Board of Directors President Tim Schneider (left) and Executive Director Celine Kuhn (right)

Dear Telling Room Community,

After nearly five incredible years as the Executive Director of The Telling Room, Celine Kuhn will be stepping down from this role in September of 2021. Celine first came to The Telling Room as a parent, then as a board member, before stepping in to serve as interim Executive Director in 2016. We saw right away that the interim title was a formality: we had the right person for the job. Throughout her many different roles at The Telling Room, Celine has made our organization more equitable and financially stronger, and we’ve had a blast along the way—as one does at The Telling Room.

Under Celine’s leadership we’ve expanded the reach and breadth of our programs and publications for students across Maine, while strengthening the infrastructure and operations that support this work. Accomplishments from Celine’s time at The Telling Room include:

Developing and executing The Telling Room’s first three-year strategic plan
Integrating ongoing racial justice and antiracist work and practices to The Telling Room
Launching the Ambassadors program to ensure alumni have a valued voice in decision-making and outreach
Reimagining our signature annual fundraiser with the launch of Show and Tell
Expanding The Telling Room’s community partnerships and collaboration with other Maine nonprofits
Extending the The Telling Room’s geographic reach with a strategic expansion in partnership with schools and organizations in the Midcoast region
Reaching young writers across the state throughout the pandemic by co-creating our virtual Student Writers & Readers Meet! (SWARM!) program
Completing the redesign of The Telling Room’s website
Publishing multiple award-winning and acclaimed titles, including the recent poetry anthology A New Land

These investments in our programming and mission were possible because Celine presided over an extraordinary period of financial growth and stability at The Telling Room. Over the first two full years of her tenure alone, our total income grew by 40%, driven by revenue gains across the board. Under Celine’s leadership, we’ve seen our community of donors grow by 25%, our organization’s budget grow at a steady and stable pace of about 9% each year, and our overall contributed support increase by an average of 53%. All of this helps ensure we have the capacity to invest in our staff, strengthen our internal systems, and innovate to respond to our changing world, so that we can continue to be here for our students and our community for many years to come.

We are partnering with Reflector Lab, a values-centered consulting firm with a passion for youth and the literary arts, to facilitate the search for the new Executive Director. Our goal is to have the new Executive Director in place by the end of September, with plenty of time for onboarding and crossover between leaders. Thanks to Celine, our staff, volunteers, board, and donors, we'll be entering this time with a strong, financially stable organization that will thrive during the search, the leadership transition, and beyond.

We are incredibly grateful for all that Celine has done for The Telling Room. We also deeply appreciate her thoughtful approach to this moment, and the care she’s taken with her communication, timing, and support in finding her successor. Her kindness, acumen, integrity, and authenticity have helped make The Telling Room what it is today. On behalf of the board of directors, we thank Celine for her deep commitment to The Telling Room’s work of empowering youth through writing, and sharing their voices with the world.

Sincerely,

Tim Schneider, President of The Telling Room Board of Directors
Anya Endsley, Vice President of The Telling Room Board of Directors

Read Celine Kuhn’s reflections on her time with The Telling Room here.
View the Executive Director job posting here.

A Message from The Telling Room Board of Directors