Trekker’s leader Don Carpenter stepping down after 18 years

Mon, 06/29/2015 - 3:45pm

    THOMASTON — After 17 years as Trekkers' executive director, Don Carpenter has decided to step down. Carpenter has spent nearly 18 years at the helm of the organization, which was founded by his uncle, Jack Carpenter, which he joined with an eye on expansion after helping lead an expedition of seventh-graders to Acadia National Park.

    Carpenter, 45, informed the board of trustees of his plans in advance of its scheduled board retreat earlier this month. He will officially step down in February of 2016. His tenure began in 1998 when he arrived in Maine after getting a master's degree in environmental education from Lesley University.

    Carpenter characterized his time with Trekkers as one of the greatest journeys he's ever undertaken in his life.

    "When I first arrived at Trekkers, the program worked with 24 students, had a budget of less than $1,800 and we only ran one program a year. I knew as soon as I started working with the young people in this community, I was going to stay. However, nothing quite prepares you for the unexpected opportunities that come from committing fully to a mission, especially when you aren't attached to a particular outcome. I wasn't quite sure where we were headed, but what I was sure about was that if we could put the right leadership in place that there was an opportunity to grow something good into something great. I decided then to go all-in, risk everything and see what happened. Seventeen years later, I couldn't be more proud of what we've created. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to work with so many remarkable young people, families and community partners,” said Carpenter in a press release.

    “My decision to step down at this time to seek a new way of fulfilling my lifelong commitment to serving young people is, for sure, not easy. Fortunately, it comes at a time when the organization is thriving: when an incredibly talented and committed staff and board are in place. It has been a privilege to work with this team. I look forward to seeing them keep Trekkers moving in a successful direction; one that continues to have a positive impact on our community,” he said.

    Trekkers began working with students from Thomaston in 1994. The organization in 1996 increased its service area to include Cushing and St. George. Carpenter first arrived at Trekkers in 1997, while still working on his master's degree. He was originally invited by his uncle to work with students on a marsh ecology project at the St. George School. The next year, Don was asked by his uncle to come back to Maine to lead the expedition to Acadia National Park, and the rest is history.

    After helping Trekkers get incorporated in 1999, Carpenter began building its unique youth development model, which follows students through six years of their adolescence, surrounds them with mentors and caring adults, all while exposing them to the diversity of life, people, cultures and natural resources that exist outside of their everyday lives. In 2003, Trekkers graduated its first class of Trekkers, who went through the long-term mentoring model from seventh- to 12th-grade.

    In the years since those early days, Carpenter helped lead the organization through an expansion plan designed to double the number of students and communities served. In 2010, with the consolidation of School Administrative districts 50 and 5, Trekkers expanded its services to include young people growing up in Rockland, Owls Head and South Thomaston, and began replicating each of its grade-specific programs.

    During Carpenter's tenure, Trekkers has grown from humble beginnings into a flourishing organization that:
    • Provides more than 200 students a year an opportunity to be surrounded by caring adults from their own community
    • Offers more than 20 educational expeditions for seventh – through 12th-graders, both in and outside of Maine
    • Annually recruits, trains and manages close to 330 volunteers who give more than 10,400 volunteer hours to support Trekkers youth
    • Motivates 92 percent of its students to graduate from high school
    • Inspires 72 percent of its students to pursue higher education or the armed services (state average 62 percent)
    • Celebrates more than 440 alumni who have gone through Trekkers unique six-year mentoring program
    • Works with a nationally recognized program out of McLean Hospital and Harvard University to measure and evaluate students' strengths and areas to bolster; and
    • Raises more than a half of million dollars a year to support Trekkers' youth-serving initiatives

    Also under Carpenter’s leadership, other Trekkers programs have been developed outside the state of Maine and even internationally. Urban Trekkers programs in Camden, N.J., and Copan Ruinas, Honduras, are modeled after Trekkers' youth development model and have provided hundreds more students the opportunity to be surrounded by caring adults through the use of community service, expeditionary learning and adventure-based education.

    Stu Rich, president of Trekkers Board of Directors, said, "Don has been a remarkable and transformative leader in our community. His leadership style starts and ends with building strong, healthy and long-lasting relationships. Whether it has been with students, parents, school officials, community partners, donors, volunteers or alumni, Don has dedicated his energies to building positive, trustworthy and authentic relationships with everyone he's known. I think one of his greatest achievements has been his tireless efforts to recruit and train an amazing staff in the Trekkers model as a way to help build a solid foundation for the organization to thrive in the years to come. Furthermore, Don is leaving Trekkers in the hands of a strong and diverse board. We couldn't be more grateful for all the years of dedication he's given to the organization and to the young people of our service area."

    Rich said that the Trekkers Board of Directors has developed a transition committee and will be starting a search for a new executive director over the summer.