Meet the AIGA Maine Board of Directors
Katie began to serve with AIGA at the beginning of 2022 to connect with like-minded creatives in her local community. Her day job is Digital Communications Specialist at Dechra, a global animal health organization, where she creates content particularly focused on communicating the organization’s sustainability strategy and related activities to a global audience.
A native of Massachusetts, Katie obtained a business degree from Suffolk University in Boston. She spent time living in Sweden and Texas before making Portland her home in 2014. Outside of work, her hobbies include writing, reading, exploring (ideally on a bike), playing pool, and spending as much time with her two cats as possible.
Rachel Guthrie is currently a Professor in Communications & New Media at Southern Maine Community College. She was born and raised in Texas where she spent the 50s and 60s learning more about ranching than shoveling snow. So when she moved to Maine, the four seasons inspired her creativity. Rachel earned her BFA in Fine Arts from the University of Southern Maine, followed by a one-year exchange in London at Whitelands College. From there, her graduate studies began in France, where she earned a certificate of Higher Education in European studies, then pursued a career in graphic design.
Rachel had a successful career in the field, working for such companies as LL Bean, Cuddledown, Tom’s of Maine, UNUM and the Ohio Art Company. These experiences, along with the inspiration from a few amazing educators inspired a career change, and she earned her M.Ed. at Goddard College in 2003. Rachel taught first in elementary education, then at the middle level, and finally, after a two-year stint at the high school level, she was recruited by her mentor from Southern Maine Community College.
Rachel is a painter and also a registered yoga teacher.
Gina Sterling
gina@maine.aiga.org
Gina is a young, expressive digital designer and artist living in Portland, ME. She began using design software in middle school computer club, and although she had a life plan to become a German professor after graduating from Hood College in 2020, the pandemic pushed her back towards her creative roots. In her creative endeavors, she has grown a healthy online community of other designers, both young and old, from across the globe. Gina seeks to merge art and design to create work that is emotional, thought provoking, and cathartic.
You can find more of Gina’s work at her website and connect with her and her community on Instagram.
Emily Foran is an award-winning Creative Director and Multidisciplinary Designer with more than two decades of professional experience. Through her independent consultancy, Foran Concepts, she designs brand identities, digital and print communications tools, and marketing campaigns for nonprofit, government, startup, and tech clients. These include Michael Phelps Foundation, Proof Collective, True Ventures, and the National Partnership for Women & Families.
Prior to establishing her business in 2013, Emily worked for agencies in San Francisco and NYC including Better World Advertising, where she designed over 100 public service campaigns for health departments and colleges including the CDC, FDA, Trevor Project, Harvard, and University of California. Emily attended Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts where she earned a BFA in Communications Design. A native Mainer, she resides in southern Maine with her husband and daughter. In addition to serving on the board for AIGA Maine, Emily is a volunteer Girl Scout Troop Leader and co-founded a local “anti-networking” social club for solopreneurs called Solo League.
