CAMDEN —  On behalf of the Board of Directors, Board President Ann Bex has announced the selection of Clifford B. Winn as the new executive director for Coastal Opportunities.

Headquartered in Camden, Coastal Opportunities (formerly Coastal Workshop) has been assisting adults with developmental disabilities to become participating members in the social and economic community of Midcoast Maine for more than forty years. Winn will succeed Joe Curll, who has served as executive director for the past 36 years, when Curll retires at the end of March.

After graduating from the University of Maine with a bachelor’s degree in English and an interest in teaching and coaching, Winn landed a position as Activities Daily Living Counselor at Sebasticook Farms, assisting adults with cognitive and physical disabilities in acquiring skills to live as independently as possible.

Winn immediately fell in love with the work and has never looked back, according to Coastal Opportunities. He spent seven years at Sebasticook Farms (now Skills, Inc.), advancing to supervisor of Direct Care and then to developmental training coordinator, where he was supervisor of an ICF/MR group home. In November of 1999, Winn left Sebasticook Farms to join Tri-County Mental Health Services as program administrator for their Social Learning Center, a day service program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. After 12 years, he was promoted to manager of Tri-County’s Social Learning Center in February of 2012, a position he has held until joining Coastal Opportunities.

Winn has been involved since 1999 with the Maine Association for Community Service Providers (MACSP) and was recently appointed to the Board of Directors. He has served as his agency’s representative for the Lewiston/Auburn Chamber of Commerce.

Winn is a sports enthusiast (“fan of New England teams, of course!”) and has spent many years coaching youth in basketball and baseball. In addition, he enjoys all that Maine has to offer, including snowmobiling, skiing, fishing, golfing, and hiking adventures.

Winn and his wife, Jodi, who has been an elementary school teacher for 28 years, have a son, Joe, who is a sales lead for Sprint, and a daughter, Caitlyn, who is a full-time student at the University of Maine, studying dietary science.

Cliff and Jodi are looking forward to relocating from Windham to the Camden area, according to Coastal Opportunities.

Anticipating his new role, Winn said, “I have long admired the great work of Coastal Opportunities since I first entered the field in 1992. I am honored to join this organization and be part of its vital mission.”

Bex concluded, “Although Joe Curll’s shoes will be hard to fill, we couldn’t be more pleased to have attracted Cliff to the position of Executive Director for Coastal Opportunities. With the addition of Cliff to our exceptional team, it will be exciting to see what the future will hold for our Agency and those we serve.”