To get in touch with staff, please email info at aclumaine dot org. This email account is checked every day.
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Executive Director Shenna Bellows  |
Shenna Bellows has served as the Executive Director of the ACLU of MAINE since March of 2005. She returned home to Maine, where she grew up, after spending two years as a National Field Organizer at the ACLU Legislative Office in Washington, D.C. In Washington, Shenna was a leader in post-9/11 issues, developing a field program around the Patriot Act, as well as working to defeat several constitutional amendments that would have undermined the criminal justice system, freedom of speech, and LGBT rights.
Prior to joining the ACLU family, Shenna served as AmericaCorps VISTA at Community IMPACT! in Nashville, TN, launching neighborhood-based, youth-centered programming in economically and racially diverse neighborhoods. She also served in the Peace Corps in La Arena de Chitre, Panama, where she facilitated the development and execution of a micro-credit lending program for artisan groups. From 1997 – 1999 Bellows worked as a researcher and recruiter for Economists Incorporated. She graduated magna cum laude from Middlebury College in Vermont, with a degree in International Politics and Economics. She is a recipient of the 2010 Maryann Hartman award. Shenna is active in the Maine Freedom to Marry Campaign, the Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition, and the Maine Choice Coalition. She serves on the Maine Right to Know Advisory Committee and on the Board of Directors of the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition. She co-chaired the successful 2011 Protect Maine Voting Rights campaign to preserve same day voter registration. |
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Legal Director Zachary Heiden  |
Zach Heiden is the Legal Director of the ACLU of Maine. He has litigated cases to defend the civil rights and civil liberties of artists, immigrants, journalists, pregnant women, prisoners, protesters, religious minorities, students, and whistleblowers. Heiden has been recognized as “rising star” in New England Super Lawyer magazine, which called him “a hero to beer drinkers everywhere” for his challenge to censorship of alcoholic beverage label illustrations. In addition to litigation, Heiden frequently testifies before committees of the Maine Legislature. In 2008, Heiden served as a member of the Maine Judicial Branch Indigent Legal Services Commission, which helped restructure the delivery of constitutionally-mandated legal representation to indigent individuals. Heiden has also served on the Judicial Branch Taskforce on Electronic Court Records Access and the Judicial Branch Advisory Committee on Fees. Heiden has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Maine School of Law, where he taught constitutional law. Heiden joined the ACLU of Maine in February 2004 as the organization’s first staff attorney, and he was promoted to Legal Director in March 2007. Prior to that, Heiden was an associate in the litigation department of Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault in Boston, where he worked on white-collar defense and securities litigation. Heiden received his A.B. from Bowdoin College (1995), where he majored in English, and he received his M.A. in Modern Irish and British Literature from the University of Florida (1998). He earned his J.D. from Boston College Law School (2002), and he was awarded the Law School Alumni Association Award at graduation. During law school, Heiden served as managing editor of the BCLS International and Comparative Law Review, and he founded BC Law’s first chapter of the American Constitution Society. Following law school, Heiden clerked for the Honorable Susan Calkins on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. He is the author of Fences and Neighbors, 17 Law and Literature 225 (2005) and Too Low a Price: Waiver and the Right to Counsel, 62 Maine L. Rev. 488 (2010). |
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Membership and Education Organizer Jon Gaither  |
Jon Gaither is a graduate of George Washington University, where he earned a B.A. in political science. While attending college he interned for ABC News Investigative Unit, served as the senior sports reporter for his school’s online newspaper, and was a research assistant for author Jane Leavy. After college, Jon returned home to Maine where he worked for three years as a substitute teacher for all grade levels in the Jay school system, as well as two years with an after-school program that targeted low-income students at Jay Middle School. Jon is a strong believer in the importance of educating all students about their constitutional rights. In his free time he is an avid musician and songwriter, having self-released several albums with a variety of bands. |
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Public Policy Counsel Alysia Melnick  |
Alysia Melnick is the Public Policy Counsel for the ACLU of MAINE. Alysia was previously employed at the Center for Prevention of Hate Violence and the Muskie Institute for Child and Family Policy, where she conducted research and advocated for policy change to combat issues such as violence targeting the homeless, domestic violence, sexual assault, and discrimination against LGBT individuals. Additionally, she has worked for the Drug Policy Alliance’s Office of Legal Affairs, Maine’s Office of the Federal Defender, the Victims’ Unit of the United Nations’ Khmer Rouge Tribunal, and the CASA program, advocating for the best interests of abused and neglected children in court. Melnick is an Honors graduate of Tufts University with a Master's Degree from the Muskie School of Public Service as well as a law degree from Northeastern University. |
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Development Associate Edward Reilly  |
Edward Reilly joined the ACLU of MAINE as Development Assistant in August of 2007. He earned a B.A. in History from Loyola University in Chicago. After graduation, Edward worked in residential construction focusing on historic home rehabilitation and restoration. A longtime supporter of the ACLU, Edward became involved with the ACLU of MAINE as a volunteer after moving to Maine from Detroit, Michigan. |
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Administrative and Legal Assistant Ryan Mack  |
Ryan Mack recently graduated with honors from the University of Southern Maine where he earned a B.A. in Sociology. Ryan attended USM as a Mitchell Scholar and then interned at the Senator George J. Mitchell Scholarship Research Institute. He currently serves as a member of the institute’s Alumni Council. During his time at USM, he founded USM’s Sustainable Food Student Group and volunteered for the No-on-1 marriage equality campaign in 2009. Ryan recently joined both the Steering Committee for the Maine League of Young Voters and the choir at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke on State Street. |
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Contract Field Organizer Heather Martin  |
Heather Martin fell in love with the Constitution while attending the College of Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. Since then she has gone on to do a variety of community organizing, working as a systems specialist with Families in Crisis, a community fundraiser for WERU-FM, and as part of the Family Ambassador Program through the ACLU, GLAD, and EqualityME. Heather has also worked creating recycling curricula and environmental events for the City of Bangor, and has been an organizer for a variety of progressive groups. She adores working within communities to facilitate change and spending her free time hiking and touring art museums. |
