2027 goals
Kieve Wavus Education (KWE) is an expansive nonprofit with philanthropic goals that focus on The Leadership School, our Lincoln County Food Initiative, and summer camp financial aid.
The Leadership School (TLS)
The Leadership School, our flagship school-year program, is a certified Outdoor School and teacher education program where our 18 Fellows learn to teach by leading experiential education programs for thousands of Maine kids each year. Each Fellow earns free housing, full benefits, and a salary comparable to any entry-level independent school position — and through formal partnerships with the University of Southern Maine and Thomas College, can leave certified to teach in Maine public schools.
LD 895 made Maine Outdoor School for All law, but the absence of state funding means it’s almost impossible for rural and under-resourced Maine schools to access the aspiration-raising overnight programs provided by TLS and other certified Outdoor Schools. Therefore, KWE operates TLS with a $2.75 million operating budget, funded by $450,000 of tuition revenue with the remaining $2.3 million balance underwritten by KWE.
A gift to KWE in support of TLS could fund:
- An underserved Maine school to attend a three-day, two-night Outdoor School program, which costs $488 per participant or $61,000 for 125 students and teachers;
- A TLS Fellow to become a certified Maine teacher, by offsetting the approximately $7,500 of tuition KWE invests into each Fellow annually;
- The $32,500 it costs KWE to place a Fellow in residence at a local Midcoast public school for 20 weeks each winter, currently at $0 to the school; or
- The $72,500 it costs to employ, house, and provide benefits to each Fellow annually on average.
The Lincoln County Food Initiative (LCFI)
Each winter, our year-round Food Services team sources local ingredients in partnership with Healthy Lincoln County and Rising Tide Community Co-op to produce high quality, nutritious meals for five of our local pantries. This past year our team produced nearly 7,000 meals from Thanksgiving Week through Patriots’ Week for our neighbors fighting food insecurity. There is also no better professional development for our team.
With over 90% of this program underwritten by KWE, we are limited in our ability to expand. Gifts to support the LCFI would allow us to increase deliveries to our current pantries and scale to all eight in Lincoln County.
Camp Kieve & Wavus Camp Financial Aid
In 2026, KWE invested over $1.1 million into financial aid, approximately 12% of overall camp tuition revenue. Demand for our camps is significant, but our annual 4% endowment draw currently covers only about half of our summer camp financial aid — and none of the costs of TLS, LCFI, or other KWE programs.
We want to increase the amount of aid we award, but that is only possible if we are able to raise more funds for this purpose, or if programs like TLS and the LCFI receive gifts that free up more operating cash. As a result, too many young people who would thrive in our camps’ wilderness tripping experiences are unable to attend because of financial barriers. We want to change that.
