Maine Community College System
The Foundation has made four large-scale grants to support the Maine Community College System (the System) and its colleges.
First, in 2012, the Foundation supported the System in purchasing 13 buildings and 600 acres at Good Will-Hinckley, enabling Kennebec Valley Community College to serve an additional 1,500 to 2,000 students.
Second, in 2018, the Foundation began funding a System-wide initiative to expand workforce development skills training in high-demand sectors of the Maine economy.
Third, in 2021, through a $15.5 million grant, the Foundation’s helped the System establish the “Harold Alfond Center for the Advancement of Maine’s Workforce,” a System-wide initiative to provide short-term workforce training programs statewide, designed and offered in partnership with Maine employers, for front-line Maine workers at every stage in their careers. Training programs targeted those workers just coming into the labor force as well as existing workers looking to “upskill” or advance in their professions.
And last, based on the early success of the Harold Alfond Center for the Advancement of Maine’s Workforce, which trained over 27,000 Mainers in just over two years, the Foundation awarded the System a $75.5 million grant in 2024, to further enhance and expand the program and to serve an estimated 70,000 additional Maine workers through 2029.
Have an idea that will make a big impact? See our Guidelines for Eligibility for Grant Seekers.