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About Us
Board of Trustees
Our Board of Trustees has always served as the visionaries behind the organizations. From our beginnings in the early 1980’s until today, the Trustees provide skilled and thoughtful leadership, and have made the NHCTF New Hampshire’s only organization dedicated to supporting programs that prevent child abuse and neglect and strengthen families.
Our Board includes five legislatively appointed policymakers with a special interest in the field of child and family welfare, and eleven elected citizens of New Hampshire with expertise in the fields of organizational development, financial management, child and family development, parent education, pediatric medicine, and program evaluation.
While diverse in background, personal interests, and professional credentials, every member of our Board shares a passionate commitment to our mission to ‘keep children safe and families strong. Their contributions have been, and continue to be, invaluable.
If you have questions about our organizational structure, please contact us via e-mail at info@nhctf.org or call us at 603-224-1279. You can also access our by-laws online.
Deborah F. Chase
Deborah Chase has taught in both private and public elementary schools in Massachusetts, New York and New Hampshire. She retired after teaching for 23 years in the Concord School District. Deborah was an active member of the Concord Education Association serving as Vice-President for many years. After retirement in 2003, she worked for the University of New Hampshire for three years as an Education Supervisor in the Graduate Internship program. She continues to sit on the NH-NEA Government Relations Board. Deborah and her husband, John Funk, live in Gilmanton where Deborah sits on the Historic District Commission. She and her husband have four grown children.
Melissa Correia, Vice Chair
Melissa is the Administrator of the Bureau of Quality Improvement for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Division for Children, Youth and Families. She serves as the liaison to the DCYF Advisory Board. Melissa is an active supporter of youth involvement in the performing arts and is involved with the Palace Youth Theatre, Hillside School Music Supporters, and the NH School of Ballet Company Boosters. Melissa received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Boston College and her Master of Arts in Sociology from the University of New Hampshire. Melissa resides in Manchester with her husband and daughter.
“The prevention of child abuse and neglect is achievable if families have the resources and supports they need. This requires a shift in priorities to adequately assess and address the root causes of child maltreatment. Effective services that enhance the well-being of all families are key.
Janice Fitzpatrick
Janice Fitzpatrick has served as the VP and CFO of the NH Electric Cooperative, worked for 10 years in the banking industry, and holds a Masters in Accounting from Southern NH University where she received the Alumni Distinguished Service Award in 2000 for her leadership, dedication and loyal service to the college. Janice is a resident of Candia.
Representative Raymond Gagnon
Representative Gagnon is a second term representative from Sullivan County District 4. A New Hampshire native, he and his wife, Phyllis, have one child. He is the owner of G2M Communications. He is a graduate of St. Mary High School in Claremont, holds a bachelor's degree from St. Francis College in Biddeford, Maine, and a master's degree from Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester.
Representative Gagnon spent 30 years involved in federal, state, county and local government systems. In addition to holding elected office as a mayor of Claremont and member of the Claremont City Council, Representative Gagnon has served on various municipal boards and committees. He was elected chair of the Sullivan County Delegation in December 2008 and previously served as vice chair of the Sullivan County Delegation from 2007 to 2008.
He is a board member for Southwestern Community Services and for the Claremont Soup Kitchen. He was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as U.S. Marshal for the District of New Hampshire and served from 1994 to 2002. He is a member of the New Hampshire Canada Trade Council. He chaired the 2008 New Hampshire Commission on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.
Senator Peggy Gilmour
Senator Peggy Gilmour was elected to the Senate in 2008. Raised in Massachusetts, she earned a master’s degree in nursing before moving to Hollis with her husband, David, in 1973. After working as a visiting nurse, she organized with community leaders to establish the first hospice program in the southern part of the state. She went on to serve as President and CEO of Home Health and Hospice Care in Nashua from 1994 to 2002. She also led a successful drive to fund and open the first inpatient residential hospice in the state, the Community Hospice House. Senator Gilmour’s work in the community has included serving on the board of directors for the American Cancer Society, the Greater Nashua Council on Alcoholism and the Neighborhood Health Center for Greater Nashua, among others. Gilmour has two grown children and two grandchildren.
Representative Anne Grassie
Representative Anne Grassie is a resident of Rochester and represents Strafford County in the State Legislature. Grassie is a graduate of College for Lifelong Learning in Rochester. Grassie’s priorities include youth and children’s issues and environmental issues.
Courtney Herz, Secretary
Courtney is a resident of Hopkinton and a graduate of Cornell Law School. She works in the litigation department at the firm of Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green in Manchester.
“The importance - to an individual child and to society as a whole - of intervention and prevention of child abuse is what makes the work of NHCTF so valuable”
Peirce Hunter, MD, Chair
A resident of Bow, Peirce is a practicing pediatrician in Bedford, NH. He brings clinical skills and expertise in child development to the NHCTF Board of Trustees. Peirce is a graduate of SUNY Downstate Medical Center and the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
“The campaign to improve the future of New Hampshire children, and especially to eliminate child abuse and neglect, is performed every day by concerned and dedicated citizens and organizations who educate, support and empower our children’s caregivers. I am pleased to be part of the NHCTF and to support these important efforts across our state.”
Kristina Ickes
Kristina gained valuable experience as the Chief Financial and Chief Information Officer of LifeLinks, Inc. Previously, Kristina was an adjunct professor at Middlesex Community College and also worked in the Town of Concord’s Town Clerk office. Kristina has gained valuable experience in the areas of finance, information technologies, and nonprofit leadership. As a Financial Advisor, Kristina leverages her knowledge and experience to create strategies for her clients to help them navigate the ever-changing financial landscape.
Kristina attended the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA, where she earned dual B.A. degrees in arts Philosophy and Psychology. She went on to pursue an M.B.A. from University of Phoenix. She subsequently obtained Series 7 and 66 securities licenses as well as life, accident, health, variable annuities and variable contracts insurance licenses. Kristina is active in many local and other organizations. She was the Chairperson of the fundraising committee for the Upreach Therapeutic Riding center in Goffstown, NH. She is a volunteer for SCORE charter 199, former Vice President of the Hillsborough County Guild and serves on the Board of Directors for Community Software Lab in Lowell, MA. In her free time, Kristina enjoys horseback riding. She and her husband, David, currently reside in Candia, NH.
Audrey Knight, MSN, RN
Audrey is the public health representative on the Board, appointed by the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services. She is the Child Health Nurse Consultant for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health Services, Maternal and Child Health Section. In addition to her work with many of the state-funded programs that provide health services to uninsured, underinsured, and low income children, she is Coordinator of the NH Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Program, and supervises the state Newborn Screening Program, the Early Hearing, Detection and Intervention Program and the Preschool Vision and Hearing Screening Program. She also serves on a variety of state and regional committees including the NH Child Fatality Review Committee, the NH Child Health Month Coalition, the Advisory Board of the New England Regional Genetics and Newborn Screening Collaborative and the NH Autism Council. Audrey received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree from Northeastern University and her Master of Science in Nursing Degree from Yale University. She resides in Hopkinton with her husband and daughter.
Senator Bette Lasky
Senator Bette Lasky was elected to the state Senate in 2008 after serving five terms as a state Representative. She served as Assistant House Majority Leader during the 2007-2008 biennium. Prior to that, Senator Lasky was the House Minority Whip. Active in local and state politics for many years, she has been the chairman of the Nashua City Planning Board, a Nashua City Selectman, and Vice Chairman of the Nashua City Committee. In other community service, she has served on the board of directors for Girls Inc. and on the board for the Disabilities Rights Center. Her priorities include sensible economic development, including the addition of commuter rail to serve Nashua. Senator Lasky is a longstanding supporter of women’s rights and civil rights for all. She holds a degree in political science from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and lives in Nashua with her husband, Dr. Elliot Lasky. They have two grown daughters.
Bob MacGowan
Bob has spent over twenty-five years in different sales and marketing positions in the insurance field and his experiences have ranged from being an owner of his own New Hampshire insurance agency to working for one of the largest independent global brokers at Lloyd's of London. Bob also taught for a year at one of New Hampshire's public high schools and is well aware of the impact family stability has on the development of children. As a past president of the Newport New Hampshire Rotary Club Bob understands the civic responsibility we all share in working to make our communities better places and has seen firsthand the impact that the generosity of strangers can have on the lives of those who need our help.
Bob attended Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History, with an accompanying Certificate in Soviet Studies. He went on to secure an Master of Education degree from the Lynch School of Education at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. In his free time Bob enjoys snowshoeing, ice skating, golfing, and kayaking. He and his wife Mary Jo and dogs Sadie and Tess currently live in Webster, New Hampshire.
Representative Betsy McKinney, Treasurer
Betsy McKinney, resident of Londonderry, is a State Representative with experience as Londonderry Town Treasurer and was recognized as Londonderry Citizen of the Year in 1987. Betsy received her BS from Bentley College and has served as a member of the Excellence in Public Service board since 2003.
Lauren Noether
Lauren Noether has served for 21 years as a prosecutor in New Hampshire, having graduated from Franklin Pierce Law Center in 1982. As the Belknap County Attorney for nearly 14 years, her job involved advising police departments on criminal law and policy, running grand jury investigations, presenting felony cases for trial before juries and partnering with other agencies around community safety. Ms. Noether joined the office of the Attorney General in September 2006 and was appointed Chief of the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau in January 2007, where she served until February, 2009. She now works as a Senior Assistant Attorney General in the Environmental Protection Bureau. Lauren is the 2007 recipient of the William D. Paine Award for outstanding commitment to the collaborative multidisciplinary efforts to reduce family violence in NH.
Dr. Malcolm Smith, PhD, CFLE
Dr. Malcolm Smith is the Family Education and Family Policy Specialist for UNH Cooperative Extension and an associate professor in the UNH Department of Family Studies. Malcolm is also the President of The Peaceful Intervention Program, LLC, a nationally recognized training program for youth services, corrections, and education professionals who care for angry children and youth. His anger management, school violence reduction, parenting and anti-bullying curriculums are currently being used in over 400 school districts, juvenile centers, social service agencies and residential treatment programs across the U.S.A.
Malcolm was previously the Director of the Karl Menninger National Youth Care Training Center and, for many years, was a faculty member at the Menninger Clinic’s renowned Southard School where he worked closely with his mentor, the father of the American psychiatric movement, Dr. Karl Menninger. He has also been a youth care worker, a foster parent and the director of a therapeutic camping program. He has served as a consultant to such diverse programs as the U.S. Army Family Advocacy Program; The National Guard Challenge Program; The Kentucky Center for School Safety; The Baltimore, Maryland Mayor’s Child Care Task Force; The Montana Behavioral Institute, The Orlando, Florida Public Schools; The Kansas Children’s Alliance; The Missouri Juvenile Justice Association; The Iowa Attorney General’s Office; and state social service departments in 32 states. He has provided training or technical assistance to schools and human service programs in all 50 states and responded as a volunteer member of the National Crisis Team to over 30 incidents of school violence including the Columbine tragedy and the shootings in Minnesota, Arkansas, Oregon, and Kentucky.
His doctorate is in Family Studies and Human Services from Kansas State University, his Master’s work in Education was completed at Minnesota State University and Malcolm’s bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Education is from Washburn University. His daughter, Haley, is currently nurse in a rural Kansas hospital and his son, Dylan is at Kansas University. His wife Karen is on the staff of the Institute of Disabilities at UNH.
Malcolm is the author of The Peaceful Intervention Program: Caring Safely for Angry Children and Youth; of Meditations on the Art of Peaceful Intervention; and of a popular parenting curriculum, The Realistic Parenting Program. His current research interests include the implementation of family life education into the workplace and the prevention of violence in family systems. He is a founding member of the Family Education Collaborative in Manchester, and he currently writes a popular monthly column on balancing work and family life for The New Hampshire Business Review, and serves on two legislative committees in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. He also plays and teaches Appalachian clawhammer banjo styles.
Brenda Tibbetts
Brenda is a resident of Columbia representing the interests of the North Country. She believes in the strength of serving our local community and has become involved in a variety of North Country projects. She currently serves as Board member and Past President of Indian Stream Health Center, a federally qualified health center; Chair of the North Country Chamber of Commerce Moose Festival celebrating its 19th year in 2010; a Charter Member of the NH Master Gardener’s Association, and author of Gardening in the Great North Woods. She serves as Assistant Moderator for the Town of Columbia, and is a Deacon of the Monadnock Congregational United Church of Christ.
“As the mother of two and a grandmother of eleven, I am deeply aware of the value of a stable loving home and the diversity of wholesome methods for nuturing children. As a District Court Clerk in the NH court system for 24 years, I experienced the heartbreak of abused and neglected children and their families during times of court intervention. Working with the New Hampshire Children’s Trust allows me to participate in the prevention possibilities for these tough family and community issues.”