Celeste Banda is the Director of Workforce Development & Economic Mobility at Main Street Skowhegan. Celeste also serves as Recompete Plan Coordinator for the Revitalization of Central Maine Coalition, led by Main Street Skowhegan, to address Central Maine’s prime-age employment gap through Recompete Plan strategies and proposed projects in Workforce Development, Public Health, Regional Transportation, Downtown Revitalization, Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, Outdoor Recreation, and Civic Infrastructure through a U.S. Economic Development Administration Distressed Area Recompete Pilot Program Phase 1 Strategy Development grant.
Prior to joining Main Street Skowhegan, Celeste worked at the Latino Economic Development Center, a CDFI, in Montgomery County, Maryland, where she served as a Small Business Coach & Liaison. In that position, Celeste worked with established businesses in Wheaton, Maryland through the Wheaton Triangle Resilient Business Corridor program, serving as a liaison between business owners and the county. Additionally, she assisted entrepreneurs and small business owners countywide through the Montgomery Countywide program. Supporting LEDC’s efforts in advancing economic mobility for low- to moderate-income Latinos and other underserved communities, Celeste provided financial capability trainings, served as a loan officer for credit building loans, supported the Direct Community Investments department’s Small Business Rental Assistance grant program, and assisted with Housing department Emergency Rental Assistance Program clinics in Montgomery County and Baltimore.
Celeste has previously worked in workforce development in rural Texas, community engagement, organizing, and outreach in rural Iowa, and cultural heritage in Prague, Czech Republic’s historic Old Town.
A first-generation American and the daughter of Mexican immigrants, Celeste is a native of Cameron, Texas. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in Russian, East European, & Eurasian Studies and minored in Government. She holds certificates in International Security from the European Academy of Diplomacy and Economic Development from the University of Oklahoma (OU EDI). Celeste is a certified Professional Community and Economic Developer (PCED) and a Main Street America Revitalization Professional (MSARP). She is part of the 1st cohort of volunteers for the Smithsonian’s new National Museum of the American Latino. Celeste speaks English, Spanish, and Czech.
Category: Team
