Staff
Jan Coates, Executive Director
As founding Executive Director, Jan provides leadership and oversight to all things IRW. She is currently focusing on organizational planning and design, Board development, constituent engagement, and fund-raising.
Prior to founding IRW in 2006, Jan was a senior administrator/Dean at Albion College in Michigan and Hamilton College in New York, then owner and manager of Port In A Storm Bookstore in Somesville.
Jan holds a Ph.D. from Michigan State University. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Mount Desert Land & Garden Preserve, the Board of Trustees of the MDI Biological Laboratory and is an Aloha Foundation Emeritus Trustee. She resides in Hall Quarry on Mount Desert Island.
Kelsey Buckley, Director of Communications & Engagement
Kelsey is responsible for capturing and telling the story of IRW’s programming and mission through our print and digital communications. Her work is focused on engaging our community, connecting to new audiences, and building new IRW online experiences.
Kelsey holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Maine Farmington, and a Master of Arts in English: Writing, Rhetoric, and Media Arts from Trinity College. She and her husband live in Ellsworth, where they cook and read adventurously.
Lisa T. Herrington, Program Assistant
Lisa was born and raised in Hancock County. Her schoolwork took her from outdoor recreation to English literature and finally library science. She has worked as a school and public librarian, at a Montessori school, as a camp director and as a shop clerk and window designer. Her love of flower design and crafts has become an asset to IRW for many events creating centerpieces and decorations.
Lisa lives in Franklin with her artist husband. She keeps busy on the board of directors for Franklin Historical Society and is president of the Franklin Library board.
Alison Johnson, Director of School Programs
Alison oversees all aspects of IRW’s school programs, including planning school visits, seeking new author/illustrator talent, and collaborating with school partners to find just the right fit for their community. She helps plan professional development for educators in the IRW network keeping an ear to the ground for what is needed when visiting schools.
She began her nonprofit work as director of the Schoodic Arts for All Summer Festival and has served on several area nonprofit boards, including the Schoodic Community Fund, the Dorcas Library, and two terms on the RSU24 School board. She has completed the advanced practicum in Visual Thinking Strategies, the Maine State Volunteer Library Certification Program, and is trained in The Whole Book Approach.
She and her husband live in Birch Harbor where they spent nearly two decades farming while raising and homeschooling their three daughters. As a daughter and granddaughter of librarians, books are in her blood.
Dawn Severns, Information & Data Manager
Dawn is responsible for ensuring the flow and collection of information and data necessary for the successful implementation, evaluation and documentation of IRW programs. Dawn works directly with IRW partner school personnel, Executive Director, Director of School Programs, Director of Communications & Engagement and others to ensure effective use of technology to support goal achievement. She is considered the octopus of the company, handling multiple tasks and projects simultaneously.
Dawn has a Bachelor’s degree in Early Education with honors from the University of South Florida. She taught Kindergarten for seven years in Florida and has moved all around the United States during her husband’s 20 year military career.
Dawn, her husband, and son currently live in Iowa where she continues to meet IRW’s mission while pursuing her work remotely.
