Kate Howell, Director of Workforce Partnerships, Educate Maine

Kate Howell has worked in Human Resources and leadership roles throughout her career. Prior to joining Educate Maine, Kate was HR Generalist at a biotech company in Portland focusing on recruitment, career development, and university relations. She led the national university relations program and brings a wealth of knowledge in the area of internship programming and university partnerships. Before moving to Maine, Kate worked in New York City and Washington, DC across a variety of industries and non-profit organizations. Kate holds a Bachelor of Science in Business from Syracuse University and a SCP certification from the Society for Human Resources Management.

Elena Brondolo, MPH, MBA, EdD, Director, Future of Healthcare Residency, The Roux Institute

Elena Brondolo, MPH, MBA, EdD, is the Director of the Future of Healthcare Residency at The Roux Institute, Northeastern University. Her mission is to fast-track healthcare’s future by empowering early-stage health tech innovators. With over a decade of healthcare experience, Elena fuses her passions for healthcare innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership. Her expertise spans experiential learning, change management, and program development.

Before joining The Roux Institute, Elena dedicated over four years to MaineHealth, initially in clinical implementation and later as a leader in innovation education and funding programs. She revamped program curricula, guided clinicians and researchers in commercializing their ideas, and fortified the innovation foundation of the health system. Preceding her time at MaineHealth, Elena spent four years at Columbia University Medical Center/New York Presbyterian, focusing on patient flow, behavioral medicine research, and organizational development. During her tenure, she co-founded a consulting company offering evidence-based leadership and organizational development support for academic medical research groups.

Elena’s people-first approach to program development and partnerships is rooted in her background in Organizational Psychology. She holds an MBA and MPH concentrating in entrepreneurship, change management, and health policy, and recently earned her EdD in Learning, Leadership, and Innovation from Northeastern University. Her doctoral research explored strategies for catalyzing healthcare innovation during the pandemic, translating these strategies into action through experiential learning for large systems.

Marnie MacLean, President, Moose Tree Media

Marnie MacLean is the founder and President of Moose Tree Media, a video production and public relations company based in Cumberland. Prior to starting her own company, Marnie spent almost thirty years working as a television reporter and anchor in Bangor, Portland, Oklahoma City, and Boston. She has engaged audiences through storytelling throughout every stage of her career, first as an award-winning broadcast journalist, then as a public relations and multimedia strategist, and now as a video producer and editor. Her company uses the power of storytelling to create videos with impact for businesses and organizations across Maine and northern New England. Marnie holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Boston University.