Gail Garceau joined the NH Children’s Health Foundation in 2015 as its President.  She is a passionate leader, visionary and advocate for social justice with over 20 years of experience in non-profit leadership roles. Gail previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the former New Hampshire Healthy Kids Corporation.  Prior to her work with Healthy Kids, she served in consulting, leadership and project management positions in the fields of higher education, health care and community services, including CEO of the Heritage United Way (Manchester) for 10 years. She most recently served as the General Manager of Well Sense Health Plan, one of three managed care organizations selected by the NH Department of Health and Human Services to provide health care coverage to New Hampshire’s Medicaid recipients.

Gail’s deep commitment to volunteerism and social responsibility is evidenced by her numerous memberships and participation in civic organizations over the years. She currently is a member of the Board of Directors of Bellwether Community Credit Union, the Board of Directors of Evergreen Place and the Advisory Board of Independent Services Network. Gail’s expertise and leadership is widely recognized. Among the prestigious awards she has received are the Community Leadership Award by the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester, the Heroine Award by Odyssey House, the Susan B. Anthony Award by the YWCA, and the Business Leaders of the 21st Century – Non-profit Category Award by Business NH Magazine.

Email Gail here.

Since 2008, Patti has served as Program Director at the New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation.  In this role she coordinates all aspects of the foundation’s grantmaking program, in addition to meeting with grantees, partners and stakeholders to plan and strategize for improving the health of New Hampshire residents. 

Prior to the Children’s Health Foundation, Patti’s experience includes work in health promotion and disease prevention, reproductive health, and domestic and sexual violence.

Email Patti here.

Alisa was named the foundation’s first Director of Research and Community Impact in January 2023. Her work involves research and analysis of children’s health data, developing research insights for use in internal foundation planning and external stakeholder engagement, and convening the foundation’s external stakeholders to advance the state of children’s health in New Hampshire.

She previously served as the director of the Rural Health and Primary Care Section at the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health Services for 18 years.

She has a background in youth development, childhood trauma, strategies to improve access to quality healthcare, geographic equity issues, and health workforce development.

Leslie Craigen, MHA, joined the NH Children’s Health Foundation in 2017 as its Finance & Administration Manager. She is experienced in financial planning and analysis, budgeting, multi-year forecasting, business operations and modeling, database reporting and project management. She worked with Kindred Healthcare for many years and was most recently Executive Director of Kindred at Home, a home health agency providing care to clients in York County, Maine.

Email Leslie here.

Keith J. Loud, MD, MSc, FAAP, is Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and Physician-in-Chief of the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock (CHaD).

A 1996 graduate of the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University, Dr. Loud completed his pediatric residency at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in 2000 and fellowship training at Boston Children’s Hospital in 2004, also earning a Master of Medical Sciences in clinical investigation at Harvard Medical School. Prior to returning to CHaD in 2010 to lead the Section of General Academic Pediatrics, Keith served as Medical Director of Adolescent and School Health Services at Akron Children’s Hospital and associate professor of pediatrics at Northeast Ohio Medical University.

Certified in adolescent medicine, sports medicine, and general pediatrics by the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP), Dr. Loud is associate professor of pediatrics and of orthopaedic surgery at Geisel and a member of the ABP Subboard of Adolescent Medicine as well as the American Hospital Association’s Maternal & Child Health Governing Council.

Erin Hennessey of Littleton was named Deputy Secretary of State in June 2022. She was a three-term state representative and was elected to the New Hampshire State Senate in 2020. Her leadership roles in the New Hampshire House included Ranking Member of the Finance Committee DIV III and Chairman of the Commission on Demographic Trends. Erin is a Certified Public Accountant, a member of the Board of Directors at Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank, on the Board of Trustees at Littleton Regional Healthcare, and volunteers as a Destination Imagination Team Manager.

With a decades-long career in healthcare, Roland has played a leadership role in the healthcare industry particularly in behavioral health, payer-provider negotiations and contracting, sales management, underwriting, employee benefit and rate development and government programs.

A Principal at Helms & Company, Inc., Roland provides clients with expertise in provider contract negotiations, physician practice management, healthcare business valuation and evaluation of commercial insurance options for employers and government agencies.  He provides payer-contracting expertise to several Critical Access Hospitals including negotiations and analytic support.  Roland has put his interest and expertise to work in his role as Board Chair of Benevera Health, a unique population health company formed as a joint venture among several New Hampshire Hospitals and a commercial payer.

Prior to joining Helms & Company, Roland served as the Assistant Director of Health Planning and Medicaid for the State of New Hampshire, Department of Health and Human Services.  In this capacity, he was responsible for budgeting, forecasting and deficit reduction strategies for the Medicaid program. Before holding that position, he spent much of his career in leadership roles with Blue Cross and Blue Shield with responsibility for total health care spend, provider contracting, provider relations and provider credentialing.

Roland puts his expertise and passion to work in his volunteer activities as well, serving on the Board of the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute.  He also serves as a Board member for the HNH Foundation and is the former Chair of the New Hampshire Healthy Kids Corporation.

His greatest achievement, however, is raising a humble, smart and compassionate teenage boy, with whom he enjoys spending time.

Education:
BS – Bloomsburg University
MBA – Southern New Hampshire University (formerly NH College)

Outside Interests:
Travel
Sports

Last Book Read:
“Home” by Harlan Coben

Matthew Boyle is a Certified Financial Planner® with Empower Retirement in Concord, NH. He has been in the financial industry since 1995, and provides investment management and generational wealth planning strategies for families, as well as providing solutions for business owners and their employees.

Matthew enjoys being an active member of the community. Along with participating with the NH Children’s Health Foundation Board, he has been the board chair of Granite Pathways, and he is coaching youth soccer with the Hopkinton Soccer Club. If he is not fine-tuning his client accounts, he is likely on the field with the kids.

Borja Alvarez de Toledo, M.Ed. is president and CEO of Waypoint, formerly Child and Family Services of New Hampshire. Originally from Spain, he moved to the US in 1998. He is responsible for advancing the public profile and advocacy efforts of Waypoint by developing innovative approaches and building productive partnerships with government, regional and national constituencies. He has focused significant efforts and resources in coordination and integration of services and models, both inside his own organization as well as with other organizations. He is also responsible for all aspects of financial planning, sustainability and oversight of Waypoint’s assets.

Peter Ames of Litchfield is the executive director of the Foundation for Healthy Communities, an affiliate of the New Hampshire Hospital Association based in Concord. The Foundation serves as a convening entity for partners committed to improving health and health care for all through community engagement in New Hampshire. Peter oversees the health programs of the Foundation, creating genuine connections with partners based on mutual appreciation, the collective work to improve health for all, and a “listen to understand” approach in developing relationships. Prior to joining the Foundation, Peter spent 12 years in several roles with the American Cancer Society in New Hampshire.

Bobbie D. Bagley is a leader in public health. She currently services under the Mayor of Nashua as the Director of the City of Nashua Division of Public Health and Community Services. Bobbie has twenty years of experience in the field of public health services. Her executive strengths include: strong leadership skills, effective verbal and written communications, critical thinking, evidence-based decision making, community mobilization, creative visionary and a keen ability to motivate others. Bobbie easily cultivates collaborative partnerships with service providers. She has experience in developing and implementing programs to promote, protect and preserve health and safety through assessment, policy and delivery of services.

Bobbie has ten years of experience in academia. She developed the undergraduate and graduate public health programs at Rivier University and served as the Director of the Public Health Programs. She has expertise in curriculum development, course evaluation, scholarship, community service and academic leadership. She provided instruction in both the on-ground classroom and online settings, serving as lead faculty and advisor of the public health and nursing program. She provided course instruction and course development as well as supervision of public health faculty. Bobbie worked with community agencies to provide exceptional service learning experiences, experiential learning activities in public health and opportunities to engage in political action to transform hearts and minds.

SPECIALTY AREAS OF FOCUS

• Improving Public & Community Health Practice
• Advocating for Health Equity & Policy Setting
• Reducing Socio-Cultural Barriers to Health
• Enhancing Population-Based Health Promotion and Disease
• Prevention
• Diversifying the Public Health Work Force
• Building a Competent Public Health Workforce
• Assuring Cultural Effectiveness

Dr. Beals works with Coos County Family Health Services and serves as the pediatric medical director at Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin. He has been practicing medicine in the Berlin-Gorham area for more than 25 years.

He has a strong interest in type 1 diabetes and volunteers at ADA Camp Carefree every summer. He is also actively involved with the network of providers who have extra training in completing medical examinations for children suspected of having been physically or sexually abused. His efforts to advocate for children also extend to being an Executive Committee member of the NH chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

He also manages to incorporate full-time clinical teaching into his practice welcoming students across all disciplines (MD, DO, PA and NP) into his practice to gain exposure to the realities of rural medicine while in training.

Mary Bidgood-Wilson of Center Harbor has been recognized locally and nationally for her groundbreaking work in healthcare. An experienced nurse practitioner and midwife, she has combined her medical training with her entrepreneurial skills and policy expertise to own and operate healthcare facilities in New Hampshire and to advise public officials on matters ranging from the care of patients to the credentialing of state licensed medical providers.

A pioneer in the nurse practitioner field, Bidgood-Wilson was selected in 2011 as Executive Director of the New Hampshire Nurse Practitioner Association. She has served on advisory committees of the Endowment for Health, the State Health Department’s Maternal and Child Health Advisory Committee and the New Hampshire Board of Nursing. She is currently the principal of Meredith Bay Consulting.

Dr. Pamela DiNapoli of Manchester is an experienced nurse educator and researcher. She completed her PhD in Nursing and Health Promotion at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. Her most recent position was at the University of New Hampshire where she was the Graduate Program Coordinator and Director of the Direct Entry Master’s in Nursing Program. During her tenure at UNH her research focused on health risk behavior of adolescents. She received several grants to explore facilitators and barriers to healthy decision making among adolescents in the areas of tobacco use, physical activity and exercise and drug and alcohol use. Dr. DiNapoli recently accepted a new role as the Executive Director of the NH Nurses Association.

Kassie Eafrati of Berlin is Director of Behavioral Health with Northern Human Services. She previously served as NHS’s Early Childhood Mental Health Program Director. Eafrati earned a masters degree in child development at Tufts University.

She is a NH certified Early Childhood Educator and serves on the board of directors of the NH Association of Infant Mental Health. She is also a member of the Neil and Louise Tillotson Foundation’s Community Partnership Network and is actively engaged in the Coos Coalition leadership team and subcommittees focusing on maternal depression, parenting and professional development.

Jonathan Oglebay is the Senior Vice President/Chief Financial Officer at Bellwether Community Credit Union, a $530 Million credit union headquartered in Manchester, NH. He has been at Bellwether for 3.5 years. Before joining Bellwether he worked at a commercial bank in Massachusetts for the prior 14 years.

Jonathan has his MBA in Finance from Boston College and his undergraduate degree from Trinity College. He is the President of the New Hampshire Chapter of the Cooperative Credit Union Association and is also the Treasurer of Make A Wish, NH.

Jonathan currently resides in Bow, NH with his wife, two teenage boys and their dog Rosie. He and his family enjoy skiing and traveling. They continue to enjoy exploring New Hampshire and have embraced the feeling of community that is so prevalent here. He has met so many fantastic people that want to make a difference in their local communities, which was a deciding factor in his relocation to New Hampshire. Jonathan is a huge Disney fan and tries his best to coordinate an annual pilgrimage to Disney World in Florida.

Susan Stearns has worked in the non-profit sector in New Hampshire for more than 30 years, advocating for families, children, and individuals with disabilities. Her personal experience advocating for loved ones in both the child and adult mental health systems drives her passion for transforming New Hampshire’s system of care in order to improve the lives of all Granite Staters affected by mental illness and suicide. Susan does this work because no mother’s child should have to fear seeking help for a medical condition because of stigma.

She is a member of the Governor’s Commission on Disability, Governor’s Advisory Commission on Mental Illness and the Corrections System, the Commission to Study the Incidence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in First Responders, the Advisory Board to the NH Judicial Branch Steering Committee on Diversity & Inclusion, the Oversight Commission on Children’s Services, the Board of Directors of the Lakes Region Mental Health Center, the New Hampshire Justice Involved Veterans Task Force, the Hillsborough County Coalition on Mental Health & Justice, and the New England Advisory Team for the region’s SAMHSA-funded Mental Health Technology Transfer Center.

Kristine joined Bi-State Primary Care Association in 2012. She collaborates with the State of New Hampshire, health care providers, non-profit advocacy organizations, and business leaders to improve the health of all New Hampshire residents.

She serves as a member of the Medical Care Advisory Committee, the Mental Health Advisory Committee, and New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute’s board of directors. She previously served as a legislative research analyst for the Arizona House of Representatives.

Kristine’s legislative work included appropriations, insurance, banking, environment, criminal law, health, and administrative law. She is a 2020 graduate of Leadership New Hampshire, and a member of the New Hampshire Bar Association and the New Hampshire Women’s Bar Association. Kristine has a Juris Doctor from the University of New Hampshire School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in Finance from the University of Arizona.

Dr. Trinidad Tellez is a family physician, community-based health disparities researcher, educator, and public health / health policy professional with over 20 years’ experience operationalizing diversity & inclusion and organizational cultural effectiveness to address health disparities, improve access and quality, and advance health and equity for all. She has worked in both the private and public sectors at the local, state and regional levels in California, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. She is the former director of the NH Office of Health Equity, an adjunct instructor at the Dartmouth’s Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice and principal of Health Equity Strategies, LLC. She was recently elected to the New Hampshire Legislature to represent Hillsborough County District 40 (Manchester).