Meet Our Board of Directors
Sadie Baker
Sadie Baker has been in major donor fundraising for nearly 15 years. She got her start in Colorado politics where she worked extensively to raise millions for a variety of organizations statewide. After a stint in Washington, D.C. working on the hill, she returned to Colorado where she ultimately started Culture of Giving Back, a consulting firm that specializes in philanthropic donor advising for individual families along with raising money for high-impact causes and non-profit organizations nationally.
Sadie and her family recently moved to Kittery Point from Denver, Colorado and they couldn’t be happier to call Maine their new home. Sadie heard about Brixham on their first exploratory mission before moving and the experience has far exceeded her expectations. Sadie is excited to be a part of the board and looks forward to strengthening her relationships with this exceptional community. Sadie’s daughter Eleanor began her Brixham experience in the toddler program and will be an extended day (K) student for the ‘25-’26 school year.
Jenn Reilly Gorman
Jenn Reilly Gorman, MA, EdM, has worked in education for over 15 years, each place shaping her passion for healthy, innovative learning and teaching communities. The first seven years of her career was focused on supporting those communities from the “inside” - as a teacher, dean, varsity coach, dorm head, and instructional leader at an independent boarding school. In 2015, she went back to school to study at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and education. Discovering more about how and why powerful learning happens led to her transitioning to support educator professional development by creating learning experiences to meet the needs of teachers and leaders across thousands of school communities in the US and around the world. She worked with Higher Education faculty in the fields of Medicine and Education designing learning at scale, consulting with experts and shaping programs and products that allowed them to share their knowledge and practice beyond their home communities. Recently, Jenn has started as an independent consultant. Her work is aimed at supporting organizations through a personalized learning approach, offering support with learning design and implementation, program development, and organizational leadership, strategy, and operations.
Having grown up in York, Jenn and her husband, Bobby, moved back to Maine in 2020. She's thrilled to be back in the area and honored to serve on the board at Brixham. Jenn and Bobby's son, Jack Gorman, attended the toddler program and is currently in his second year of the Primary Program.
Julia Peterson
Julia is an educator who has worked with students from toddlers to adults and earned academic degrees in Child Development and Environmental Education. She has worked for decades with NH Sea Grant and UNH Extension as an educator helping communities with water resource protection. To maintain perspective, she teaches aquatic fitness and Nordic skiing seasonally.
Julia and her husband are parents to a high schooler who attended BMFS from age 3 through lower elementary. The entire family benefitted from BMFS’s devoted staff, enriched curriculum, and vibrant community and are eager to give back to the school that brought them so much.
Annette Spencer
Annette worked in medical sales, primarily in cardiovascular and ophthalmic specialties for 25 years. More recently, she has served as president of a local non profit and started her own interior design consulting business. As an alumni parent, Annette has seen the value of a Montessori education and the beauty of a healthy school community. Annette joined the board in summer 2025 and looks forward to contributing in any way she can. Annette lives in York with her husband Michael, a former BMFS board member. Their son Roan who finished the lower elementary program in 2013 is a senior at Haverford College in Pennsylvania where he is studying history and economics and is a member of the men’s lacrosse team.
Brooke Witherspoon
Brooke has worked in the life sciences industry for over 15 years, primarily in patient centered outcomes research and consulting. In her current position, she leads team operations, implements business strategies to drive revenue and growth, oversees compliance and team development. Brooke formerly worked at a start-up, where she learned to wear many hats and she developed a liking for problem solving, team building, and developing and implementing processes and procedures.
Brooke and her family moved to Maine in 2021, and are so grateful to have found Brixham where Hadley attended the primary program through Extended day and Blakely attended the toddler and primary program. As a former parent and daughter of a kindergarten teacher at a nonprofit school, Brooke is eager to give back and support the school she respects and appreciates so much.
Anna Yates
Anna Yates, MPH, has a background in environmental and social impact consulting and business development throughout the Asia Pacific region. Anna works in business development at Impax Asset Management and the Pax World Funds in Portsmouth, which specializes in sustainable investing.
Anna’s two older boys Arthur and Arlo both attended Brixham in the primary and elementary programs, her youngest son Theo is currently a second year primary student. After falling in love with the Montessori approach at the boys’ first preschool in New Zealand, the whole family was thrilled to join the Brixham community on relocating to the area where Anna grew up.
Mike Young
Mike has a PhD in Education and has worked for over 30 years in the fields of education, therapeutic adventure, youth development and public health. He currently works as the Health & Well-Being Program Leader for UNH extension. He joined the board in the fall of 2024 with the hope of giving back to a school that did so much for his son and daughter. Mike’s children Macy and Evan both attended the primary and elementary program here at Brixham. Macy is currently a sophomore at NYU and Evan is a senior at York High School.
Become a member
If you have interest in becoming a member of Brixham’s Board of Directors fill out the form below. We seek a diverse group of individuals who can bring expertise, experience, perspective, and a passion for Montessori education to our community, and welcome grandparents, alumni, and business leaders to join our dedicated members.