Shaun Haskins joined the Cobscook Institute team in August 2022. As co-director and director of development, his role is to ensure that Cobscook is clearly and effectively articulating its vision and its mission, and to connect with partners in the community who can help us execute on that mission in a sustainable and impactful way. That mission aligns powerfully with Shaun’s previous work, which has always been based on a philosophy of local community empowerment. In practice, this has included facilitation of community conversations on the sharing and gift economy, leadership of autonomous collectives, and work as a communications team member for the Occupy movement in Eugene, Oregon. He has also built up a portfolio of educational, administrative and management skills as a teacher and higher education administrator over the past two decades, serving most recently as a business operations manager at the University of Oregon.

After growing up in central Maine, Shaun took off to explore the world, landing in Boston; South Korea; Nashville, Tennessee; and southern Arizona.He eventually settled in the Pacific Northwest for more than a decade before returning to Maine with his partner, their child, and their two black cats Edith and Humphrey. Shaun is a lifelong learner and loves reading and watching videos about theoretical physics, astronomy, political philosophy, and more practical topics like woodworking (he’s making good progress in setting up his home workshop). He also thrives in the outdoors, whether hiking, canoeing, foraging, or cycling, and is excited for the huge range of outdoor opportunities that Washington County presents.