The adventure started with this sentence: “You have been nominated for this year’s Leadership New Hampshire class.” In 1995, Leadership New Hampshire was a relatively young organization, having started in 1991 with the help of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and the New Hampshire Business and Industry Association, and I had never heard of it.
I turned to former Upper Valley resident Arnie Arnesen, who I knew and who was on the board of Leadership New Hampshire. My biggest concern was that some of the alumni of previous classes were pretty high-profile and the only letters I had after my name were M-O-M. Her reply was encouraging. She said that there were already a number of male lawyers from Concord and Manchester in the program and that I, a home-schooling mom from the Upper Valley, would add a unique perspective.
Leadership New Hampshire is designed to increase civic engagement and strengthen communities by taking a diverse group of people who are in or desire to be in leadership roles, connecting them, and educating them about the state.
Over the course of 10 months, I learned about issues and challenges facing New Hampshire, visited big cities and remote corners of the state and met, listened to, and got to question a wide range of people — from top state officials to students and teachers, artists, prison inmates and corporate and nonprofit leaders. My classmates came from all walks of life. We dug deeply into topics such as business, education, health and health care, criminal justice, government and politics, and the arts.
My experience with Leadership New Hampshire was eye-opening. I saw areas of the state I had never seen, I was exposed to high-caliber speakers I might never have heard, and I met some wonderful people I would not otherwise have met. One of the things I learned in the process was how regionalized our state is, and how that needs to be taken into account when solving problems.
I didn’t leave Leadership New Hampshire behind when I graduated. I have nominated people for the program, helped interview applicants and served on the selection committee. I’ve attended alumni events and I still read the name of one or another of my classmates regularly in the Union Leader or run into them in Concord.
The program works because great care is given to selecting the right mix of people each year. Every class is a balance of geography, gender, job sector (profit, nonprofit or public), age and occupation. It’s a wonderful opportunity, but not many from the Upper Valley take advantage of it. In some ways, I understand why — it takes time, commitment, money (though there are scholarships) and travel, but the investment is worth it.
That’s not to say that there isn’t leadership training available closer to home.
I recently visited a session of Leadership Upper Valley, a regional program that started at the Lebanon Area Chamber of Commerce in 2007 and has been under the umbrella of White River Junction-based Vital Communities since 2009. The class was at the Claremont MakerSpace on a day focused on economic development. I saw the same drive and spirit there as I did at Leadership New Hampshire, the same desire to dig deeper, as they covered similar topics, but with a regional focus. One big difference is that Leadership Upper Valley includes both New Hampshire and Vermont residents, a twist that the program’s manager, Rob Schultz, says only adds to the richness of the conversation.
Both programs intersect at least once during the year at a reception for alumni whenever Leadership New Hampshire comes to the Upper Valley for a session. Every year, we talk about how to encourage Upper Valley participation in these programs, particularly at the state level.
The Upper Valley is important to these leadership classes because this region is often overlooked.
Participants from this area help keep the Upper Valley on the radar. It isn’t near the larger cities of either New Hampshire or Vermont, yet it has a lot to offer and needs to be represented in statewide conversations.
A state leadership program needs to look at the state as a whole. When a region is underrepresented, it isn’t as comprehensive a course. Leadership New Hampshire strives to have its class come from all 10 counties, but that gets harder when no one from the Upper Valley applies. A local leadership program strengthens and reinforces what makes a region great, and boosts civic engagement. Many of the Leadership Upper Valley participants mentioned that they appreciated finding out what was going on in the region, as well as finding ways to get involved.
These leadership classes are important to the Upper Valley because they promote civil discourse.
In a polarized society, we need programs that cross the divide. A group of Leadership New Hampshire alumni interviewed for the program’s 25th anniversary firmly believed that it was a model for civil discourse as diverse perspectives were examined in a respectful manner. Participants in both programs have mentioned how they enabled them to get to know, and appreciate, people they ordinarily wouldn’t have met.
At the end of my Leadership New Hampshire year, we got yearbooks that we all signed. One of my classmates, of a different political persuasion, wrote this to me: “You are a new experience for me. In the past, you would have represented an inanimate, impersonal philosophy which I despised. I now know a real person who is bright, compassionate, active, and sincere. My next step is to try to understand where you’re coming from.”
Our friendship lasted long after the program was over. That’s civil discourse in action.
Leadership New Hampshire costs $3,850, but generous scholarships are available through the help of alumni and businesses. It operates from a “need-blind” standpoint, and there is a special annual scholarship for Upper Valley residents only, to encourage qualified candidates to apply. That’s how important the participation of the Upper Valley is to this program. Applications for Leadership New Hampshire are due March 15.
Leadership Upper Valley costs $1,425, but also has some scholarship money available. Applications are due April 30.
Both programs stress that they will do their best to help qualified candidates with the cost.
My experience took time, commitment, money and travel, but even now, more than 20 years later, it’s an adventure I would do over again in a heartbeat.
Margaret Drye lives in Plainfield.