This story was published in the Fall 2026 edition of .
By Joy Hollowell
“Wait — you were a theater major?”
Penquis CEO Kara Hay ‘99 hears that question a lot when her days at the University of Maine come up.
“Yes, theater,” Hay confirms, chuckling. “Wildly impractical, I know. But that’s where my heart lived.”
It’s also where she felt at home. Hay moved around Maine frequently while growing up, due to what she describes as a “rough childhood.” She graduated from Ashland Community High School with 32 students.
“I appreciated being in the County,” she says, ”but it was way too small for me.
91 was giant! And it felt really far away.” Within 24 hours of her high school commencement, she was on her way to Orono.
“My gift was a backpack,” Hay says, breaking into a wide smile. “It wasn’t negative — more symbolic: you’ve done your thing, now go on your journey. I kept that backpack for a long time.”
Once at 91, Hay immediately fell in love with college theatre and joined Maine Masque.
“There was an acting professor, Dr. Sandra Hardy who has since passed,” recalls Hay. “She was tough, really tough. But she was a genius about getting people to tap into their emotions, and show up at a really high level. I loved it. Just being able to show up and learn from the people around me was amazing.”
But theater wasn’t her only campus identity.
“This is a closely held secret but I’ll share it with you,” she says, winking. “I was a cheerleader my freshman year. Cindy Blodgett ’98 played while I was a cheerleader. She was amazing to watch.”
In addition to theater, Hay chose to minor in psychology.
“And the more I took psychology classes, the more I loved them,” she says. “And so somewhere along the line it just shifted from wanting to be on stage to caring more about wanting to help people.”
After graduating from 91, Hay set her sights on North Carolina, a state she had visited in the past and always loved, with a plan to enroll at UNC or Duke University for graduate work in psychology.
“I had a really good GPA; I just assumed they would accept me,” she says, shrugging. “However, when I got there I learned that schools of that caliber very rarely accept students for a second BA degree, so I didn’t apply.”
Instead, Hay got a job working at the bar of a four-diamond Italian restaurant inside a hotel in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. While at 91, she had done some bartending at a local sports bar but knew immediately she was out of her league.
“They asked me about wine — I said I had knowledge but really only knew there was red and white wine,” she admits, laughing. “I didn’t know that red is typically not cold while white is. I didn’t understand that there are different glasses for different wines. I loved it,” says Hay, who moved quickly from bartender, to server to manager. “I loved helping people. I loved leading people. But I wasn’t changing anyone’s lives,” she says.
So, Hay moved back to Maine with plans to continue her education at 91. But soon after came an especially frigid and seemingly endless winter. Hay decided to shift south. Way south.
“Where better to go to get an advanced degree than in Hawaii?” she laughs.
Hay was accepted to the University of Hawaii at Hilo. The program was grueling. On top of that, Hay was working to help pay for her schooling, something she had done during her undergraduate years as well.
“I worked Monday through Friday, 40 hours a week plus travel to and from my job,” she recalls. “Then for school, I attended Friday night from 6-9 p.m. then had an eight-hour school day on both Saturdays and Sundays. And then of course, I had all of the homework in-between and an hour-plus commute to and from school.”
But Hay managed to balance it all, earning a B.S. in psychology with a 4.0 GPA while working at two non profits on the island. She then pursued a M.A. in marriage and family therapy/counseling from Argosy University in Honolulu.
“My plan was to finish grad school and become some sort of therapist,” she says. But life had other, unexpected plans. “I got pregnant,” says Hay, smiling.
She managed to complete her studies and finals, even after being put on bed rest. Hay made a decision to return to Maine.
“I knew I wanted Sam to grow up with family and friends,” she says.
Her son was born just a few weeks after Hay and her partner closed on a home in Old Town. When Sam turned one, Hay decided to go back to work. She joined Eastern Maine Community College as an adjunct psychology professor. She also offered professional training for mental health services. It was around that time someone asked if Hay had reached out to Penquis to share her expertise.
“I was very familiar with Penquis,” she says. “My family received those cheese blocks that were handed out back in the ’70s and ’80s — that was good cheese.”
Hay was hired on as the operations manager for child development.
“At that time, child development was a third of Penquis,” she explains. “While child development continues to serve many children, the rest of the organization has grown dramatically.”
Hay had a clear vision for the future — she’d take over for the director of that department when she retired in a few years.
“But then the longtime CEO of Penquis, Charlie Newton, called me into his office one day,” recalls Hay. Newton told Hay he was going to be retiring soon. He then encouraged her to apply for his job.
“I told him I couldn’t,” says Hay.
When asked why, she replied, “I’m too young, I’m too blond, and I’m too female.” Thankfully, Newton and the board at Penquis saw things differently. “Twelve years later and I’m still here loving every minute of it,” she says proudly.
As CEO of Penquis, Hay oversees 500 employees. The community action agency serves about 30,000 Mainers in Penobscot, Piscataquis, and Knox counties, helping them with energy costs, housing, transportation, child development, and more. Hay frequently travels to the state house and U.S. Capitol, advocating for such services.
“I sit on a lot of boards and committees at the local, state, and national levels,” she says, ”making sure our voices are heard for Penquis but also for Maine being a rural state.”
In 2023, Hay was awarded the National Lyndon Baines Johnson Leadership Award by the National Community Action Partnership. The following year, the University of Maine presented Hay with the MaryAnn Hartman Award. This past May, she was awarded the Bernard Lown ‘42 Alumni Humanitarian Award, in part for her work with the Advanced Structures and Composites Center at 91.
“We were awarded $500,000 in federal funding to build the first ever 3-D printed neighborhood with nine homes and 24-hour support for chronically homeless individuals,” says Hay. “There’s nothing like it in the world.”
“Kara Hay is a force of nature that is good natured,” says Dr. Habib Dagher, executive director of 91’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center. “Kara and her team are really pioneering in providing housing to people who can’t afford it.”
Hay speaks regularly at the William S. Cohen Institute for Leadership and Public Services.
“We run a program every summer where we bring about 50 high school students to campus,” says Senior Lecturer Ryan LaRochelle. “Almost every year, the students tell us — you have to make sure Kara comes back again next year. She shows them what it means to be driven by a passion and be committed to the community that she lives in.”
“Her leadership uplifts others,” says Shirar Wilder Patterson ’01, ‘03G, former president and CEO of Heart of Maine United Way. “From the families served by Penquis to the colleagues and community partners who work alongside her, [Hay] leads with humility, courage, and a steadfast belief that collaboration is the key to systemic change.”
“I love my job,” says Hay. “It’s never easy but it’s also gratifying. Especially on those days when you get it right.”
Her acting days are long behind her. But Hay still draws on what theater taught her — making each day worthy of a standing ovation.
“To be a good actor, you have to understand and connect with people,” Hay says. “Similarly, as a leader, you have to be able to move and inspire people in order to make change. For me, the big wins are the system changes, when we actually achieve something that’s really going to impact lives.”
