OUR BOARD of DIRECTORS

Jess Cooper is the executive director of Creative Norway.

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Jess has been a member of the Creative Norway Board of Directors since April of 2019 and served as administrator of House Lorax Art Collective since December of 2018 . Since this time, she has created social media pages to promote creative community, offered donation-based art classes, and participated in outreach to increase the member base. She has been a part of Creative Norway’s project, the Nevaeh Dance Circus, since 2017 which has been an integral part of her involvement with the creative folks in Norway and the surrounding communities,
 
Jess has worked in project management for the better part of the last 6 years, building experience in communication, organizing, and managing large-scale projects. 
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Jess is also a founding worker-owner of the cargo-bike cooperative Spoke Folks where she has been responsible for building social media to promote the small business, help develop a business plan for the future of the cooperative, delegate admin tasks among herself and the other worker-owners, create schedules, and organize customer information. This work allows Jess to serve her community sustainably while providing education about diverting food waste from landfills, building community composting systems, and working in an environment that allows for living wages and physical exercise.

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Nettie is the co-founder/artistic director of Nevaeh Dance Circus and has taught dance for half of her life. Nettie is also a performance artist who has performed all over New England as both a dancer and a hula hooper. She is also fiber artist and homeschooling mother.

Jonathan is a writer/musician/producer originally from Lawrence, MA. In 1992 he created the Lawrence Grassroots Initiative and served as Executive Director for nine years. In 1996 he also created the Massachusetts Green Party and served as Co-Chair for four years before becoming its first Executive Director in 2000 and running the statewide campaign of Ralph Nader which secured over 7% of the total vote as a 3rd Party candidate. (Highest in the country with the exception of Alaska)
 
In 2001 he initiated the Jill Stein for Governor campaign and served as Campaign Manager until 2002 when he left to begin his own campaign for State Rep. He became the 1st third party candidate in the country to qualify for Clean Elections funding and secured over 12% of the vote as a 3rd Party candidate.
 
In 2003 he was hired as the development director for the Boston Social Forum and after the 2004 event he founded Massachusetts Global Action which became a leader in the fight against multi-national control of water resources.
 
He moved to Maine full-time in 2006 after being hired to create the Maine Marijuana Policy Initiative (MMPI). He then wrote the 2009 statewide ballot initiative (and ran the campaign) that created a distribution system for medical marijuana. In 2010 he created Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine (MMCM) and served as its Executive Director until 2012.
 
As a writer Jonathan has spearheaded a number of projects including the Merrimack Valley Progressive, a monthly paper that he served as publisher/editor/writer for between 1992-1999.
He has also written (3) full length plays/musicals, Jesus Christ Terrorist, Mother Culture, and Somewhere, Maine: The Marijuana Musical, produced 10 CD’s of original songs including "Gods, Guns, and Ganja", "The Trial of Johnny Crashed", and "Scenes from Somewhere Maine", and created an entire semi-fictional on-line world of Somewhere Maine an ongoing project.

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His original musical "An Evening at Dave's Sauna" was performed at the Gendron Franco Center in Lewiston in October of 2021.

Kim has been a bookkeeper for 20+ years and enjoys connecting with artistic individuals.

She connected with Creative Norway during Cow Pasture Community Theater's first production "An Evening at Dave's Sauna" where she served as the sole backstage hand/props director and also played a role as "Neighbor Not Happy".

Katie Brodie is living her best life! Raised in southern Maine and now a mother to four beautiful boys, she is a business owner, homeschooling mum, and devout artistic dabbler. Her freedom and focus are manifested in opportunities for adventure, connection, and FUN. In her free time, Katie enjoys being outdoors and barefoot as much as possible. She has a deep love for yoga, gardening, hiking and being on the beautiful waterways of Maine. Katie and her partner are currently developing 49 acres in western Maine for off-grid living and homesteading. Katie first joined CN as a student of Nettie Loops in November 2021 and her experiences have grown to include performer, teacher, and board member. Katie lends her skills, commitment, and courage in an energetic exchange with the collective, and feels deep gratitude for the abundance this partnership has offered.