Maine Representative Morgan Rielly ’18 Receives State Service Leadership Award

Launched in 1997 by a group of state service commissioners and executive directors, the ASC is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to lead and elevate service as a strategy to build a community by solving local challenges.

Each year, the ASC Innovation and Leadership Awards recognize the leadership and accomplishments of state service commissions and their commissioners, staff, programs, and legislative champions in the United States and its territories.

The winners were selected through a competitive national process.

“It is an honor to recognize Representative Morgan J. Rielly for his innovative efforts, collaborative spirit and inspiring determination to improve communities through service and volunteerism in Maine,” said Kaira Esgate, CEO of America’s Service Commissions.

“We are grateful for his tireless work in meeting the challenges of the past year in advancing AmeriCorps and statewide service and we are excited to see what else Representative Rielly will accomplish for Westbrook, the State.” of Maine and the country. ”

During her first term and as the youngest Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly, Rielly began work on a modern version of the Civilian Conservation Corps and introduced a bill, passed unanimously in both houses. , to establish the Maine Climate Corps.

At the same time, Rielly supported the creation of Maine Service Fellows, an initiative to expand service in Maine beyond AmeriCorps.

“As the youngest member of Maine’s House Democratic Caucus, I fought to pass both the Maine Service Fellows and the Maine Climate Corps because I know there is a generation of young Maine who are ready to serve, meet this moment and this decade, ”Rielly said.

“They just need the luck. Expanding service programming here in the state to give Mainers more opportunities to serve the common good, defines my job as a legislator and was one of the reasons I decided to run in 2020 . ”

Rieilly says the Maine Service Fellows program fills a critical gap in Maine’s service infrastructure by placing recent college graduates in rural and underserved communities across the state to help with critical COVID-19 economic relief projects as well as ongoing pre-pandemic issues related to public health, housing and workforce development.

He says the Maine Climate Corps is an intergenerational body that will work to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis, adding that members will also work to maintain the health of our lands, resources and community members.

Rielly, who represents Westbrook, her hometown, is a member of the Legislative Assembly’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee.

While in high school, Rielly served for two years on Westbrook City Council.

At Bowdoin, where he obtained a double major in religion and government, he received a scholarship to work for a non-governmental organization helping Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Amman, Jordan.

In 2014, Rielly published her first book, Neighborhood Heroes: Life Lessons From Maine’s Largest Generation, which featured interviews with Maine veterans of World War II.

A second book featuring more than twenty immigrants from Maine is forthcoming.