Our Staff & Board

Lacey Sawyer, LCSW, LADC, CCS

Growing up amidst generational and working-class poverty and addiction in rural Maine, within a lineage characterized by a matriarchal, single-parent family structure, Lacey has cultivated a unique yet common perspective on the crucial and missing components necessary and vital for people and their communities to thrive, not just survive. Lacey is committed to upholding love, dignity, compassion and empathy as the essential ingredients that cultivate and uphold the pillars of a caring community where people can feel safe and connected. Lacey works toward disrupting the dehumanizing "bootstraps" narrative while centering people within a community connection framework that is often overlooked when systems, environments, and sociocultural histories are ignored; and the unhelpful bias of individual failure narratives persist. Lacey believes that authentic expertise at any table arises from those with lived experiences, giving voice to the very people who have survived systemic oppression, as the true experts in any room. The voices of our lived and living experiences are what policymakers need to hear and integrate in order for us to attain social and economic justice. The fundamental lesson she imparts is the necessity of creating resilient communities that nurture equity and access while building on social connectedness and structural determinants of wellness.

As a young, single parent, Lacey earned a BA in Psychology from the University of Maine at Presque Isle and completed her MSW in 2011 at the University of New England. With a significant portion of her career devoted to rural social work practice as a generalist and clinical social worker, Lacey eventually became disillusioned by the normative individual approach to social work practice and transitioned into roles within higher education, consulting, and policy advocacy. Beyond her professional credentials as a dual-licensed clinical social worker, alcohol and drug counselor, and clinical supervisor, Lacey is deeply engaged and invested in her local and statewide communities as an educator, policy advocate and activist.

Alongside her teaching positions, she volunteers her time with organizations such as Agape, MCD Global Health, Maine Equal Justice, and NASW by using her own lived experiences towards abolitionist and liberatory practices for all people. Lacey’s pursuits extend beyond her professional realm; she is a homesteader, devoted Boy Mom and Dog Mom, enthusiastic outdoor adventurer and avid reader.