New England Council Selects Six Non-Profit Organizations to Host Inaugural Class of New England Council Fellows
BOSTON, MA – The New England Council, the nation’s oldest regional business association, has selected six non-profit organizations – one in each New England state – to host the inaugural class of New England Council Fellows during the summer of 2025. The New England Council Fellows program was established to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Council’s founding.
Under the program, the six organizations selected will each receive $5,000 to support the hiring of a summer intern to support their charitable mission. The goals of the program are twofold: to support worthy organizations with missions to provide important services in the region, and to help provide young adults with valuable work experience to prepare them for future career success. In the coming weeks, these six organizations will select young adults who will serve as New England Council fellows summer.
The six organizations selected to host New England Council Fellows are:
- Connecticut: Connecticut Foodshare – Connecticut Foodshare, a member of the national Feeding America network and the primary food bank serving the entire state, works to deliver a more informed and equitable response to hunger by mobilizing community partners, volunteers, and supporters throughout Connecticut. The food bank operates collaboratively through a network of 650 hunger-relief partners to provide immediate access to healthy and nutritious food to the nearly 470,000 food-insecure people in Connecticut. The food bank employs a SNAP application assistance team to help people apply for benefits, visit ctfoodshare.org/SNAP to learn more.
- Maine: Dempsey Centers for Quality Cancer Care – The Dempsey Center was founded by actor, Patrick Dempsey, in 2008 after his mother’s experience with cancer and as a way to give back to his hometown community of Lewiston, Maine. Recognizing that a cancer diagnosis extends beyond the patients, their programs provide a wide range of holistic support that address the physical, functional, social, and emotional well-being of anyone impacted by cancer. Services are offered at completely no cost and include counseling, nutrition, movement + fitness, bodywork therapies, and more. Today, the Dempsey Center has grown to two locations in Lewiston and Westbrook, Maine, a hospitality home in Portland, Maine, and has adapted to providing robust support to clients virtually via Dempsey Connects.
- Massachusetts: St. Mary’s Center for Women and Children – St. Mary’s Center for Women and Children, a multi-service organization supporting 500 women, children, and families annually, believes shelter is not enough to erase the devastation of cyclical poverty and homelessness. Grounded in social justice, St. Mary’s Center empowers families to achieve emotional stability and economic independence through education, workforce development, behavioral health and family medicine, and permanent housing. Founded in 1993, St. Mary’s Center offers a series of residential programs and wrap-around support services across the housing continuum for families experiencing homelessness. Through evidence-based best practice and an integrated model of care, St. Mary’s Center works to ensure those most vulnerable not only secure, but maintain, housing to establish long-term stability, breaking cycles of multi-generational poverty and establishing two generations of stable futures.
- New Hampshire: United South End Settlements’ Camp Hale – United South End Settlements’ (USES) mission is to harness the power of our diverse community to disrupt the cycle of poverty for children and families. Camp Hale, USES’s cornerstone program since 1900, empowers underserved youth through transformative outdoor experiences. Located on Squam Lake in Sandwich, NH, Camp Hale offers youth the opportunity to experience a sleepaway camp in the natural beauty of the White Mountains. Camp Hale serves 225+ boys and girls each summer, ages 5-18+ years, with the goal of increasing their sense of well-being, independence, and leadership skills.
- Rhode Island: Pawtucket Central Falls Development – Pawtucket Central Falls Development (PCF Development) is a community development organization focused on housing and financial education. It aims to provide affordable rental and homeownership housing and educational resources, with a commitment to community empowerment and equity. Through a community central approach, it works to improve the physical infrastructure of the neighborhood while providing financial education for residents to create sustainable, accessible opportunities, primarily focusing on lower income individuals and families.
- Vermont: US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants – The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) was established in 1911 and is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit international organization dedicated to addressing the needs and rights of refugees and immigrants. The USCRI Field Office in Vermont has been welcoming newcomers to Vermont since 1980. Our dedicated team of staff, volunteers, and community partners supports these refugees and immigrants with access to affordable housing, medical and mental health support, education, employment, community connections, and more. Refugees resettled in Vermont come primarily from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bosnia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Iraq, Russia, Somalia, Syria, and Ukraine.
“Each of these six organizations serves a vital mission in our region, supporting some of the most vulnerable members of our society and providing much needed services to a variety of constituencies, and we are proud to be able to support their work as the Council celebrates our centennial,” said James T. Brett, New England Council President & CEO. “At the same time, these fellowships will provide young adults in the region with valuable hands-on work experience that will prepare them for success in our region’s workforce.
The six organizations were selected by a Fellowship Advisory Committee comprised of 15 members of the New England Council’s Board of Directors. Each of the six host organizations will have discretion to hire a fellow whose background and experience best meets the current needs of their organization. The Summer 2025 NEC Fellows will also be invited to attend any New England Council events that take place throughout the year to network and have the opportunity to hear from speakers including members of Congress, Governors, and other policy leaders.
In addition to the launch of the NEC Fellows Program, over the course of the year, the Council will host a Centennial Toast in each of the six New England states to gather with Council members to celebrate the organization’s achievements over the past 100 years. Special guests at these cocktail receptions will include Members of Congress, Governors, other elected officials, and past New Englander of the Year honorees from each state. The first Centennial Toast was held at the UMass Club in Boston on March 18, with over 300 people attending. The next Centennial Toast will take place in Hartford, Connecticut, on April 23. Centennial festivities will conclude in October 2025 when the Council hosts its Centennial Celebration at the Encore Boston Harbor in Everett, MA. The Centennial Celebration replaces the Council’s traditional Annual Celebration honoring several New Englanders of the year.
The New England Council was founded in September 1925 when the six New England Governors gathered with key regional business leaders in Poland Spring, Maine, to discuss how they could collaborate on shared economic goals. The Governors and executives agreed that they should collaborate to advocate for the best interests of region in Washington, DC, and established a non-profit organization to facilitate this work called The New England Council. For 100 years, the Council has carried on this work, helping business, non-profit, and academic leaders in the region build connections and collaborate to advance regional policy goals. The Council’s membership has grown to some 650 member businesses and organizations representing every sector of the region’s vibrant economy in all six New England states.
About The New England Council – The New England Council, the country’s oldest regional business organization, is an alliance of businesses, academic and health institutions, and public and private organizations throughout New England formed to promote economic growth and a high quality of life in the region. The Council is dedicated to identifying and supporting federal public policies and articulating the voice of its membership regionally and nationally on important issues facing New England. The NEC is also committed to working with public and private sector leaders across the region and in Washington through educational programs and forums for information exchange. For more information, please visit: www.newenglandcouncil.com.