Building strong leaders for the North Country

By Lois R. Shea, Senior Writer and Communications Officer | June 19, 2018

The Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund’s Community Practitioners Network, a multi-year leadership program designed to enhance community and economic development in the North Country, has graduated its second class of local leaders.

CPN helps people who do community and economic development learn and strengthen leadership skills and immerses them in best practices for bolstering communities and economies. And, importantly, it connects them with one another so they can assist and inform one another in that work.

Participants attend multiple sessions and go on site visits both within and outside the North Country region. Participants apply to join the program, for which all costs are covered by the Tillotson Fund of the Charitable Foundation.

Congrats to the 2018 graduates, thank you for your time, for your thoughtful participation and for your deep commitment to North Country communities.

The Community Practitioners Network Class of 2018: Brian Bresnahan of Groveton; Samantha Canton of Groveton; Kassie Eafrati of Berlin; Abby Evankow of Gorham; Dave Harkless of Littleton; Kara Hunter of Berlin; Kristan Knowlton of Berlin; Brian LaPerle of Colebrook; Michelle Moren-Grey of Bethlehem; Gabriel Perkins of Bethel, ME; Karl Stone of Franconia; and Kristen van Bergen of Lancaster.

Another Community Practitioners Network program will begin in 2019, and applications will be available at nhcf.org.

Community Impact News, Civic Engagement, North Country, Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund

We were so excited to welcome more than 500 people to five community events this fall to celebrate “A New Hampshire for All.” New connections were made, new ideas and collaborations sparked, old connections rekindled. We are grateful to everyone who joined us. See below for photos, videos and links to transcripts of the remarks of our guest speakers.

Mindy Cambiar, executive director of Hundred Nights. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Leading with respect, dignity and compassion for people experiencing homelessness

Our greatest challenge continues to be reducing the stigma about people experiencing homelessness. People become homeless for many reasons such as a lack of affordable housing, mental illness, substance abuse disorders, catastrophic illness, natural disasters, unemployment, or working low-wage jobs. They are individuals of all ages, colors, and abilities. They are all human beings, worthy of respect, dignity, and compassion.

Phil Wyzik, CEO of Mondanock Family Services. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Advancing mental health care to strengthen community

A community mental health center is a private not-for-profit with a public mission. We provide a core array of services to the general public — like emergency crisis services — and the treatments and programs that kids or adults need should they have a disabling mental health condition. We do things that no other healthcare provider can do.

Gene Martin, executive director at the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Data and research to inform, make a difference

As the executive director of the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute — a nonpartisan, independent policy research nonprofit organization — and a father to two young children, I spend a considerable amount of my professional and personal life thinking about how decisions made in Concord affect lives in communities across this state.

Yasamin Safarzadeh of Kimball Jenkins. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Thriving through mentorship and the arts

Kimball Jenkins is a community arts center which utilizes the tools of the creative economy to foster healing and growth for New Hampshire in order to secure a more inclusive and fulfilling future for our peoples. We are redefining what the arts can truly do for our neighborhoods.

Tanisha Johnson of Community Action Partnership of Strafford County (right) with Sandeep Bikram Shah, senior program officer (left). (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Address individual needs – and build systemic equity

When I was asked to come and chat about what it looks like for New Hampshire to be a New Hampshire for all, where everyone belongs, I was excited because if you know me, you will know I have a lot to say on that topic — because we are not there just yet.

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