LEWISTON – Empower Lewiston’s board will discuss the future without its executive director Carol Ansheles at their April 28 meeting.

Ansheles, Empower Lewiston’s executive director since 2000, resigned the job Tuesday. Board President Barbara Rankins said the board’s executive committee met Wednesday, but is saving any real discussions for the full 18-member board.

“Until we meet with the board, we don’t know what our options are,” Rankins said. “That could mean working to hire another executive director, or it could mean something else.”

Rankins said Empower Lewiston’s mission won’t change, but its methods could.

“Our goal is still to eliminate poverty,” Rankins said. “That is still our only mission. But how we’ll continue, we haven’t decided yet.”

Empower Lewiston was created to administer U.S. Department of Agriculture money earmarked for the poorest sections of Lewiston’s downtown, Census Tracks 201 and 204. Last year, the Empower Lewiston board awarded four grants, totaling $170,650. Those grants went to Faithworks, Americorps, Volunteers of America and Goodwill Industries.

The 18-member board – which includes five residents of Census Tracks 201 and 204 – meets monthly at Lewiston’s Multi-Purpose Center.

The April 28 meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Rankins said that meeting is open to the public, although she expects the board to retreat into an executive session for much of the evening.

staylor@sunjournal.com