Senator Eloise Vitelli has been named the 2023 recipient of the Merle Nelson Women Making A Difference Award by New Ventures Maine (NVME). The award was presented at a celebration of NVME’s 45th Anniversary at the University of Maine at Augusta on November 15th.
The Merle Nelson Women Making A Difference Award was established in 2004 to honor the work of Merle Nelson who, in 1977, championed what she called the “economic fairness bill” designed to give women a “hand up, not a hand out.” Maine legislators Merle Nelson and Barbara Trafton sponsored the original Displaced Homemakers Program legislation.
The award recognizes an individual who has had a positive impact on the lives of Maine women and their families. That is central to the core mission of New Ventures Maine: Helping Maine people succeed in the changing economy and achieve economic security for themselves and their families.
The award was presented by NVME Founding Executive Director, Gilda Nardone, and former NVME Advisory Council member, Janice de Lima, Norway Savings Bank VP and CRA Officer.
“Eloise is a visionary and a risk-taker. She is also pragmatic and she understands that change is not achievable and sustainable without building alliances…She is an extraordinary strategic thinker, communicator, and collaborator who has both challenged and guided me to innovate and adapt over the years to our dynamic and changing economic and political climate,” Gilda Nardone said in her presentation remarks. “I believe she has done the same thing in the State Senate and in her own community and region, our state, and beyond. For these reasons, she is well-deserving of the 2023 Merle Nelson Women Making a Difference Award.”
Janice de Lima added, “Eloise has accomplished so much of benefit to so many people…she developed many of the NVME programs that provide guidance to aspiring entrepreneurs and people at life’s crossroads…programs that have a common theme of building self-confidence and self-reliance through practical learning.”
From her work as an early childhood educator in Waldoboro, Nobleboro and Brunswick; to her training role developing curriculum and working with women entrepreneurs statewide while serving as director of programs and policy at New Ventures Maine for 38 years; and nearly a decade serving as a Maine Senator and Senate Majority Leader; Eloise has had a profound impact on the people and families of Maine.
“This is an honor and a privilege. And I’m just so humbled to be here tonight to receive this award…I am so proud of every single one of the entrepreneurs that have been touched by the New Ventures training program over the years…there is an entrepreneur in every one of us, I firmly believe that—it just takes the empowerment and the opportunity to bring it out.”
Previous award recipients include: Merle Nelson (2004), Ann Schonberger (2006), Betsy Sweet (2009), Mary Cathcart (2011), Mary Herman (2013), Mary Allen Lindemann (2015), Barbara Trafton (2019), and Gilda Nardone (2021). (Photos: Duncan Persons, UMA) See the event facebook album for more photos and visit our YouTube channel for a video of the event program.
her work with entrepreneurs during her years working at New Ventures Maine.
describes her experience during
the COVID-19 pandemic and the NVME resources that helped her family.
