WHO WE ARE

The John T. Gorman Foundation advances ideas and opportunities that can improve the lives of people in Maine, particularly those experiencing poverty. To achieve the greatest impact, the Foundation has a special interest in strengthening children and families and helping communities provide them with the supports and opportunities they need to thrive.

Our mission stems directly from the life philosophy of our founder, John “Tom” Gorman, who believed that his personal success was largely derived from the support he received from his family and community.

Our History

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Our Values

Prevention

We work upstream with organizations to create favorable conditions for healthy child development as research has demonstrated that preventing Adverse Childhood Experience (ACEs) – which can include abuse and neglect, or growing up in a household with substance misuse or family instability – and building resiliency can significantly improve outcomes later in life.

Innovation

We advocate for promising, well-reasoned approaches that are grounded in the best available data and research, are measurable, and can be scaled by informing wider policy and practice changes.

Integration

We take on complex, often deep-seated, and systemic problems for which there is no single solution by integrating multiple approaches that consider differences in experiences, culture, circumstances, and need among Maine children and their families.

Collaboration

We are more than a funder – we are a partner. To make an exponential impact beyond our resources alone, we build up the capacity of our partners and grantees for testing, refining, and scaling new models for preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), fostering healthy child development and resiliency, and strengthening whole family support systems.

Data/Results

Our work is informed by data and results – we use research to inform our decisions and focus on data and results to measure the success of our initiatives. We also contribute to the research that informs policymakers and influencers who have the power and platforms to make sound policy and practice changes that can exponentially improve outcomes for Maine children and their families.

Equity

All Maine children deserve to grow up in a safe, caring, supportive environment, but not all children face the same barriers in our largely rural, predominantly white state. We recognize children in BIPOC families experience additional, often systemic barriers and stressors in their daily lives. To advance ideas and promote opportunities that are equitable for all Maine children, we continually seek out and incorporate diverse perspectives from within the communities we serve.

Sound Public Policy

Because the Foundation seeks to improve the lives of large numbers of children and families in Maine, we look to advance ideas, practices and policies that can increase the ability of practitioners, organizations, and policy makers to achieve better outcomes, at scale.

Founder's Legacy

Since the earliest days of the Foundation, our founder Tom Gorman expressed an ongoing interest in addressing issues related to mental health and cancer treatment. While our current interests are significantly more expansive, we continue to address these areas in the context of both our direct service grant making and our strategic priorities.