06/03/2026
Seashore Nation: Breaking News! We have hired a brand new staff position. Please join us in welcoming our Communications and Events Manager, Rod Harmon, to our professional staff team.
Born and raised in Illinois, Rod has lived in Freeport, Maine, since 2007. A strategic communications professional with deep experience in nonprofit community engagement, media relations, executive communications, and event planning, he began his career as a journalist for major media outlets including Gannett, Knight-Ridder, and The New York Times Co. This background—which included reporting on everything from hurricanes, murder trials, and C-level businesses to art museums, film festivals, and celebrities—honed his communications skills and sparked a curiosity to discover new people, places, and subjects.
In 2015, Rod decided to pivot from journalism to the nonprofit sector because he wanted to use his skills to make a difference. He spent three years working for Konbit Sante, a Maine-based nonprofit working in Haiti, then five years as communications manager for Avesta Housing, the largest non-profit affordable housing provider in northern New England. A lifelong music and history buff, he has published a book on the Civil Rights movement and spends his time touring historical landmarks and museums, visiting old cemeteries, and browsing flea markets and record shops with his wife, Martie. Rod is excited to begin his next adventure with the Seashore Trolley Museum and working alongside its many talented staff, volunteers, and board members.
