Windham’s Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals has a new executive director to lead the nonprofit equine rescue. Kerrie Leclair will serve as MSSPA’s Executive Director, after working the past three years as the organization’s assistant director.
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| Kerrie Leclair will serve as Executive Director of the Maine State Society of Animals in Windham, succeeding Kathy Woodbrey, who has retired. Leclair has been MSSPA's Assistant Director for the last three years and spent more than 13 years at the Animal Welfare Society in Kennebunk, working in fundraising, donor stewardship and organizational development. COURTESY PHOTO |
Prior to joining MSSPA, Leclair spent more than 13 years at the Animal Welfare Society in Kennebunk, working in fundraising, donor stewardship, and organizational development across Maine’s animal welfare community. She currently serves on the State of Maine’s Animal Welfare Advisory Council and is a board member of Maine Humane. As MSSPA’s Assistant Director, she was immersed in the distinct world of equine welfare, developing an understanding of how horses move through the rescue and rehabilitation system and the unique place they occupy in Maine’s animal welfare landscape, while deepening her knowledge of nonprofit management and administration.
“Kerrie brings a combination of heart, experience, and strategic vision that the MSSPA needs as we look to our next chapter,” said John Lescure, President of the MSSPA Board of Directors. “This summer, we will launch a new strategic plan to shape the organization’s next five years, and I have every confidence in Kerrie’s ability to lead the work.”
Her path to animal welfare started in 2005 with a yellow lab named Riley.
“I adopted her from the Animal Refuge League, and that experience opened a door I never closed,” Leclair said. “Within a few years I was working in the field professionally, and I’ve been in Maine animal welfare in various capacities since 2008. When the Assistant Director opportunity came up at MSSPA three years ago, it felt like the right next step and a chance to bring what I’d learned about the operational and organizational side of nonprofit work to another organization doing really good work. These three years gave me the kind of foundation you can’t get any other way. MSSPA now feels like home.”
According to Leclair, the best aspect of being associated with the MSSPA is seeing the impact of the work in real time.
“In a lot of nonprofit work, progress is slow and hard to measure. Here, you see it. Every day. A horse comes in compromised, both physically and emotionally, and you watch that animal come back to itself over weeks and months,” she said. “There’s nothing abstract about it. The work is real and the results are right in front of you. Beyond that, the MSSPA has deep roots in this community. The donors, volunteers, and adopters who support the organization care deeply and show up consistently. Being associated with something that earns that kind of loyalty means something.”
She says she envisions her most difficult challenge as MSSPA’s Executive Director will involve balance.
“Resources are finite and the need is never finite,” Leclair said. “Balancing what we want to do with what we can sustainably do is something I think about a lot. Getting that balance right is probably the biggest challenge of this role. The three years I spent as Assistant Director were, in hindsight, the best preparation I could have had. I wasn’t watching from the outside, I was inside the work, understanding the operations, the relationships, and the challenges.”
Originally joining MSSPA as a bookkeeper, Woodbrey grew through roles as volunteer program manager and Assistant Director, before serving as Executive Director. Throughout her tenure, she has been a tireless advocate for the equines in the MSSPA’s care and a champion for the idea that great outcomes are the product of a great team.
“I’ve always believed that what we accomplish here is never the work of one person, but it’s the work of an incredible team,” said Woodbrey. “Kerrie knows this organization, she knows animal welfare, and she genuinely loves this mission. The MSSPA is ready for this next chapter, and I’m so proud of everything this team has built together.”
Woodbrey will remain available in a transitional capacity to support a smooth handoff of leadership as Leclair assumed her new duties as Executive Director on June 1.
“I am deeply honored to step into this role,” Leclair said. “The MSSPA has been a part of Maine’s animal welfare fabric for more than 150 years, and I am committed to carrying that mission forward with the same care and dedication that has always defined this organization. There is so much good work ahead, and I can’t wait to do it alongside the staff, volunteers, and supporters that make the MSSPA so successful.”
The MSSPA is a state-licensed equine shelter dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and rehoming of equines who have suffered abuse and neglect. Celebrating more than 150 years of service, the organization operates a state-of-the-art facility in Windham, Maine, and serves the broader equine welfare community through advocacy, education, and community programs. <
“Kerrie brings a combination of heart, experience, and strategic vision that the MSSPA needs as we look to our next chapter,” said John Lescure, President of the MSSPA Board of Directors. “This summer, we will launch a new strategic plan to shape the organization’s next five years, and I have every confidence in Kerrie’s ability to lead the work.”
“I adopted her from the Animal Refuge League, and that experience opened a door I never closed,” Leclair said. “Within a few years I was working in the field professionally, and I’ve been in Maine animal welfare in various capacities since 2008. When the Assistant Director opportunity came up at MSSPA three years ago, it felt like the right next step and a chance to bring what I’d learned about the operational and organizational side of nonprofit work to another organization doing really good work. These three years gave me the kind of foundation you can’t get any other way. MSSPA now feels like home.”
According to Leclair, the best aspect of being associated with the MSSPA is seeing the impact of the work in real time.
“In a lot of nonprofit work, progress is slow and hard to measure. Here, you see it. Every day. A horse comes in compromised, both physically and emotionally, and you watch that animal come back to itself over weeks and months,” she said. “There’s nothing abstract about it. The work is real and the results are right in front of you. Beyond that, the MSSPA has deep roots in this community. The donors, volunteers, and adopters who support the organization care deeply and show up consistently. Being associated with something that earns that kind of loyalty means something.”
She says she envisions her most difficult challenge as MSSPA’s Executive Director will involve balance.
“Resources are finite and the need is never finite,” Leclair said. “Balancing what we want to do with what we can sustainably do is something I think about a lot. Getting that balance right is probably the biggest challenge of this role. The three years I spent as Assistant Director were, in hindsight, the best preparation I could have had. I wasn’t watching from the outside, I was inside the work, understanding the operations, the relationships, and the challenges.”
Originally joining MSSPA as a bookkeeper, Woodbrey grew through roles as volunteer program manager and Assistant Director, before serving as Executive Director. Throughout her tenure, she has been a tireless advocate for the equines in the MSSPA’s care and a champion for the idea that great outcomes are the product of a great team.
“I’ve always believed that what we accomplish here is never the work of one person, but it’s the work of an incredible team,” said Woodbrey. “Kerrie knows this organization, she knows animal welfare, and she genuinely loves this mission. The MSSPA is ready for this next chapter, and I’m so proud of everything this team has built together.”
Woodbrey will remain available in a transitional capacity to support a smooth handoff of leadership as Leclair assumed her new duties as Executive Director on June 1.
“I am deeply honored to step into this role,” Leclair said. “The MSSPA has been a part of Maine’s animal welfare fabric for more than 150 years, and I am committed to carrying that mission forward with the same care and dedication that has always defined this organization. There is so much good work ahead, and I can’t wait to do it alongside the staff, volunteers, and supporters that make the MSSPA so successful.”
The MSSPA is a state-licensed equine shelter dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and rehoming of equines who have suffered abuse and neglect. Celebrating more than 150 years of service, the organization operates a state-of-the-art facility in Windham, Maine, and serves the broader equine welfare community through advocacy, education, and community programs. <
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