Meet our Team
Candace Sanborn, Managing Partner
With over 20 years of experience in marketing and media buying, Candace develops strategic marketing and media plans for growth-oriented businesses and non-profits, as well as manages the business side of Encompass. A transplant from the San Francisco Bay Area, Candace received her B.A. degree in Journalism with a concentration in advertising from the University of Maine at Orono, and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Southern New Hampshire in Manchester, NH.
Candace is a frequent presenter on marketing related subjects as well as an editorial contributor to professional trade publications. She currently serves on the United Way of Androscoggin County board, chairing the Strategic Outreach Committee, the Maine Community Foundation board, and is co-chair of the County Committee for the Maine Community Foundation’s County Program in the Androscoggin area. Candace is also active in numerous community groups, including College for ME – Androscoggin and the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce. Candace is a Qualified Administrator of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), an assessment tool used to help individuals communicate more effectively. She is a graduate of Leadership Maine and is a member of the Maine Public Relations Council and the Maine Marketing Association. In her spare time, she teaches Group Groove dance at the local YMCA.
Jeff Soifer, Partner, Creative Director
Jeff has over 15 years of experience in graphic design and illustration and directs the creative side of Encompass’ projects. His ability to find workable creative solutions to the communication needs of businesses and organizations stems in part from his unconventional path to a career in design. A transplant from Washington, DC, Jeff holds an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin with majors in marketing, international business and German literature, as well as a law degree from The American University Washington College of Law. This, bolstered by experience in both large corporate design environments as well as small creative agencies, has aided his ability to work well with a wide variety of clients and create award-winning designs.
Jeff is a founding board member of Out of the Box Theater, a theater company dedicated to producing high-quality, intimate theatrical experiences. He is also a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals and contributes much of his off time to local arts and non-profit organizations.
Will Fessenden, Public Relations Specialist
Will is a public relations and marketing professional known for melding traditional media strategies while utilizing the latest in social media technology. Putting to use his background in television news and radio, clients have seen success with story advancement and coverage on tv, radio, print and web.
Client services include traditional and WEB 2.0 marketing plans and implementation, story advancement & press release management, advertising placement/buying and media market research.
Will is a graduate of Hall-Dale High School (Farmingdale, ME) and holds a B.S. degree in Telecommunications Production from Lyndon State College in Vermont.
He is active with many community organizations, including ArtVan, an outreach group designed to introduce youth to the arts. Will also serves on the board of Volunteers of America Northern New England and is a member of the RSU (Regional School Unit)Â 4 (Sabattus/Wales/Litchfield) Board of Directors.
Danielle Sicotte, Project Coordinator
As Project Coordinator for Encompass Marketing, Danielle brings her compulsive need for organization and timeliness to the team to help see projects through, from conception to fruition.
A native Mainer, Danielle has returned from Boston as a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Suffolk University, where she received her degree in Advertising with a minor in Marketing. During her time at Suffolk, Danielle worked in the Student Activities Office, serving as a Teaching Assistant and was chosen to be a HUB scholar. She was also a member of the Suffolk Environmental Club and Suffolk Women in Business.
In her fleeting free time, Danielle serves as Box Office Manager and Marketing Chair for Community Little Theatre in Auburn, where she can also be found spending time choreographing, working on productions, and sometimes performing in them. Danielle also enjoys crafting and sewing for friends and family, testing her culinary skills and spending time at the lake with her black Lab, Harley.
Jane Morrison, Internal Management Director
Jane has over 25 years’ top-level experience managing non-profit agencies, most recently as the Executive Director at Ingraham in Portland, building it from a 12 employee/$550,000 agency to a 240 employee/$10 million agency over an 18-year period. As a proven manager and administrator, she can help non-profits set a new direction and succeed at accomplishing new goals.
After growing up in upstate New York and living in the Midwest, Maine has been Jane’s home for over 30 years. Jane holds a B.A. Degree in sociology/social work from Drake University and a M.S. Degree from the University of Southern Maine in Adult Education. In addition, she is a licensed Social Worker and a licensed Residential Care Administrator, and is a proud graduate of the Institute for Civic Leadership. Jane currently serves on the Board of the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society and Androscoggin County Committee of the Maine Community Foundation.
Gay Grant, Grant Writer
Gay Grant works with a variety of business and non-profit clients providing copy, grant writing, and public relations assistance to Encompass clients. She is proud to be a Maine native, and has a bachelors degree in history from the University of Southern Maine. Her background includes journalism, non-profit development, and freelance writing and editing. Gay has secured millions of dollars in grant funds and contributions for Maine non-profits, and has guided strategic plans, fundraising and communication strategies to build capacity.
Gay is the author of “Along the Kennebec: the Herman Bryant Collection”, (Arcadia Publishers, 1995), enjoys writing and speaking about Maine and local history topics, and regularly publishes articles about her travels in the United Kingdom and Morocco. Gay serves on the Gardiner Public Library Board of Trustees, Bread of Life Ministries Board of Advisors, Transfiguration Hermitage Monastery Board of Directors, and the St. Michael Parish Pastoral Council.
Randy Runnels, Programmer
Randy is a programmer and founding partner of T.H. Creations, Inc., a Maine web development firm providing hosting, web design, and web application expertise since 1999. Randy is part of the Encompass team, providing back-end programming support of all websites and Internet activities for clients. He is a strong advocate of open source programming and of the Web Standards Project, pushing for lightweight, semantic web documents and a higher level of browser compliance within the W3C standards.
Alice Ruvane, Copywriter
Alice has been writing promotional copy for more than 15 years. Her work has helped products, causes and companies across the US achieve awareness and convey concise, compelling and persuasive messages.
A refugee from the concrete jungle of NYC, Alice served as a creative force at several major pharmaceutical advertising agencies. After having been honored as a Rising Star by the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association in 2004, Alice rose to the ranks of Creative Director and subsequently started
her own promotional writing business. A few years later she took to the woods of Maine and hasn’t looked back.
Alice received a BA in English literature from Mount Holyoke College, and an MA in teaching English from Columbia University. She is a published poet, a singer, voice-over artist, actor and yoga teacher. In addition, Alice is a mentor with Sweetser, a partner in Chill Yoga in Lewiston, a mother to two rescued English setters, and married to a fabulous man named Steve.