in Maine, Boston, London, and Paris. He has lived in Yarmouth for the past four years. He joined the board of the Yarmouth Education Foundation in 2013 and became president in 2015.
Kate Snyder serves as executive director of the Portland Education Foundation (PEF). PEF is an independent nonprofit corporation whose mission is to raise philanthropic support for Portland Public Schools. Kate is responsible for leadership, and management of the day‐to-day operations, including fundraising, marketing, and facilitating program development and implementation as envisioned by the board. Prior to working with PEF, from 2011 until 2014, Kate worked as the director of sales and marketing for Zylo Media. Zylo is a Portland‐based startup company that developed a patented technology that combines promotional marketing with casual gaming to deliver an advertising experience on both web and mobile platforms. From 2009 until 2011 Kate served as executive director of the Maine Board of Corrections, where she was responsible for managing all aspects of the BOC’s work to develop and implement a unified correctional system in Maine, one which demonstrates sound fiscal management, achieves efficiencies, and reduces recidivism.
