Letter from Our President
Happy Fall MAND!
With the leaves just starting to turn, I hope everyone is enjoying the vibrant fall colors across the East Coast. I recently returned from FNCE, which was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota—part of America’s "breadbasket." Fun fact: Minneapolis was originally settled by the Dakota Sioux people, who recognized the area's wealth of natural resources. By the mid-19th century, European settlers arrived and established the milling industry, which would later earn Minneapolis its title as the milling capital of the world.
The conference centered around Nourishing Futures—where leadership, innovation, and food security intersect. The Academy's leadership played a key role, hosting a Focus Group on the Future of the Profession. MAND, along with other State Affiliate Presidents and President-Elects, actively participated. The Academy's four priority areas—Advocacy, Public Policy, Operational Excellence, and Interdisciplinary Education—all reflect an overarching commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Advocacy (IDEA). This year also marked the second joint affiliate reception, offering a great opportunity for members from multiple states to mingle and network.
I had a productive one-on-one meeting with Rachel Kelleher, our affiliate services manager, to discuss MAND's daily operations and our future direction. Rachel praised MAND as an excellent example of a dedicated and well-functioning Affiliate—a huge thanks to our leadership and volunteers for their tireless efforts and commitment!
It's exciting to know that MAND's new Mission and Vision are well-aligned with the Academy’s priority areas. Our Board and Committees have already hit the ground running this year. Kayla Parsons is wrapping up her final year leading the public policy panel, with Rebecca MacLean (State Policy Representative) spearheading the Licensure Compact, which is expected to be enacted by Spring 2025. Amelia Sullivan is leading the charge on planning our annual conference—mark your calendars for April 11, 2025, at the University of New England for a day full of education and networking!
Patricia Watson is heading up our new Food and Nutrition Security Committee, which saw 11 enthusiastic members join almost overnight. Their focus will be on shaping the future of food security and health equity for the people of Maine. Amy McClellan has stepped into the role of Membership Chair and is working hard to grow and engage our membership.
I’d also like to welcome our Board members: Jane Sylvester (President-Elect), Linda Russell (Treasurer), Lily Brickman (Nominating and Awards Chair), Lydia Roy (Student Representative), Emma Watras (Sponsorship Chair), Paul Blakeslee (Secretary/Historian), Kristine Kittridge (House of Delegates), Shari Bowden (DTR Representative), Jenny Maynard (Newsletter Editor), Julie Milan (Web Specialist), and Mary Emerson (State Regulatory Specialist). A special shoutout to Eileen Molloy (Communications Chair) and Sarah Gilbert (Past-President) for leading MAND’s exciting expansion into social media on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
If you're interested in getting more involved—whether in the Foodies Forum, nominations and awards, or a board position—please reach out. We’d love to have you help shape the future of MAND!
Wishing everyone a happy fall and a wonderful holiday season ahead!
Laurie Copithorne
MS, MBA, RD(CDN), FDC
Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram #EatRightMaine, #MaineNutrition, #MaineDietetics
MAND Public Policy Update
Public Policy Panel
The Public Policy Panel (PPP)has been working on several initiatives, both on a state and federal level, that are guided by MAND’s 2024 Strategic Plan. We aim to contribute to MAND’s mission statement and operating principles through involvement in the passage of the dietitian licensure compact, updating MAND members on the latest Academy priorities, and through involving interested members in the annual legislative event.
Dietitian Licensure Compact
It’s been another exciting year, as the PPP continues to advocate for the Dietitian Licensure Compact. Rebecca MacLean, State Policy Representative, has been spearheading this initiative, attending monthly affinity group meetings to keep board members informed of our next steps. The PPP has been adamantly working to build connections with Representatives since the 2024 Legislative event. This has resulted in vocalized support from multiple individuals, specifically Representative Kristi Michele Mathieson of Kittery. Representative Mathieson is a registered dietitian and understands the positive effect that the dietetic licensure compact can have on both RDNs and the communities we serve. Maine was one of several states selected by the Academy to pursue the compact due to having strong licensure laws, the current political climate and our status of being a ‘compact-friendly state’. We look forward to this opportunity and will provide further information in the coming months through MAND email blasts. We would love to hear from registered dietitians licensed in multiple states (including Maine) who are interested in providing testimony that describes the real-life impact that the compact would have on you. To learn more about the dietitian licensure compact, please visit this link.
Quarterly Town Hall Update
The Academy held their quarterly town hall meeting during September. The aim of these meetings is to discuss current efforts from the Academy Affinity groups in supporting federal and state legislation. Below is a high-level summary from the meeting. As a reminder, please complete any open action alerts for these initiatives.
● The Academy has been working closely with states to promote compact advocacy, licensure modernization and payment and reimbursement. One of the many examples of their efforts includes work with Tennessee, Georgia and New Mexico in drafting the Model Practice Act, which will be pursued in the 2025 fiscal year.
● The Academy has collaborated with the Council of State Governments to identify a specific strategic plan to promote the passage of the dietitian licensure compact.
● The Payment Reimbursement Affinity Group has been fiercely working to enhance payer benefit designs through Medicare payment advocacy. This affinity group wrote to the Senate Committee on Finance, describing the role of the RDN, the necessity of medical nutrition therapy and why non-physician providers require medicare coverage.
● The Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) Affinity Group has been closely following several priority bills, including the Medically-Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Demonstration Pilot Act, Diabetes Self-Management Training Act, the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act and the MNT Expansion. Please review the Academy’s Public Policy News Center for the latest updates on these bills.
● The Nutrition Security Affinity group has been providing recommendations for current Farm bill legislation, child nutrition reauthorization and building comments for the release of the report for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030. Please complete the action alerts regarding these issues as an easy way to promote equitable access to healthful foods.
Legislative Event
Mark your calendars! The Public Policy Panel has set a date for the annual legislative event. We will be holding the event on March 12th, 2025 in the Hall of Flags in the state house. Join us in celebrating National Registered Dietitian Nutritionists’ Day by becoming involved in state issues that directly affect your profession. More information will be coming in the following months regarding the event.
Are you interested in joining the Public Policy Panel to keep informed of current food and nutrition-related legislative issues? Contact Kayla Parsons, MS, RDN for more information at maineandppc@gmail.com.
MAND Spring Conference 2025
Save the Date!
We are excited to announce that the MAND Spring Conference will take place at the University of New England's Innovation Hall in Portland, Maine, on April 11, 2025. Mark your calendars for this inspiring event!
10-Minute Research & Practice Briefs
Back by popular demand, the MAND Conference will once again feature Rapid Oral Presentations! These highly rated 10-minute presentations offer an excellent opportunity to showcase your research or practice innovations. Instructions for submission can be found on the MAND Website. The submission form opens on November 1, 2024, and the deadline to submit is January 3, 2025.
MAND Student Representative Note
Hello everyone! My name is Lydia Roy and I am the Student Representative on the board of
MAND. I am a first year graduate student at the University of Maine studying Food Science and Human Nutrition. I am doing the combined Masters and Dietetic Internship program as well as completing a thesis. In my free time I love going on walks, fishing, and spending time with my family and friends. I serve as the President of the Omicron Alpha Beta Chapter of Kappa Omicron Nu (KON), a collegiate National Honor Society for students majoring in Health and Human Sciences. I also spend most of my time in a community nutrition research lab at the University of Maine. I am lucky enough to travel and present research at different professional nutrition conferences for example American Society for Nutrition (ASN), Society of Nutrition Education and Behavior (SNEB), and the American Public Health Association (APHA).
As the Student Representative, my goal is to foster communication and collaboration between dietetic students and MAND members. One way I have achieved this is the Foodies Forum event. This fall, I hosted a Foodies Forum event—a networking opportunity that brought together nutrition students and dietetic professionals from across Maine. During this event, we taste-tested a variety of local pizzas, sampling different cheese and vegetable combinations while guessing where the pizzas came from. It was a fun and engaging experience, allowing students and professionals to connect and enjoy delicious pizza together.
Get More Involved with MAND: Open Leadership Positions Available!
Are you passionate about nutrition and dietetics? Do you want to make a difference and play an active role in shaping the future of our field? The Maine Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (MAND) is excited to announce open leadership positions for dedicated professionals like you!
We invite you to consider applying for one of the following roles:
President Elect
Secretary
Treasurer Elect
Public Policy Coordinator
Nominating and Awards Committee Chair
State Policy Representative
Conference Committee Chair
State Regulatory Specialist
Student/Intern Representative
Nominating and Awards Committee Members
Membership Committee Members
Each of these roles offers a unique opportunity to contribute to our community, collaborate with fellow professionals, and help drive the mission of MAND forward. Whether you’re interested in leadership, advocacy, event planning, or mentoring, there’s a place for you in our organization!
Why get involved?
Make an impact: Play a vital role in shaping policies and initiatives that affect nutrition in Maine.
Build connections: Work closely with other professionals, students, and interns to foster a strong network within the nutrition community.
Enhance your career: Leadership experience in a professional organization like MAND can help you grow both personally and professionally.
A brief overview of the responsibilities for each role can be found at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gyO6iHNnYwQ8sR3xy47dlxzO-dIUDl_y/edit . This is your chance to step up, lead, and contribute to the ongoing advancement of our field.
Interested? Fill out this form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdng_I_i9UdRXNHmIJO0CqZAFGiFuRjW-fvzrc5gR9Yqy5x8w/viewform to apply, or contact Lily Brickman at maineandnominatingawards@gmail.com with any questions.
We look forward to your involvement in making a lasting difference in the future of nutrition in Maine!
MAND Delegate Update
Greetings, MAND members, from your House of Delegates (HOD) representative, Kristine Kittridge. The HOD continues to transform itself to encourage the most participation from delegates. Per delegate feedback last year, we now meet every other month instead of monthly, and there are multiple meeting days and times to have options to join. This means smaller groups of delegates are meeting to review the current critical issues we are working on. Still, we can all participate together instead of breaking into smaller groups and reporting out. I have enjoyed this update, it does feel like we can make the best use of our time together and have even more active participation from the members on the call.
In July, we received an update from Academy President Livleen Gill, who discussed the Board of Directors priorities for this fiscal year, including advocacy (specifically the MNT Act and TROA), interprofessional collaboration and operational excellence, and a public focus on consumer education and public relations. We also reviewed a summary of last year’s HOD work, including addressing the two major critical issues of student enrollment and artificial intelligence. We reviewed the changes I mentioned to our HOD meeting structure and then discussed what motivates us to volunteer our time as delegates and what fulfillment we get from the role.
In September, we reviewed a presentation related to the student enrollment critical issue that you can look forward to having the opportunity to hear me present in the future! The academy staff took feedback to improve the presentation from delegates. The AI critical issue workgroup also shared updates on their top 3 priorities and the next steps ahead for their work on this issue.
Our next meeting will be in November, and I will be sure to share more from that meeting with you all. If you ever have any interest in being a possible proxy to attend a HOD meeting in my place if I happen not to be able to participate in a meeting, please email me at MaineANDdelegate@gmail.com . If you ever have any critical issues you are concerned about and want to share them with me, I’d also love to hear from you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any other questions you may have or feedback you want to share with me for the Academy about any issues facing our profession.
MAND Communications
MAND works hard to communicate with our members and the public through a variety of outreach efforts.
Our website https://www.eatrightmaine.org/is updated regularly and includes resources, a jobs board, events and educational opportunities section, and a members’ only section with our governing documents, application portals for scholarships, awards, and volunteer positions. We also post our quarterly newsletter to the public facing part of the website and our board of directors and award and scholarship recipients are listed here.
If you have nutrition news to share with other members, tap the submission button in the members section of the website to share your news in the newsletter. Please email us at eatrightmaine@gmail.com if you need the password to the members only sections of the website.
Email: MAND communicates with members every two weeks through email. We occasionally send a special email blast if the news is time sensitive.
We are active on Social Media! Follow us on:
Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/eatrightmaine/ Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/eatrightmaine/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-maine-academy-of-nutrition-and-dietetics/
Join us on all our platforms!
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