For Wilton's Ceci Maher, becoming CT senator was next step in life of service

WILTON — New state Sen. Ceci Maher represents Connecticut's 26th Senatorial District — an area of which she is keenly familiar. Maher, 69, a Wilton resident, moved from New York City to Connecticut with her family at age 2 when they settled into the Glenbrook neighborhood of Stamford. Maher's district includes Wilton and Glenbrook as well as Weston, Redding, Westport and parts of Ridgefield, New Canaan and Darien. Maher said she is excited to represent her hometown — one that she has seen change over time. "It was still a small city when I was growing up. It felt very accessible," Maher said. "Stamford was very different. It didn't have the big buildings. I think when we first moved there, we didn't even have I-95. It was still being built." Having grown up in a large Irish-Catholic family, Maher attended the now-shuttered St. Maurice Roman Catholic School in Stamford before attending Stamford High School. Maher recalls walking from Stamford High School to Latham Park on Bedford Street to do her homework and hang out with friends. Upon graduating from Stamford High School in 1972, Maher attended University of Massachusetts-Amherst to study fashion marketing. She began working at Bloomingdale's in Stamford at 16, sparking her interest in the field. During her undergraduate studies, Maher completed an internship at multiple department stores and fashion houses, including Abraham & Straus and Lord & Taylor, both in New York. There, she met her future husband, Rob, who lived in Paris as a child, but moved to Wilton. Upon graduating from college, she was then hired as a buyer for women's sweaters and traveled internationally to source materials and products. After her 1980 marriage and giving birth to her first child, Katherine, two years later, Maher faced a difficult decision. "I traveled around the world twice being pregnant with Katherine, but it was very, very hard to give up work because I loved what I did. I really enjoyed it and I was good at it," Maher said. She said it was the right decision at the time, as it was time to start her family, but a decision that could have had ramifications because of the time period. Maher said a lot of thought went into the decision because, in the early 1980s, few mothers were successful businesswomen. She and her husband moved to Rowayton in 1981. While in Rowayton, and after the Mahers' eventual move to Wilton in 1988, Ceci became more involved with her community. She joined organizations like Minks to Sinks in Wilton, the Junior League of Stamford, and with her local parent-teacher associations. Maher became the chairperson of Minks to Sinks in 1995. "We were doing programs that were helping people," Maher said, "and I could see the impact they were having," Inspired to make more change in people's lives, Maher applied for graduate school at Columbia University for a degree in social work. She graduated in the spring of 1999. "Going way back to high school, I was on the junior Board of Education and, at UMass, I ran the people's market food co-op, so I've always been outwardly and people-focused," Maher said. "This was just the next step." Upon graduating, Maher took an internship at Four Winds Psychiatric Hospital in Katonah, N.Y. While there, she worked in two separate units — with the 7- to 12-year-olds and also with the 13- to 18-year-olds. "I would cry sometimes driving home," Maher said. She was candid, saying it was hard for her to process the traumas these young children and adolescents endured that led them to seek psychiatric help. When her internship ended in June 2000, she decided she wanted to help children before these traumas occurred. "The systemic poverty, the systemic racism, and the impact on families through trauma, I wanted to fix that so the kids didn't end up in these psychiatric hospitals," Maher said. From there, she went to work at Horizon, a six-week, intensive, summer-enrichment program based in New Canaan which brought children in from undeserved communities. At first, the program accepted children from just Stamford and Norwalk before expanding outward and eventually becoming a national program. Maher was responsible for creating a website for the program, as well as annual reports and portals that would organize important data. She said she was at the program when it began its expansion, and by the time she left in 2005, she had traveled to all 15 locations. "Two things that always stood out to me were that education is always a tremendous gift and that we could show kids that might not otherwise have the opportunity to see, that there is a broader world," Maher said. "Unless we can see it, we can't dream it." In 2005, Maher heard of an opening at Person-to-Person, a nonprofit "dedicated to providing individuals and families with essential resources to help them overcome daily challenges and put them on a path toward economic stability," according to its website. She had applied for the role of executive director and was hired shortly thereafter. At the time of her arrival, the nonprofit had served only Darien and Stamford. She was proud to serve her hometown of Stamford, but said a lot of work had to be done at the nonprofit, including expansion. In 2007, while working with Person to Person, Maher attended a Harvard Business School executive education program. Attendees were asked to discuss an issue and Maher's was on expanding services to fit the needs of a hungry Fairfield County. She noted the needs of those in Norwalk who could use the same services. "When we first came back, we presented it to the board and they said no. It took five more years working with the board before opening the site in Norwalk." In addition to the new site, Person to Person, under Maher's direction, started a food pantry on wheels. During Maher's 14-year stint at Person to Person, the nonprofit grew from serving 15,000 people to 25,000 people. Since her departure in 2019, it has grown to serve 28,000 people. Maher was appointed to the Wilton Board of Finance in 2018. Following her departure from Person to Person, Maher took an interim executive director role at Sandy Hook Promise. She was hired on March 9, 2020. She distinctly recalls coming into her office on her first day and having to discuss closing the office due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, On her second day, the office was closed and a new challenge arose. Maher helped Sandy Hook Promise transition into the COVID age by attaining Zoom licenses, setting up Microsoft Teams and other office communications measures for employees and keeping the mission of the nonprofit moving forward as seamlessly as it could. During her time at Sandy Hook Promise, Maher's husband, Rob, died in October 2020. Maher left her role at Sandy Hook Promise a few months later, in April 2021. Through her work with the Wilton Democratic Town Committee, Maher became friends with state Sen. Will Haskell, who represented her district. A few months before Haskell made his Jan. 3, 2022 public announcement that he would not seeking reelection, he called Maher. "He asked if I wanted to get together for a beer," Maher chuckled. Haskell asked if Maher had any interest in running for the seat. With all of her children grown and independent, and with her familiarity with Fairfield County, Maher said this felt like a natural next step for her. The woman who had devoted most of her adult life to helping those who needed it most said she is now able to do so for the area she knows best. In her campaign, Maher said she knocked on thousands of doors around the district — but two stood out. "When I was knocking on doors, I got to go to the door of the home of my first house in Stamford, and also to my second house in Stamford," Maher said. Reflecting on her journey to this point and having the opportunity to represent her home district, Maher said she not only feels lucky, but was able to make "little Ceci in Glenbrook" proud. "It is really an honor," Maher said, "100 percent. I know you hear people say this all the time, but it really is an honor to be able to do this." Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Westport is included in the 26th state Senate district.

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