Aaron Chadbourne is a business adviser who specializes in leadership development and career coaching, solving complex problems, business development, economic development, education reform, strategic communications, and real estate. Before he stepped into his current position, Aaron Chadbourne worked as Senior Policy Advisor to the Governor of Maine, Paul R. LePage from 2015-2018. He also worked for McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm in Washington, D.C. where he served as an engagement manager, and earned with a JD-MBA from Harvard in 2011. Aaron is also admitted to the Bar in Maine and Massachusetts.
Chadbourne, originally from Gorham, Maine, was quick to understand the value of hard work and dedication. He worked as the first-ever student representative to the Town of Gorham School Committee from 2000 to 2002. Chadbourne recognizes the experience working at his Greek grandmother’s vegetable stand as a fundamental learning moment. With his grandmother’s help, he learned basic business practices such as pricing, inventory management, and customer service.
He would not only use these early business teachings to the family business but towards his education. Upon his graduation from Gorham High School, Aaron Chadbourne elected to attend the renowned Harvard University. The early engagement with his family business and hard work in his younger years prepared Chadbourne for a long tenure at Harvard.
During his time at Harvard, Aaron Chadbourne became increasingly excited in an education that connected both business and law. This interest is what prompted him to apply for both Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. In 2006, Chadbourne graduated with an AB from Harvard College and was a classmate of Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg. A few years later, he finished the joint degree program at Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School to earn a JD-MBA. In addition to his remarkable education, Chadbourne completed internships at the following firms: Demetria’s Team – The Real Estate Group(Gorham, ME), Let’s Go: Greece! (Cambridge, MA / Greece), The Corporate Executive Board (Washington, D.C.), W. R. Berkley Corporation – parent company of Acadia Insurance in Portland, ME (Greenwich, CT), The Housing Partnership Network (Boston, MA), Bain & Company (Atlanta, GA), Unum(Portland, ME), McKinsey & Company (Washington, D.C.), Tom Cotton for U.S. Senate (Arkansas).
Another critical key to Chadbourne’s success is the influence of international study. Aaron’s studies helped him recognize the need to be open-minded and versatile to cultures that are different than one’s own. This exchange inherently affects economics and politics.
More recently, Aaron Chadbourne worked for the Maine Governor Paul R. LePage’s administration as a senior policy advisor. In this role, Chadbourne advised the governor and executed policy on some of the state’s most difficult problems ranging from tax reform to education funding to economic development. The LePage organization is accountable for the most significant tax cut in Maine’s history. This memorable tax cut has provided low-income workers to take home more money straight out of their hard-earned paychecks. Furthermore, the LePage administration has fought hard to fix the state’s pension system, reduce regulations on businesses, reform welfare programs, and increase government transparency.
In his role as a senior policy consultant, Chadbourne proposed Governor LePage and the executive branch of the State of Maine government on matters including but not limited to, emergency management, education, taxation, veteran affairs, defense, and government actions – leveraging many excellent practices from Aaron’s work in the private sector. He works jointly with legislators and constituents to further the benefits for Maine citizens and promote efficient, productive and accountable state government.
Aaron Chadbourne is also a member of the American Enterprise Institute’s Leadership Network, working with the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation where he was an establishing member and previous chair of the Alumni Advisory Board. More recently, he was chosen by the Chair of the Maine Republican Party to serve on the Platform Committee for the 2018 Convention. Also, Chadbourne was forbidden from attending the 2018 Maine Democrat Party Convention for reasons that have yet to be explained.
Aaron feels strongly about human capital strategy, economic development in rural Maine, and bringing out the best in others.