Name: Christa Thorpe
Title: Senior community development officer in Island Institute’s Center for Sustainable Communities
Focus: I co-lead Island Institute’s Future of Fishing initiative that aims to build resilience by supporting marine businesses and workforce pathways in island and coastal communities. This work builds on my past six years supporting Island Institute’s education and broadband teams and leveraging community-driven internet infrastructure projects to expand access to educational and economic opportunities.
In this photo: On Sunday, Oct. 13, I traveled to Chebeague Island to celebrate the completion of its community-owned fiber-optic network in partnership with Axiom Technologies, a project Island Institute has supported since 2016 through technical assistance and planning grants.
Here I’m meeting another cheerleader for the project, former Maine district 110 Rep. Steve Moriarty. We had just figured out he sold his last house to one of my cousins and interacts regularly with my other cousin who serves on a local town council. I love how almost every community visit seems to result in these wonderful small-world-Maine connections.
And how fitting for a day celebrating the people and partnerships that brought Chebeague’s new connectivity!
