Staff
Sarah Ruef-Lindquist, Chief Executive Officer
Sarah joined the Maine Women’s Fund in April 2012. As CEO, she works with the Board and staff to develop long-term strategies to increase the Fund’s philanthropic assets and grow the Fund’s impact and influence throughout Maine.
Sarah has extensive experience in fundraising, grantmaking and building organizations’ fiscal efficiency. Most recently, she served as the senior gift planning consultant at Planning for Good, a Midcoast-based consulting practice she founded in 2008, and ran a solo law practice focused on estate and trust planning. She also practiced law before becoming vice president for Southern Maine at the Maine Community Foundation, where she established relationships and worked with donors, community leaders, and non-profit organizations throughout the state. She also served for over five years as vice president and senior administrative trust officer at Union Trust Company in Ellsworth and Camden.
Sarah received her B.A. from Southern Methodist University and her J.D. from Franklin Pierce Law Center, now the University of New Hampshire School of Law. She is a graduate of the Institute for Civil Leadership in Portland, and attained her Certified Trust and Financial Advisor designation from the Institute of Certified Bankers of the American Bankers Association. She lives in Camden with her husband, Peter.
Lauren Dietlin, Chief Operating Officer
Currently serving as the Chief Operating Officer, Lauren first connected with the Maine Women’s Fund as a donor and volunteer in 2005. She was thrilled to have the opportunity to join the staff as Director of Development in September 2008, a position she held until December 2011. As COO, Lauren is focused on devising and managing the fundraising, organizational, fiscal, and human resource systems that will most effectively enable the Fund to realize its vision of lasting social change for Maine’s women and girls.
An experienced fundraising and organizational management professional, Lauren has worked in the nonprofit sector for 20 years. Prior to joining the Fund, Lauren managed the Campaign for Justice, a successful fundraising initiative on behalf of Maine’s legal aid providers, and previously was an Associate Director of Annual Giving at Bowdoin College.
A native New Yorker, Lauren has been delighted to call Maine home since 2001. Lauren is an avid quilter, hiker, and runner, and loves spending time with her family and friends. She lives in Portland with her husband, Mark, and two sons, Luc and Everett.
Sonya Tomlinson, Grants and Outreach Manager
Sonya joined the Maine Women’s Fund in March 2011. An Award Recipient in 2004, a Brew Girl’s performer and a grantee of the New Girl’s Grant for Social Change, Sonya has a long history with the Fund and is elated that her full-time job involves sustaining good lives for Maine women and girls. An avid community player, Sonya is also a staff member at Space Gallery, a resident artist at the Telling Room and a hip-hop artist on Montreal, Canada’s Endemik music label. Since moving to Portland in 1999, she has applied her musical talents both on and off-stage through various youth workshop offerings centered around writing, performance, spoken word, poetry and hip-hop. Her local roster includes work with Long Creek Detention Center, Portland High School, Preble Street Teen Center, Waynflete, Boys to Men, Friends School, Freeport Teen Center, Portland Ovations, Maine Arts Commission, the Center for Cultural Exchange and many more.
A graduate of UNC Greensboro, Sonya holds a B.F.A. in Design. Before arriving at the Fund she spent nine years at the Portland Phoenix as Traffic Manager and a contributing arts writer. When not filling her schedule with work, music and teenagers, she loves time outdoors with her husband, hanging with her family, African dance class, scouting for vintage clothing and taking in a good Jimmy Stewart movie.
Katie Allen, Administrative Assistant
Katie began as an intern with the Maine Women’s Fund in May 2012, and moved into her position as Administrative Assistant in August. In addition to ensuring the office runs smoothly and taking care of day-to-day administrative tasks, Katie brings her passion and international experience to the Fund. A world traveler with an eye toward charitable organizations creating lasting social change, she has previously volunteered with the Umbrella Foundation based in Kathmandu, Nepal.
A graduate of the University of Oregon and the Clark Honors College, Katie holds a B.A. in Political Science. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Katie has spent two years in Maine. She enjoys spending time on Maine’s many beaches, creating digital art, and planning future travels everywhere from Acadia to Antarctica.
