But how do you get the fifteen-year-old girl to leave her home and come to the coast to learn and grow? Pam explains that it takes a lot of passion, a forceful drive, and a strong knack for networking. The first phase of fundraising, the “gas money” or “paper clip” phase, as Pam described it, was put out to friends and family. It was from their pockets that the initial start-up funds arose. The next phase was handled over “a thousand or so cups of coffee” Pam says with a laugh, “to find out who I should talk to.” She explained her grassroots effort started by meeting those who were just as passionate for her cause. “It’s the magic of the universe, putting out your vision, your intention, and telling people, ‘This is what we’re going to be able to accomplish to change the lives of girls.’” It was in this important phase that Pam found the people who believed in her cause, the people who also had a passion for the success of girls. It’s where she started to see the ripple effect from the wave of her actions.
The third phase came through the connections of her Advisory Board and Board of Directors. Through their networking, Coastal Studies for Girls received a significant three-year grant that allowed them to dedicate the money to operating funds, salaries for a small staff, office space, and more energy to help build their Board.
Pam works with J.B. Kavaliauskas, her founding partner and educational director, as well as with the Board of Directors and outside friends, to now create their capital campaign. They have formed a capital campaign committee and have hired an outside fundraising consultant to help retrieve the funds for the final phases of the school. Once they raise the next $2 million, they will rehabilitate a 150-year-old barn and nearby farmhouse that will act as the first classrooms for twenty girls. The leader of their capital campaign is Linda Greenlaw, a coastal Maine boat captain, sword fisherman, and author of the New York Times bestseller, All Fishermen Are Liars. Fellow author, Sebastian Junger, called Greenlaw “one of the best sword fishing captains, period, on the East Coast” in his book The Perfect Storm.
