Americans Who Tell The Truth
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Staff & Board

Our small but dedicated team is here to answer your questions, help you to access our resources, and join with you in pursuit of your vision.

Meet the Team

Robert Shetterly

Robert Shetterly

Founder and Artist

Connie Carter

Constance Carter

Director of Education

Kristie Gonzalez

Kristie Gonzalez

Executive Director

Kathy Photo2

Kathy Barry

Bookkeeper/ Manager

Hannah-Berry

Hannah Barry

Creative Content Strategist

Meet the Board

Marion Dillon Morris

Marion Dillon Morris

Board Chair

Eric Sass

Eric Sass

Board Treasurer

Jamie Kilbreth

James Kilbreth

Board Member

Dillon-Murray

Dillon
Murray

Board Member

Diamond John

John Diamond

Board Member

Emily-Cain

Emily Cain

Board Member

Ben Perry

Ben Perry

Board Member

“Taken together, Shetterly’s portraits suggest we live in a world where ordinary people are capable of courageously helping other ordinary people find truth for ourselves.”

Bill Nichols

Emeritus-Denison University Faculty
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Robert Headshot

Robert Shetterly

Founder

Robert Shetterly, the founder of Americans Who Tell the Truth (AWTT) and the painter of the AWTT portraits, was born in 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He graduated in 1969 from Harvard College with a degree in English Literature. Also, during this time, he was active in Civil Rights and in the Anti-Vietnam War movement.

After college and moving to Maine in 1970, he taught himself drawing, printmaking, and painting. For twelve years he did the editorial page drawings for The Maine Times newspaper, illustrated National Audubon’s children’s newspaper Audubon Adventures, and approximately 30 books.

His painting has tended toward the narrative and the surreal. Since 2002 he has been painting the series of portraits Americans Who Tell the Truth. The exhibit has been traveling around the country since 2003. Venues have included everything from university museums and grade school libraries to sandwich shops, the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City, and the Superior Court in San Francisco. To date, the exhibits have visited 27 states. In 2005, Dutton published a book of the portraits by the same name. In 2006, the book won the top award of the International Reading Association for Intermediate non-fiction.

Shetterly has received honorary doctorates from the University of New England and the University of Maine at Farmington. In 2005, he was named an Honorary Member of the Maine Chapter of Veterans for Peace

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Connie Carter

Constance Carter

Director of Education

Connie has been the Director of Education, for AWTT since 2015, working to engage youth and adults in issues of social, environmental, and economic fairness. She is also the co-founder and director of Operation Breaking Stereotypes since its inception in 2002. Previously, she was the Service Learning Coordinator at Orono High School for eight years. During that time she began an exchange between Orono High School in Orono, Maine, and Walton High School in the Bronx, New York. This exchange served as the prototype for Operation Breaking Stereotypes and the catalyst for the formation of the non-profit. Connie is a graduate of Middlebury College with a BA in American Literature. She has an MA in Education of the Blind and Visually Impaired from the University of Northern Colorado and a C.A.S. in counselor education from the University of Maine. Connie has also worked as a volunteer with American Field Service and the Experiment in International Living, both youth exchange programs. Connie currently resides in Orono, ME, with her partner Ed Brazee and their very friendly chocolate lab.

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Kristie Gonzalez

Kristie Gonzalez

Director of Strategic Engagement

Kristie has been the Director of Strategic Engagement for AWTT since 2021. Her previous work experience has been in independent school administration, primarily in admission and development. Kristie is a graduate of Middlebury College with a BA in American Literature with minors in History of Art and Architecture and Education.

Kristie grew up outside of Philadelphia and lives in Wenham, Massachusetts with her husband Eric and sons Liam and Andrew. When she is not working for AWTT, she can be found working in her garden or walking her dogs in the woods.

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Kathy Photo2

Kathy Barry

Bookkeeper/Manager

Kathy came to AWTT in January 2024 after retiring from over 30 years in healthcare finance.  She lives in Milford Maine with her husband of 47 years and their two dogs, Willow and Jack, and their cat Ripley.

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Hannah-Berry

Hannah Barry

Creative Content Strategist
Hannah came to AWTT as an intern in the summer of 2025 and has since become an important member of the team. They live in Topsham, Maine, with their partner, Shelby, and dog, Charleston. In addition to working at AWTT, they plan Hallowell Pride (the 3rd-largest Pride celebration in Maine) and work at a Magazine called SICK, which sheds light on invisible and chronic illnesses. When they aren’t busy working, they can be found singing, watching horror movies, or going on bird walks in the woods.
Hannah’s passion for the work that AWTT does stems from their belief that even ordinary people can do beautiful and extraordinary things, making this world a better place.
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Marion Dillon Morris

Marion Dillion Morris

President

Marion Dillon Morris was a corporate art consultant in SF and the NY metropolitan area for 20 years before relocating to Brooklin, Maine in 2001. Over the past 30 years she has curated exhibitions, coordinated arts events and served on many boards, focusing particularly on education. Most recently she was a trustee on the George Stevens Academy board during which time she held many leadership positions including Board Chair.

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Eric Sass

Eric Sass

Eric spent 22-years as a senior executive at the PBS Network and is the founder of PBS Home Video.  He was later President and COO of WK Networks, an internet start-up, and the Chief Operating Officer and President of Strategic Communications & Learning for Healthy Companies International, a research and management consulting firm in Arlington, Virginia.  He is the Chairman Emeritus of Global Camps Africa and has been a trustee with the National Urban League and the Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art.  Eric and his wife, Eveleen, an artist, live in Sedgwick, Maine, and enjoy sailing the Maine coast. 

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Jamie Kilbreth

James Kilbreth

James Kilbreth is an attorney at Drummond Woodsum where he focuses his practice on complex commercial and regulatory litigation, including antitrust, securities, officer and director liability, class actions, bid award challenges, insurance coverage disputes, environmental and energy matters, and higher education issues. Jamie was the lead lawyer for the State of Maine in its litigation against the tobacco industry, securing a $1.5 billion recovery, the largest in State history. He is currently representing a class of over 28,000 retired state employees and public school teachers in their constitutional challenge to cutbacks to their pension benefits, as well as defendants in a major securities fraud case, a wind farm developer in a number of nuisance suits, and a major energy infrastructure development.

Jamie previously served as Chief Deputy Attorney General of the State of Maine, where he supervised all major civil and criminal actions of the office and personally handled several major cases. Before that he was the Deputy Attorney General in charge of all the state’s civil litigation. Prior to his work at the Attorney General’s office, he worked at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington, D.C.

Among his Public Service work, Jamie is a Trustee and Past President of the Maine Audubon Society, a former Director and Past President of the Southern Africa Legal Services and Legal Education Project, and the former Director of the Maine Bar Foundation.

 

 

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Dillon-Murray

Dillon Murray

Board Member

Dillon has spent his career working at the intersection of public policy, labor rights, and civic engagement. A Portland, Maine resident, Dillon currently serves as Director of Legislative Strategy and Governmental Affairs at the Maine Department of Labor. In that role, he helps develop and advance policies aimed at improving the lives of working people across the state.

His background includes organizing with labor unions, working in the nonprofit and private sectors, and serving in a range of public service roles. He recently was the Maine State Organizing Director for Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign, helping to build grassroots momentum and lift up community voices across the state.

Dillon is a graduate of the University of Maine, where he studied political science and international affairs. A musician since middle school, he believes deeply in the power of storytelling—whether through music, organizing, or in policy—to bring people together and ensure the experiences of everyday people are heard in the halls of power.

Originally from Jackson, Mississippi, and raised in Bangor, Dillon carries with him the spirit of Shirley Chisholm’s famous call to “bring a folding chair” when there’s no seat at the table. He continues to be guided by a belief in equity, democracy, and the responsibility to act in service of the common good.

Diamond John
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John Diamond

John N. Diamond has had decades of experience in public life and community service. He began his career as a reporter for the Lewiston (Maine) Daily Sun (now known as the Lewiston Sun-Journal) before embarking on 10 years in politics and government. During that period John served eight years in the Maine Legislature, including the final four years as House Majority Leader.

In 1989 John began a 33-year career in higher education, starting as a journalism professor at the University of Maine. In that role he appeared as a panelist on Maine Public Television’s weekly program Media Watch and as host and associate producer of the network’s 10-part series Inside Augusta with John Diamond. 

In 1992 John moved to a senior leadership position as the University of Maine’s director of Public Affairs, followed by similar positions with the University of Maine System, the University of Arkansas, and the University of Wisconsin System. He returned to Maine in 2015 and served as President/CEO of the 110,000-member University of Maine Alumni Association until his retirement in 2022.   

In 2015 he published a memoir titled Please Delete: How Leadership Hubris Ignited a Scandal and Tarnished a University. The book tells the story of an attempted cover-up of financial mismanagement at the University of Arkansas and John’s role in uncovering the facts behind what became a high-profile scandal. 

John has served on numerous not-for-profit boards and councils over the years. A Bangor, Maine, native, he and his wife Marcia now consider Blue Hill, Maine, their home and “final resting place.”

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Emily-Cain

Emily Cain

Emily Cain, Ph.D., is a former state legislator from Penobscot County, veteran policy maker, political strategist, and organizational leader known for bipartisan problem-solving, empowering women in politics, and advancing strategic, values-driven work. In addition to AWTT, Emily is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Maine System, the Board of Directors of Eastern Maine Medical Center, and of the Maine Justice Foundation. Emily is a founding partner at Copper Sky, LLC and lives in Orono with her husband Danny Williams and their mini labradoodle, Sunny.

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Ben Perry

Ben Perry

Benjamin Perry is the author of Cry, Baby: Why Our Tears Matter. An award-winning writer and editor, they have been published in outlets like The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Slate, and Teen Vogue, and their work has been featured on NPR, the BBC, TIME, MSNBC and more. A resident of Camden, they also serve on the board of OUTMaine and are passionate about creating ecosystems that help young people thrive. An ordained minister, he frequently teaches queer theology workshops throughout the state and country and lectures about social ethics and emotional health. He also works as Director of Communications at Garrett Seminary in Chicago. 
 
A fervent believer in how art can seed social change, they are thrilled to serve Americans Who Tell the Truth, an organization that lives those values. The child of two middle school teachers, he is passionate about building liberative education into curricula across all grade levels, and weaving art into communities’ daily life. Learn more or connect with them at benjaminjperry.com.

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