Nolan Thompson came out of retirement in August to join New Ventures Maine as the AmeriCorps VISTA College Access and Success Coordinator for the Augusta area. With a background in social work, teaching, and public policy, Nolan brings significant experience and strengths to the position. His focus through July of 2025 will be to increase the financial knowledge and academic success of low-income residents of Kennebec County and its surrounding communities.

A graduate of Clark University where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in History, Nolan went on to earn his master’s degree in social work at The George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis in 1979. His concentration was social planning and social policy with a focus on prevention practices.

Over the past 30 years, Nolan has served as a counselor in community health and higher education and as a psychotherapist in private practice. Prior to working as a therapist, Nolan served as the University Ombudsperson for the University of Southern Maine from 1997-2008 in the Office of Campus Diversity and Equity. There, he coordinated USM’s mediation program.

Nolan’s human services teaching experience includes positions at Springfield College in Manchester, New Hampshire and Southern New Hampshire University. His civic engagement work ranged from voter registration policy reform at Massachusetts Fair Share in Mattapan to community outreach in preventive health techniques at Consolidated Neighborhood Services in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Nolan retired in 2020, but he didn’t stop working. His love of cooking led him to work in a number of restaurants until deciding that we wanted to return to social justice work.

“I’m looking forward to building on my outreach skills and bringing more awareness of resources available to people in this area,” he said. “I’m also excited to network with other organizations and to draw on all aspects of my social work background in my new role.”