MANP Connects: Nonprofit Mergers: Challenges, Lessons, and Opportunities
Zoom
Event Details
Mergers present a strategic opportunity for nonprofits to align resources, advance shared goals, and build long-term sustainability. This MANP Connects session will explore what contributes to successful mergers and what challenges organizations commonly encounter. Participants will hear about key factors such as leadership, communication, organizational culture, and capacity, and will learn from real-world examples of merger processes in Maine. Whether you're considering a merger or simply want to better understand the process, this conversation will offer practical takeaways and space for shared learning.
Cost + Registration
- Free to attend and all are welcome!
- Register to receive access to the live event
About the Panelists
Rachelle Curran Apse is an independent consultant providing organizational management support to nonprofits in Maine. She has worked in the nonprofit field for over twenty years and has served on numerous nonprofit boards.
Previously, Rachelle was the Executive Director of the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust for nearly a decade. While in leadership, Rachelle guided the mergers between Windham Land Trust, Gorham Trails, Presumpscot River Watch and Presumpscot Regional Land Trust. These mergers provided the catalyst to exponentially grow the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust in membership, in donor support, in staff capacity, in ongoing programs, and in new regionally significant community and wildlife projects.
Rachelle had the incredible opportunity last year to live abroad with her family in South Africa, traveling to numerous countries and learning about cultures and wildlife. She is now settled in Brunswick with her husband Colin, (who continues to travel regularly to Africa as part of his job with the Nature Conservancy), with her two children (who are quickly becoming teenagers), and with a new puppy. Rachelle enjoys hiking and is in the process of summiting all of the Maine and New Hampshire 4,000 footers with her son.
Megan Shore grew up in the fishing community of Gloucester, MA where she developed a deep love for the ocean and commitment to community. After four years in the cornfields of Ohio, Megan returned to New England and has since called Maine home. Through her career in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector she has worked to uplift the interconnected well-being of people, place, and animals.
Megan is the Principle of M. Shore Consulting and author of Maine Land Trust Mergers, Stories and Insights 2025 report. Megan also serves as the Conservation Resilience Specialist for Maine Coast Heritage Trust. At Maine Coast Heritage Trust her work primarily focuses on inclusive community conservation, sustained collaborations and mergers, adaptive leadership, and organizational development and change management coaching and facilitation. Previously she spent fifteen years shaping and growing the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation, most recently in the capacity of Policy & Strategy Director.
Megan is honored to be mother to two young adults – both of whom are bravely creating their own paths. Dogs, hiking, playing on and in the ocean, reading, and sharing meals with friends nourish her outside of work.
More panelists to be announced soon!