OneMaine Chair and Staff
Eliot Cutler, Chair
With the help of a bipartisan board of advisors, Eliot Cutler has launched OneMaine and is its first Chair.
Maine roots and a tradition of public service
Eliot was born and raised in Bangor. His parents were the children of immigrants who came to this country – to Bangor and Old Town – in search of freedom and a better life.
Eliot learned about the value and importance of public service from his parents. Catherine Cutler devoted herself to improving family and mental health care services and to the protection of women and children from domestic violence and abuse. Lawrence Cutler was a Bangor physician and the longtime head of the medical service at Eastern Maine General Hospital. His passion was public education, and he served as chairman of the Bangor School Board and for two decades as a member and as president of the board of trustees of the University of Maine.
Eliot has continued his family’s tradition of public service. Following his graduation from Harvard College, Eliot worked in Washington, D.C. for U.S. Senator Edmund S. Muskie of Maine, helping to craft the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and other laws important to Maine. He later served as Associate Director for Natural Resources, Energy and Science in the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), where he was responsible for overseeing the policies – and the billions of taxpayer dollars being spent – at the Departments of Agriculture, Energy and Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency. Eliot’s job was to make the tough decisions, to cut out programs that weren’t working, to reshape others and to force necessary changes in government policies.
He was the principal White House official for energy matters from 1977 to 1980, and at President Carter’s request, he helped negotiate the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement. Eliot also has been a senior official in four presidential campaigns.
As an Independent candidate in Maine’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign, Eliot garnered nearly 36% of the votes, the highest percentage of any independent candidate for major office in the United States in 2010 and the strongest finish among all first-time independent candidates for governor in Maine, including former Governors Angus King and Jim Longley
A distinguished career as a businessman, entrepreneur and lawyer
Eliot knows about creating businesses and meeting payrolls. He’s been a business owner and entrepreneur, he built three successful law offices from the ground up, and he serves on the boards of public and private companies, as well as not for profit organizations.
Following his government service, Eliot founded the law firm of Cutler & Stanfield LLP, which under his leadership grew to be the second largest environmental law firm in the United States, representing largely public jurisdiction clients in nearly 30 states in complex infrastructure projects involving airports, highways and other major facilities.
A strong leader and seasoned negotiator in both private disputes and public sector matters, Eliot conceived and implemented the legal and political strategy that led to the development of the Denver International Airport, the first new commercial airport built in the United States in decades and one of the most successful in the world.
Following his firm’s merger with the international firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in 2000, Eliot’s law practice became increasingly international, and he lived in Beijing for more than two years, where he opened his firm’s first office in China.
Eliot has also been a highly successful businessman and entrepreneur. He was part of a small group that in 1988 bought the United Electric Co., a manufacturer of air conditioning components. He served on the board of directors for many years.
He was a business advisor and lawyer for Skanska USA, the American subsidiary of one of the world’s largest construction companies, as it grew from annual revenue of about $30 million in 1980 to about $3 billion in 1995. He later served for four years on the board of directors of the parent company Skanska AB, where he was the first American and only the second non-Swedish member of the board.
Eliot also helped to create the first of the Thornburg Investment Company mutual funds in 1981 and has served on the board of trustees of the Thornburg mutual funds for 30 years.
Today, Eliot is a senior counsel in the Akin Gump law firm and chair of MaineAsia LLC, a consulting and venture investment firm.
Kaitlin LaCasse, Director of Politics and Communications
Kaitlin oversees OneMaine’s communications, including social media, email marketing and public relations. Additionally, she manages community and political outreach and coalition building. Part of the founding OneMaine team, Kaitlin is excited to be working on an effort that can help bring growth to the Maine economy and opportunity to Maine people.
Prior to launching OneMaine, Kaitlin was the field director on the Cutler 2010 gubernatorial campaign, where she developed and implemented the campaign’s field strategy and built a state-wide field organization from scratch.
Before working on the Cutler2010 campaign, Kaitlin worked in the Marketing and Public Relations department at Upromise Investments, where she spearheaded a variety of communications campaigns and played an integral role in developing the company’s marketing and public relations strategy.
Kaitlin also spent two years teaching in southern Texas as a Teach for America corps member.
A native of Scarborough, Kaitlin now lives in Raymond.
Justin Schair, Finance Director
Justin oversees OneMaine’s fundraising, finances and legal compliance, and his responsibilities extend to outreach and Political Action Committee (PAC) activities.
A native Mainer, Justin is a passionate advocate for moderate politics and lasting solutions that move Maine forward.
Justin also served as Finance Director in Eliot Cutler’s 2010 campaign for governor. He has extensive experience in both business and with non-profit organizations.
In addition to his work with OneMaine, Justin is a Partner of MaineAsia LLC, an investment and consulting company, and Vice President of Development for Thermal Energy Storage of Maine, which provides electric thermal storage (ETS) heating technology to Maine homes and businesses.
Sarah Skillin Woodard, Policy and Development Officer
Sarah oversees OneMaine’s policy strategy, including developing the criteria and process the organization will use in identifying promising legislative candidates. Sarah will also be assisting the organization with fundraising and coalition building efforts.
Maine is in Sarah’s blood. She is a tenth-generation Mainer, and lives in Portland, just a few blocks from where her family first took up local residence, in 1652. She is passionate about the state and believes thoughtful, civic-minded leadership is key to building a stronger Maine.
Sarah comes from a fundraising background having worked for the Maine Public Broadcasting Network and capital campaign consultants. She also shares her time and fundraising expertise while serving on local non-profit boards. She has volunteered for a number of state and national political campaigns. She is currently finishing her Masters degree in Social Work at the University of New England.