Dr. Maria Manus Painchaud, SHRM-SCP, SPHR, is a management consultant and former associate professor of organizational leadership in the School of Business at Southern New Hampshire University. Over the past six years, Dr. Painchaud has served several interim executive positions assisting organizations during transitions and leadership change with reorganization, operational efficiencies, and implementing solid human resource practices.

Her lifelong commitment to civic engagement is evidenced by her service on a number of not-for-profit boards in leadership positions, as well as having been recognized with a number of community service awards, including the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year (1996), the Granite State HR Hero Award (2004), the Concord Rotary Civic Service Award (2015,) and WGIR’s 20 Women of the Year list (2016).

Susan Leahy is the founder and an incorporator of NH Civics. She served as chair from NH Civics’ inception in 2016 until 2019 and returned to chair the organization in 2022. She chaired NH Civics’ development committee from 2019-2021. In 2018, Susan won the Board Impact Award from the NH Center for Nonprofits. She is an attorney at McLane Middleton.

Marjorie (Marge) Chiafery retired in June 2019 having served as the superintendent of schools in Merrimack for eighteen years. Her career in education spanned fifty years and included teaching children from Kindergarten to grade three in Fairport, NY and Topsfield, MA and leading in Merrimack, NH as an elementary and middle school principal and a district administrator for a total of forty-one years. During her tenure, Marjorie served on numerous boards in NH and New England. She is an advocate for this organization because of its mission to promote and nurture civic education for students at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Marjorie is also a proponent of NH Civic’s professional development for educators and for civic engagement experiences for students to develop their civic voice.

Matthew Hicks is an experienced teacher and school administrator. For more than 20 years, Matthew has worked in public, private, and parochial schools teaching social studies courses including history and social sciences. He is currently a head of school at an independent N-9 school in Concord and continues to teach. Matthew holds a B.A. in Public Policy from Hamilton College, a M.A.T. in Teaching from University of New Hampshire, an M.Ed. in School Leadership from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in leadership and policy studies from University of New Hampshire. Matthew is passionate about NH Civics’s mission, particularly developing an engaged NH citizenry and working with schools to increase opportunities for civics education.

Anna Brown is one of New Hampshire’s foremost experts on state government and policy. After completing her master’s degree in justice studies she began her career with Citizens Count, a nonprofit dedicated to providing unbiased information about New Hampshire democracy – including the roughly 2,000 bills and 1,000 candidates that move through the state every two years. She is a founding member of the New Hampshire Civic Learning Coalition, a member of the New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits Policy Committee, and a frequent commentator in local media. In 2024 she joined the UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law as Executive Director of the Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership, and Public Service.

As the Chief Executive Officer of McLane Middleton, Steve is responsible for overseeing the operational, financial, marketing and human resource functions of the firm, and works closely with the firm’s management team on day-to-day operations and strategic planning.

Before joining McLane Middleton as its Chief Executive Officer, Steve was President/CEO of New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, a consumer-owned electric utility that provides service in 118 communities throughout New Hampshire.  During his six and a half years as NHEC’s CEO, in addition to overseeing all operations of New Hampshire’s second largest electric utility, Steve led the development and implementation of NHEC’s strategic planning process to transform the Cooperative’s revenue model, service delivery model and organizational culture to meet the needs of consumers in the rapidly changing electric utility market.

Steve was a shareholder and director with McLane Middleton for more than 30 years.  During his time as an attorney with the firm, Steve’s legal practice focused on the representation of major New Hampshire and regional energy and utility clients and other companies with interests in the energy industry.  He was responsible for numerous regulatory and transactional matters for a broad range of clients, including mergers and acquisitions, gas and electric industry restructuring issues, rate proceedings, financings, gas and electric supply issues, and other significant issues affecting the industry.

Steve received his A.B. from Dartmouth College in 1980 and his J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1983.

David taught civics at Milford High School for 25 years. He has received several awards and honors, including being named New Hampshire State Teacher of the Year three times, National Civics Teacher of the Year twice, the 2000 NH James Madison Fellowship recipient and the 2013 Milford Citizen of the Year.
He earned his master’s degree in teaching social studies at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, in 2006.

Dr. Roger C. Brooks is a former teacher and principal serving 35 years in the Concord public schools. After receiving a teaching certificate in secondary social studies education, Roger began his career as an elementary syllabus advisor for the U.S. Peace Corps in Sarawak, Malaysia. As Principal, he led student reporters and still and video photographers to cover the candidates for three NH Presidential Primaries. From the experience, his students wrote articles for Scholastic News. Currently, he is serving his second stint as Chair of the NH State Council on the Arts, is Chair of the New American Baccalaureate Board and is Doorkeeper of the NH Senate.

Steve Duprey is a prominent figure in New Hampshire Republican politics from Concord, New Hampshire. He has participated in 30 campaigns since 1970. At age 19, he became the country’s youngest state representative. Duprey served as chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party for four terms.In 2010, Duprey was named business leader of the year by the Greater Concord Chamber of Congress.

A graduate of Cornell Law School, Duprey has served as president of Foxfire Property Management and the Duprey Companies for 40 years. He has directed the Concord Chamber of Commerce since 2005.

David Hills was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and moved to Durham in 1974. David earned a Bachelor of Science from UNH in 1980.

Hills served as a Senior V.P. at A. G. Edwards for 24 years (1983-2007), where he worked with investors passionate about Impact Investing. He co-founded Veris Wealth Partners in 2007, which works exclusively with Impact Investors.

David has served on the boards of the Music Hall (13 years, Board President last two years) and Threshold Foundation. He is a Guarantor with MCE Social Capital. MCE uses a pioneering loan guarantee model to provide capital to the poorest of the poor in the world.

David is the current caretaker of the oldest family farm in the US, the Emery Farm, in Durham. David is married to Catherine McLaughlin-Hills and is blessed to have five children, and two grandchildren.

Jewel Hurt was born and raised in Roanoke, Virginia. She completed her undergraduate studies at James Madison University where she served two terms as Student Body President and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Honors Interdisciplinary Studies. Her thesis consisted of research that assessed the civic engagement outcomes of fourth and fifth grade students in two MicroSociety charter schools.  Following graduation, Jewel spent three years working at MicroSociety Academy Charter School in Nashua, NH where she focused on fundraising, marketing, community partner development, and grant writing.

After earning her Masters in Education from UPenn, Jewel embarked on a new journey to build an online marketplace that is both practical and educational for today’s youth. Her company, KROW, is currently on its way to becoming a safe and user-friendly platform where busy adults can outsource their chores to teenagers who want to earn their own money on their own time.

Jewel resides in Manchester, NH, and teaches social studies at the Academy of Notre Dame in Tyngsboro, MA. She looks forward to contributing her historical knowledge, practical experience, and passion for civic engagement to help further the mission of NH Civics.

“I was drawn to the New Hampshire Civics Board during the legislature’s debate on adding a civics exam as a high school graduation requirement. The law specifies students will earn a passing grade on all 128 questions in the 2020 Citizenship and Immigration Services Exam. The goal of civics education needs to be more than memorization. Civics is understanding one’s role and responsibility as a citizen and an engaged citizenry is a constitutional goal of public education in NH. I want to work with people who inspire students and adults to be engaged citizens in their government.”

Keene Mayor and former NH Senator Dr. Jay Kahn has made public service his career and avocation for 48 years. He spent his first 15 professional years in higher education policy and finance roles in Illinois. During that time, he completed a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Dr. Kahn came to New Hampshire in 1988 to serve as Keene State College’s Vice President for Finance and Planning, a role in which he served with distinction for 27 years. In addition, he served as Keene State’s Interim President in 2012-2013, and as adjunct faculty in management and economics.

His interest in student success is demonstrated in the classroom, student activities, interpersonal growth opportunities, in building town gown relationships and in creative and sustainable campus design, which together earned him national recognition. He served on the national boards of the Society for College and University Planning, and National Association of College and University Business Officers. He served as a commissioner on the regional college and university accrediting board, the New England Higher Education Commission. In recognition of his accomplishments, the American Institute of Architects-NH named him a lifetime honorary member in 2013 and the Keene State College Alumni Association named him a lifetime honorary member in 2016.

In his community roles, Jay has led library boards in Illinois, and in the Monadnock region he’s led the boards of the Cheshire Medical Center, Monadnock Economic Development Corporation, and the Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce. Following his retirement from Keene State College in 2016, Jay was elected to the Keene City Council.

Senator Kahn served three terms representing District 10 including Keene and 14 other Cheshire County towns in southwestern New Hampshire. He continuously served as a member of the Senate’s Education Committee, where he was chairman in 2019 and 2020. During six years in the legislature, he served as a member of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, Finance Committee and Municipal Affairs Committee, Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee, and Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules. He was also the Senate’s appointee to the Education Commission of the States and served on their Finance Committee, as well as on the New England Board of Higher Education Legislative Committee

Jay and his wife Cheryl live in Keene. They have two children and two grandchildren.

Mark Laliberte is a New Hampshire native who, since 2016, has worked at the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA). At BEA, Mark is a business recruiter that helps companies move to and expand in the state. He was also the first Broadband Manager for the agency, helping to connect unserved and unserved residents in the state. Mark previously worked for the Mayor’s Office for the City of Manchester, was an editor and writer for Business NH Magazine, and had his own political consulting firm. Mark is a dual graduate from the University of New Hampshire-a bachelor of arts in political science and a master of public administration-and is an avid history buff. Mark is a trustee for Pinkerton Academy, serving as its secretary, and is a commissioner on the New Hampshire Higher Education Commission. Mark lives in Candia – the town where he grew up – with his wife and two children.

Betty Tamposi has lived in New Hampshire her whole life where she raised her family. She enjoys spending time with her three adult children, their spouses, and her three grandchildren with lots of family activities. Having served in the New Hampshire legislature from 1979 to 1986 she was Chair of the Ways and Means committee and Assistant Majority Leader. She was appointed by the President and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as an assistant secretary of the United States Department of State overseeing worldwide consular operations. She grew up in a family real estate development firm and was responsible for numerous residential, commercial, and industrial projects. More recently she has served as an oncology hospital chaplain completing her clinical pastoral training at Massachusetts General Hospital and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital. Over the years, she has served on numerous boards including the University System of New Hampshire board of trustees, Rivier University, Merchant’s National Bank, and Elliot Hospital. More recently, she has been involved in civic engagement as Co-Chair of Global Citizen’s Circle. She is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, Harvard University, and earned her PhD at Fordham University.

Susan Wolowitz, M.Ed.,  is a retired elementary educator who worked in the Concord, New Hampshire public schools for 25 years and was honored by Concord School District as a Distinguished Educator of the Year in 1999.  In 1999 she was awarded the National Law Education Award from the American Bar Association for the development of an early education law curriculum.   She has been a member of the New Hampshire “Think Tank on Civics Education” since its inception in 2008 and a member of the New Hampshire Civics Education Task Force Leadership, and served as a trustee of the NH Supreme Court Society.  In 2015 she was named a board member of the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire.