Justice advocate, nonprofit leader Nan Heald remembered as 'Maine hero'
Courtesy / Pine Tree Legal Assistance
The late Nan Heald was the longtime executive director of Pine Tree Legal Assistance and was honored as a Mainebiz Woman to Watch in 2010.
Nan Heald, the longtime executive director of Pine Tree Legal Assistance and a nationally recognized champion of improving access to justice, has died, the Portland-based nonprofit announced Friday.
Heald, who was in her 60s, died of complications from cancer. She was at home, surrounded by friends and family.
"Nan will be missed," said Dan Emery, chair of the board of directors for Pine Tree Legal Assistance, adding that she has changed this world for the better.
"Most importantly," he said, "Nan cared. Her long, accomplished career comes down to one thing — helping people. Her many skills were means to that end. I don't think the awards she won meant as much to her as the victories of the Pine Tree clients who had nowhere else to turn. She was a joy and an inspiration to work with, and we will be guided by her example."
Others posted tributes on social media.
"Nan Heald was a Maine hero," said U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine. "She was smart, creative and unfailingly persistent in her efforts to serve those in need. Maine has lost one of its indispensable leaders, and I'm saddened to have lost a friend."
King also said that Heald leaves behind a legacy of service through Pine Tree, "and an army of allies across Maine who will advance her ideals. She has always been an inspiration of how to do public service right; now, it's left to us to carry on her work."
David Morse, a Westbrook city councilor, said, "Maine lost a great one" in Heald, whom he credited with improving the lives of many thousands of Mainers. "May her memory be a blessing."
Heald, who grew up in Oquossoc in western Maine, graduated from Smith College in 1977 and George Washington University Law School in 1980.
Career accomplishments
After starting her career with the federal government and in private practice, she joined Pine Tree Legal Assistance in 1985 and took the helm as executive director in 1990, when the organization had a budget of $2.8 million and received funding from five grants.
In 2021, the annual budget is more than $7 million, and the nonprofit has more than two dozen grants, a thriving fundraising program and an endowment. With 75 employees and five regional offices in addition to its Portland headquarters, PTLA handled 6,300 cases last year assisting nearly 16,000 people.
"Under Nan's leadership," the organization said, "Pine Tree Legal Assistance has become a nationally recognized leader in innovative areas of technology to advance access to justice and legal aid."
The group also noted that under her leadership, Pine Tree Legal Assistance formed Maine's first and only law project, significantly expanded support to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and launched programs serving low-income veterans. Other projects developed under her leadership include a clinic for low-income taxpayers, a nationally recognized foreclosure and consumer program and a program to combat housing discrimination.
Heald's many awards include being honored as a Mainebiz Woman to Watch in 2010.
In 2018, for the special Mainebiz Women to Watch 10th Anniversary Magazine, Heald shared that she was constantly learning new things and getting to work with different people.
In a leadership survey for that publication, she recommended: "Spend time with people outside your professional group and don't just hire people who think as you do or who view the world through a similar lens. None of us are right all the time; a leader must listen to the people who disagree and be prepared to change her mind in response."
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