President: Shannon King

Shannon began her career in reproductive health 4 decades ago. She began by working at a Family Planning clinic, as an intake counselor, in Waterville, Maine.  Over the next twenty years working at the Kennebec Valley Community Action Program she followed her interest in reproductive, adolescent and women's health. She ended her career working for 15 years at the State of Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. During that time in addition to other program management Shannon was the State's Adolescent Health Coordinator and the Women's Health Coordinator. Since retiring in 2017, she has become a member of Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights (GRR) and continues to advocate for women’s and girl’s health.

   Vice President: Darylen Cote, MS, LSW

Darylen has been the Director of TRIO College Access Services at the University of Maine at Presque Isle for the past 15 years, managing two Upward Bound projects and an Educational Talent Search program. She has been a foster parent and a member of the Youth Leadership Advisory Team (YLAT) for the Muskie School of Public Service and DHHS, a group working to empower and improve the lives of youth in care. Prior to her work in TRIO, Darylen coordinated educational services for a family planning and adolescent health program at ACAP, a Community Action agency, and also worked as a school/community liaison for the Civil Rights Team Project in the office of Maine’s Attorney General. She taught English at the high school level and human sexuality at the college level, as well as management workshops for the American Management Association at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. She is a champion for health, education and equity, particularly for women and girls, and a long-time social justice advocate for opportunities and policies that lift people from poverty and improve the lives of Maine people.

   Treasurer: Timothy E. Robbins, Esq.

Tim Robbins serves as the Executive Director of the Kids First Center, a Maine non-profit dedicated to reducing the impact of trauma that children often experience when their parents divorce or separate. In this capacity, he works with the Maine Judicial Branch, the IPV community, and private legal and mental health professionals. Tim is also a member of the Family Law Advisory Commission where he is responsible to help craft family law policy and advise the legislature on family law matters. Prior to Kids First, he ran a small law office specializing in family law, child advocacy, and dispute resolution. He served as guardian ad litem to children in family and child protective cases and is a trained mediator. He has served as a referee/private judge in family disputes. As a facilitator of Kids First programming, he has worked with hundreds of co-parenting partnerships to help them reduce and manage their conflict. Tim was a member of curriculum design team of the Intensive Co-Parenting Education Program (ICOPE), a nine-week court-ordered program for parents in high conflict. He holds a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Maine School of Law and is admitted to practice in the State of Maine, the United States District Court, and the United States First Circuit Court of Appeals. Tim lives with his wife and two children in Cape Elizabeth.

      Secretary: Leslie A. Forstadt, PhD 

Leslie lived in the Midwest before moving to Maine in 2004. Since 2007, she’s worked at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension on campus in Orono. She earned her PhD in Educational Psychology and her research focused on alternative education for youth at-risk for high school dropout. Her current work in Human Development with UMaine Extension focuses on communication and well-being of farm families and awareness of ACEs and resilience in farms and beyond. She was a founding member of the Maine Resilience Building Network and served on the Leadership Team before transitioning to Board President. In 2019, she completed her certification in mediation. She loves spending time with her husband and two sons, and practicing communication moment by moment in her precious time with friends and family.

 Member: Daniel Puhlman, PhD 

Dr. Puhlman is a faculty member in the human development and family studies program at University of Maine, part of the School of Educational Leadership, Higher Education and Human Development. His research is focused on family processes such as fathering and parenting. Specifically, he looks at co-parenting relationships and how mothers and fathers influence one another in the raising of children. Daniel’s work centers around theory development and qualitative exploration of these family processes. He is also a Marriage and Family Therapist and has worked clinically with families for the past 15 years. He received a PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy from Florida State University. Daniel comes to the University of Maine with his wife Jane and 3 children, Max, Nathyn, and Jack. He is from Pittsburgh and is an avid Penguins fan and loves to be outdoors.