January 28, 2021

Archipelago Artist Profile: Basil Cake

In early March, before Governor Mills issued a statewide lockdown, the Island Institute’s Lisa Millette traveled to the home of Maine artist Basil Cake and his wife Mia, to learn more about his work, life, and inspiration.
Lisa Millette
January 25, 2021

Legislative Update: Winter 2021

2021 started with our country, and our government, facing some significant challenges and issues of importance: the spread and increase in cases of COVID-19, rioting at the Capitol, and unprecedented…
Nick Battista
January 21, 2021

Young leaders can make a difference

Young Leaders Series seeks to empower local youth and provide them with the tools to create positive change
As we began to talk about hosting a leadership training for young people, I kept thinking about something former Mount Desert Island High School student Thomas Korsanje said to me…
Kate Tagai
January 15, 2021

Conscious capitalism

The Benefits of B Corps and Embracing the "Stakeholder Theory."
We’ve come a long way since 1970, when economist Milton Friedman told the world that companies have no responsibility to society or to the planet, only to increase profits for…
Ben Conniff, Luke's Lobster
January 12, 2021

A Few of Our Favorite Things: Purpose beyond profit

Making a Difference for People and the Planet
As we begin the new year with ambitious goals for our collaboration with Luke’s Lobster, we’re reminded of the value of B Corps, and the other partners in our state,…
Island Institute
Island off North Lubec
January 7, 2021

What the year looked like from here

We will remember 2020 for the rest of our lives. And the way we remember will be colored by where we were as it unfolded. The view from Maine's coast and…
Tom Groening
December 23, 2020

Commercial Currents: Wrapping up 2020 

A Year. I’ll leave it at that. It’s been “A Year.” You can read whatever you want into it. Claire Donnelly and I recently sat down to wrap up our current Commercial…
Craig Olson | Claire Donnelly
December 22, 2020

A Few of Our Favorite Things: Winter Reads

With the pre-holiday frenzy behind (most) of us, we wanted to share a few of our favorite books, curated by both us and our friends at Luke's Lobster, for reading…
Island Institute
December 21, 2020

Focus and action: reporting back on priorities

In March, as the entire nation began to adapt to what it meant to work, study, and stay at home, the Island Institute began to take action. In a March…
Sue Bernier
December 21, 2020

What hot dogs, water tests, and juice boxes teach us about giving back

Island Institute staff on the things that keep them inspired during challenging times
If your postal mailbox is anything like mine, we’ve moved on from political mudslinging to the more inspiring, unifying season of giving. My inbox is now filled with year-end giving…
Sue Bernier