About Maine Inside Out
Maine Inside Out is a nonprofit organization based in Lewiston, Maine. We create theater with
people inside prisons and in the community.
Mission, Vision, Values
Our mission is to ignite collective creativity and inspire social action by engaging youth and adults impacted by systemic oppression to create and share original theater.
Maine Inside Out envisions communities and systems that see each person’s humanity, our shared connection, and our place in the natural world. Our vision is to transform a culture of punishment and isolation to one that thrives in connection, dignity and accountability.
Our values are trust, consistency, creativity, connection, love, and purpose.
The MIO Community
Maine Inside Out’s community includes people who are currently incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, friends and family of people who’ve been impacted by the justice system, survivors of harm, immigrants and refugees, people of color, members of the queer community, people with disabilities, and people who believe in healing, connection, and creativity.
MIO is intentionally a multi-generational community and a mix of individuals with and without lived experience of systemic oppression, representing a variety of cultural, racial, educational, economic, and ethnic backgrounds. MIO believes a diverse coalition of people and perspectives is necessary for cultural reckoning with mass incarceration and remedying its impacts.
Theory of Change
The play creation process offers a container for self expression, peer support, and advocacy as participants navigate the often compounding trauma experienced in school, at home, and in the community. Our model creates pathways for trusted relationships, access to resources, consistent support, and community belonging.
Performances are designed to engage audiences in dialogue about social conditions and the artists’ visions for change. Audience members are “spect-actors” and are invited to actively participate in dialogue.
Learn more about the strategy behind our programming:
History
Since 2008, Maine Inside Out has been facilitating theater projects designed to support system-impacted young people. From 2009-2019, MIO engaged incarcerated youth in weekly collaborative theater programs at Maine’s juvenile detention facility, Long Creek Youth Development Center. More than 250 youth incarcerated at the facility shared their lived experiences by creating and performing original plays inside Long Creek and in communities across the state.
Since 2014, youth returning home after incarceration have collaborated with MIO to lead community projects, supporting one another to reintegrate from incarceration and be supported in the community. These MIO artists created dozens of original plays and toured across Maine and to Boston, Washington DC, and Michigan.
In 2021, we opened our first community site in Lewiston, which has since become the hub of MIO activity statewide. This physical space is a pilot laboratory for community-led theater projects with system-impacted adults and at-risk youth, a place for peer support and leadership development, as well as a landing pad for incarcerated participants returning home.
Community Partners
L/A Arts
Somali Bantu Community Association
Maine Community Integration
Tree Street Youth
Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition
United Youth Empowerment Services
The Public Theatre
Youth-LED Justice
Staff Team
Joseph Jackson
Co-Executive Director
He/Him/His
Joseph is a prominent advocate for prisoners' rights and community empowerment in Maine. As the Co-Executive Director at Maine Inside Out, he works closely with marginalized communities. Additionally, he serves as the Executive Director of the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, where he engages in direct advocacy with the Maine Department of Corrections on behalf of prisoners and their families.
Mr. Jackson has a compelling personal story; he was convicted of manslaughter in 1995 and spent nineteen years in the Maine Department of Corrections. During his incarceration, he committed himself to education and personal development, completing various programs, and earning both an Associate and Bachelor's degree with summa cum laude honors from the University of Southern Maine. Notably, he became the first prisoner in Maine to be selected for the graduate program at Stonecoast while still incarcerated, ultimately earning his Master’s Degree.
His contributions extend beyond education into the arts, with his poetry published in various journals and featured in significant events. His master’s thesis, "Black In Maine," was released in 2016, further showcasing his commitment to social justice and advocacy.
Through his work and personal journey, Joseph Jackson exemplifies resilience and dedication to transforming the lives of individuals impacted by the criminal justice system.
Chiara Liberatore
Co-Executive Director
She/Her/Hers
Prior to joining MIO, Chiara worked in a variety of settings using original theater as a tool for social change. She began as a volunteer with the Prison Creative Arts Project at the University of Michigan, where she co-facilitated ongoing theater workshops in adult prisons throughout Michigan. She went on to serve as program staff at Music Theater Workshop (now Story Catcher’s Theater) in Chicago, working with incarcerated youth at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center as well as with young people in neighborhoods directly impacted by the Prison Industrial Complex.
Chiara is deeply committed to the values and pedagogy of Paulo Freire and Augusto Boal and to the practice of Theater of the Oppressed. Her work is grounded in the belief that theater can be a powerful tool for connection, reflection, and social transformation. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and English Literature from the University of Michigan and completed an internship at the Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory in New York City.
Molly Gallagher Burk
Development & Communications Director
She/Her/Hers
Molly leads our collective efforts to engage donors, foundations, and businesses in supporting the organization’s mission in order to sustain and grow our impact.
Molly is passionate about mobilizing funders to support work led by communities most impacted by injustice. She is grateful to be part of the MIO community, using theater to raise up the voices of system-impacted people, and moving us all toward a more just and supportive future.
Prior to joining Maine Inside Out in 2023, she held development positions with 317 Main Community Music Center, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, and Bowdoin College. She earned an MBA from Antioch University New England and a BS in Communications from Boston University.
Molly lives in Portland with her partner and two kids. She loves music, dance, being active outdoors, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.
Morgan Millett
Finance & Operations Director
She/Her/Hers
Morgan joined Maine Inside Out in 2021 and serves as the Finance & Operations Director, supporting the organization’s financial, administrative, and day-to-day operations. She enjoys the variety that comes with her work and is especially drawn to finding ways to make systems more organized, accessible, and useful for the people who rely on them. She also values the relationships she has built through her work and the opportunity to contribute to an organization doing meaningful work in the community.
Morgan earned an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration and Management from Central Maine Community College and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Purdue Global University. Her background in business, finance, and nonprofit administration has shaped her practical and people-centered approach to her work at MIO.
Outside of work, Morgan is a mom and wife who enjoys spending time with her family, learning new things, and finding of reasons to laugh along the way.
Amanda Huotari
Inside Program Coordinator
She/Her/Hers
Mandy is a theater artist and facilitator who believes that each of us is a radical, creative force of nature — and that by creating together, we have greater impact and way more fun.
Mandy brings over 30 years of experience as a theater artist to the MIO community. Her award-winning interactive performances have toured internationally, from Montreal to Bogotá, and from the New York Clown Theatre Festival to the White House. In 2022, she was named the Maine Arts Commission's Performing Arts Fellow.
She spent 15 years as Executive Artistic Director of Celebration Barn Theater, where she co-facilitated workshops and retreats for thousands of artists from around the world, deepening creative exploration, encouraging bold risk-taking, and amplifying each artist's unique voice.
She joined Maine Inside Out in 2024 to facilitate theater creation with the MIO Creative Ensemble.
Stacy Perez
Project Facilitator
She/Her/Hers
Stacy joined Maine Inside Out in 2016 as a support for her oldest son Donkell and the youth in her community.
At Maine Inside Out, Stacy has supported and advocated alongside many members of our community to navigate system involvement, reintegration after incarceration, crisis and meet basic needs. She has facilitated theater projects inside Long Creek Youth Development Center and Mountain View Correctional Facility as well as at King Middle School and in community settings. She has also worked with youth to advocate and testify for legislative and policy change.
Beyond MIO, Stacy has worked with parents navigating family reunification through Child Protective Services volunteering as an advocate in Parent Partner Programing in Maine. She also has experience as a community support worker providing access to housing resources, schooling, food and clothing assistance, dental care, and job opportunities for seasonal farm workers. Stacy has worked as a group facilitator and a support worker for displaced families of domestic violence in North Carolina and Maine.
Stacy enjoys choreographed dancing with her kids, singing to her grandchildren, theatre, art, cooking, skating, spending time with her friends and family, and hanging with the MIO family.
Board of Directors
Reba Askari
Co-Chair
She/Her/Hers
Reba joined the MIO Board in 2025. Reba is a theatre educator, director, and arts administrator with over 15 years of experience in nonprofit theatre leadership. She currently serves as Artistic Director of the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine, where she develops programming, leads professional productions, and forges community partnerships. Reba teaches creative drama and theatre for young audiences at the University of Southern Maine and has presented nationally on applied theatre and arts education. Her work is grounded in a commitment to inclusive, accessible, and community-engaged theatre practices. She is thrilled to join the board of Maine Inside Out to support its mission of using theatre as a tool for connection, healing, and social change.
Jonah Fertig-Burd
Co-Chair
He/Him/His
Jonah joined the MIO Board in 2021 and is the current Board Chair. He got involved in MIO because he believes in the power of theater and art to create social justice and community belonging.
He is a consultant, facilitator, coach, farmer, cook, and artist. He is a consultant with and owner of InterRooted, which co-creates transformations rooted in love and liberation and a peer advisor for worker cooperatives with the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives.
He is a co-owner of Celebration Tree Farm & Wellness Center, a cooperative growing organic Christmas trees and providing wellness services and events.
Over 20 years, Jonah has developed nonprofits and cooperatives, worked in food service and agriculture, and advocated for equitable food policies. He has served as Community Partner for Food Systems at the Sewall Foundation, directed Cooperative Food Systems at CDI and co-founded Local Sprouts Cooperative.
Board member for the Cooperative Fund of the North East, and Land in Common Community Land Trust.
He enjoys cooking, art, music, and forest walks. Lives in Durham, Maine with his wife and two children.
Mark Galvez
Treasurer
He/Him/His
Mark joined the MIO Board of Directors in 2020. Mark has spent 20 years in accounting/finance ranging from private equities, sports entertainment but mainly non-profit. He’s worked in all aspects of month end close and year end close, while providing financials to executives and board members. Budget vs actual process and lead contact for all accounting operation issues.
Mark moved to Maine 10 years ago to create a better work life balance, and enjoy the beautiful landscapes that Maine has to offer.
He became involved with MIO through a mutual friend seeking to expand his community beyond work and friends. “I believe everyone may have had some experience with the law that resulted in a friend or family member to become a part of the incarceration system. MIO is here to help in various ways and I’m excited to be a part of that.”
Mary Lou Michael
Director
She/Her/Hers
Maine Inside Out has been inspiring Mary Lou since 2018 when she first saw MIO artists stage a theatre performance, one that connected her as an audience member to their lived experience. She welcomed the invitation to join the Board in 2020.
It’s ever more clear to Mary Lou that Maine Inside Out is making a difference in the lives of people who are system-impacted, in ways that are empowering - opportunities to create original performances, to build relationships that are enduring, to truly know they are better than any mistake they have made.
Mary Lou comes to volunteering from a 35 year career in the field of organization development, working with leaders in the US and abroad. Her doctoral research brought new skills in understanding and bridging differences in lived experience.
In addition to MIO, Mary Lou is active in her home town of Yarmouth through Yarmouth Community Alliance for Racial Justice and the Police Services Advisory Council. She celebrates being a mother and a grandmother and is writing her life story based on the thoughtful, creative questions of her 9 grandchildren.
Sahra Hassan
Director
She/Her/Hers
Sahra joined the MIO board in 2025. Sahra is a Kenyan-born Somali attorney, educator, and refugee whose lifelong commitment to justice, equity, and community empowerment shapes her work on the board of Maine Inside Out. She was raised in Portland, Maine after resettling from a refugee camp at age eight and is the oldest of nine siblings. A first-generation college graduate, Sahra earned a B.A. in Applied Social and Cultural Studies from the University of New England, with minors in Political Science and Psychology.
Before attending law school, Sahra spent two years as an educator and coordinator of the Make It Happen program at Casco Bay High School in Portland. Inspired by her students and her community, she decided to pursue a legal education, which led her to the University of Maine School of Law. At the UMaine Law, Sahra served in multiple leadership roles supporting BIPOC students, was elected Class Speaker for the Class of 2024, and provided direct legal representation to asylum seekers through the Refugee and Human Rights Clinic.
Now an Immigration Attorney at Gillies Law in Portland, Sahra combines her legal training and lived experience to advocate for individuals navigating a complex and often unjust immigration system. She views the law as both a tool and a responsibility—and considers it a privilege to advocate for those most in need in our communities.
Sahra’s connection to Maine Inside Out is rooted in shared values: healing through art and storytelling, centering the voices of those most impacted by systems of oppression, and building community power from the inside out. She believes deeply in the transformative potential of all people and sees her service on the MIO board as an extension of her lifelong commitment to justice, equity, and collective liberation. For Sahra, this work is not just professional—it’s personal. It is an enduring act of love and solidarity with the community that helped shape her.
Jeremy Litchfield
Director
He/Him/His
Jeremy joined the MIO Board in 2026.
Jeremy is the Vision Steward of Heart-Strong, a nonprofit centered around a simple belief. The world works better, for everyone and everything in it, when more of us are pulled by love than controlled by fear. Heart-Strong's work is focused on making love cool again. That happens through storytelling, experiences and events, and projects like FROM WITHIN, an art show and marketplace founded by six men inside a Virginia prison, and Project Little You, a growing collection of children's books about holding onto the freedom to be fully ourselves.
Heart-Strong starts and ends with community, and that's part of what pulled Jeremy toward Maine Inside Out. He also believes that no one is the worst thing they've ever done. Young people who've been shaped by the system deserve to be seen whole, and MIO builds the space where that happens.
Alongside Heart-Strong, Jeremy runs BIG Acts, a strategy and leadership development consultancy that helps great people do BIG things. Prior to starting BIG Acts, Jeremy was CEO and Co-Founder of Atayne, a performance apparel company that used recycled fabrics derived from plastic bottles to make running and cycling apparel. Atayne was a certified B Corp that was selected as "Best for the World" and "Best for the Environment" staring in 2013, when the award was first.
Jeremy earned his MBA from American University (Finance & Corporate Citizenship) and his BA from Bowdoin College (Biology & Education). He is also a Registered Maine Guide in General Recreation and Sea Kayaking.
Jeremy has an EXTREME fondness for Maine, trees, running, surfing, vinyl records, vintage belt buckles and Pearl Jam.
Moe Beaulieu
Director
She/Her/Hers
Moe joined the board in 2026 as a long-time follower (and fan) of MIO’s work within the state of Maine. She deeply believes in the power of connection, storytelling, education, and building community.
After a 12 years in outdoor and leadership education, she transitioned back to her classroom roots as an English teacher for multilingual learners. This blossomed into her current role in Lewiston Adult Education as a school counselor and teacher. Many of her efforts are focused on credit recovery and diploma completion for youths (16-20) facing systemic barriers in partnership with Lewiston High School.
Outside of school, she serves on the Auburn Parks & Recreation Advisory Board, where she resides with her wife. She’s also an active member of Uplift LA, volunteers regularly in our community, and is a Registered Maine Guide for recreation and sea kayaking enjoying all that Maine has to offer outdoors with friends and family.
Atiim Chenzira
Director
He/Him/His
Atiim joined Maine Inside Out’s Board of Directors in 2026. We’re excited to welcome Atiim to the board and look forward to sharing his bio soon!
Annual Report
