As a Community Development Officer, Claire serves a project lead for our Small Business team and provides support for our Fellows, ILEAD and Community Data teams.

In her role, Claire provides one-on-one and group training to small businesses and other community leaders in Maine’s coastal communities, develops and implements leadership training projects across community sectors and geographies, and works with the Community Data team to bring relevant data to our island and coastal communities, elected officials, and partners.

Claire recently completed her master’s degree in strategic design and management at Parsons School of Design in New York City and worked most recently in marketing, e-commerce, and brand design. She is the co-host of the Maine Made podcast and the founder of Miriam Starling, a sustainable hemp clothing line for kids. Claire previously partnered with the Island Institute as the co-founder of Fox Island Printworks, a successful screen-printing business she sold in 2017.

A resident of North Haven, she lives with her partner on the working harbor his family has owned for many generations. For fun, she likes to swim (all year round) across the Fox Island Thorofare and back.