Longtime MEMIC Group executive Michael Bourque will take the helm of the Portland-based workers’ compensation insurance provider when its current chief executive retires later this year. Bourque, a former newspaper reporter from Maine who has worked at MEMIC for 22 years, is senior vice president of external affairs. He will replace retiring President and CEO John Leonard, a founding leader of the company.

Mike is a graduate of the University of Maine with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism. He is Accredited in Public Relations (APR) by the Public Relations Society of America and an accredited Workers’ Compensation Professional (WCP) as recognized by AMCOMP. He is also a graduate of the Maine Development Foundation’s Leadership Maine program. In 2004, he was named winner of the Edward L. Bernays Award, the top honor from the Maine Public Relations Council for career achievement in public relations. He has been named winner of the 2016 Community Leadership Award by DayOne. 

Before joining MEMIC, Mike was senior editor for the American Association of Community Colleges, based in Washington, DC. Previously, he spent five years as a journalist, working for daily newspapers in Maine and Alaska. He won writing awards from the Maine Press Association during his stint at the Journal Tribune in Biddeford, Maine. 

Mike serves on numerous boards and committees. He is the chair of the 2016 United Way of Greater Portland’s Campaign Committee and the immediate past chair of the Board of the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce. He is immediate past-chair of the Board of Directors of the Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine and the Southern Maine Community College Foundation. He is a former chair of the Portland Community Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Maine Chamber. He has served as president of the Maine Public Relations Council, and Youth and Family Outreach, a social service agency that provides low cost childcare. He is a former member of the Communications Committee of the American Association of State Compensation Insurance Funds and an industry planning committee for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC).