The longtime executive director of Pine Tree Legal Assistance and nationally recognized justice advocate has died.
Nan Heald took over Pine Tree, the state's oldest and largest legal aid provider, in 1990 at the age of 34. During her tenure, she expanded services to diverse client populations, established an endowment and more than tripled its budget through grants and fundraising.
Heald was recognized by the White House as a Champion of Change in 2011 and by the American Bar Association for her advocacy, but Dan Emery, the chair of Pine Tree's Board of Directors, said Heald really only cared about helping people.
"You know, she won a lot of awards. I don't think those mattered to her much. I think she was happiest when a client of Pine Tree who really needed help, got help, and that happened often," he said.
Heald grew up in Oquossuc in western Maine. She first joined Pine Tree in 1985 as a staff attorney in the Native American Unit, where she successfully worked to address the exclusion of the Aroostook Band of Micmacs from the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act through passage of federal legislation.
Emery says under Heald's leadership, Pine Tree formed Maine's first and only children's law project, expanded support to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and launched a nationally recognized foreclosure and consumer program.
Heald died Thursday from complications of cancer. She was in her 60s.
