Board of Directors

 

 Betsy McNamaraBetsy McNamara
Chair

Betsy McNamara is a Full Circle Principal and Senior Consultant with 30 years of experience fundraising for nonprofit organizations. Betsy has raised millions of dollars for organizations in education, human services, affordable housing, the arts, and land conservation.

Betsy has served on the board of Community Bridges since 2002, including a two-year term as president. Betsy lives in Concord with her husband and two sons. Betsy's family was introduced to Community Bridges when her younger son was eight months old and has benefitted from the good and important services provided by Community Bridges ever since.

Carl Cooley
Vice Chair

Carl Cooley, MD, is a retired Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrician and Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. After 12 years as a primary care pediatrician in Newport, Carl joined the faculty at Dartmouth and directed the Center for Clinical Genetics and Child Development and the Hood Center for Children and Families for 10 years before becoming the Chief Medical Officer for the Crotched Mountain Foundation. He co-founded the Center for Medical Home Improvement and GotTransition, supporting quality improvement science to transform primary care delivery. He is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and completed his pediatric training at the University of Michigan. Carl serves on the City of Concord’s Energy and Environment Advisory Committee and the boards of the Concord Community Music School and the Crotched Mountain Foundation. He and his wife, Seddon Savage, live in Concord.  They have three grown children, one of whom experiences an intellectual disability and lives in an apartment in downtown Concord.

Stephany WilsonStephany Wilson
Secretary 

Stephany Wilson's advocacy began for a family member and fanned out from there. She does not do educational advocacy in her local school district but is retained for academic advocacy cases throughout NH as families strive for an appropriate educational program. In addition, since 2016, she has advocated for patients and families who feel diagnostically helpless in medical situations.
 
Stephany is the CEO of CADVantage, Inc., an NH-based printed circuit board design company. Through building strong relationships with communication, Stephany prides herself on customer account and employee retention. In addition, she uses her degree in accounting and continuing education in business administration and finance to enhance her project management, negotiation, cash flow, forecasting, and corporate leadership decisions.
 
Stephany and her family reside in the Concord Area, where she is active in her local church and community. She is a Reiki Master Teacher and Practitioner. She enjoys working in hospice, oncology, pediatrics, psychological, sports medicine, and many other situations, helping families practice mindfulness in their busy lives.
 

Mark Manganiello
Treasurer

Mark is the Administrator of the Bureau of School Finance within the NH Department of Education, where he oversees local education agency financial reporting and state adequacy funding to schools. Before working for the State, he worked in the business office of Community Partners, the Area Agency serving Strafford County. Mark has a Bachelor's degree from Keene State College and a Master's in Public Administration from the University of New Hampshire. He lives in Concord and enjoys skiing and hiking in the White Mountains.

Phil Sletten 

Phil Sletten is the Research Director at the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute, where he has worked for more than six years. He conducts research and analysis on the State Budget, State revenues and expenditures, the economy, and the economic security of Granite Staters, with a focus on those with low and moderate incomes. He previously served for three years as a performance auditor for the New Hampshire Office of Legislative Budget Assistant, where he worked on an audit of the Bureau of Developmental Services. Born and raised in New Hampshire, Phil earned a Bachelor’s degree from Grinnell College in Iowa and holds a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Wisconsin. He is also a graduate of Leadership New Hampshire from the Class of 2018. Phil was recognized as one of the New Hampshire Union Leaders 40 under 40 in 2021 and was named the 2020 Young Professional of the Year by the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce. He lives in an old farmhouse on a dirt road in rural Henniker.

 Glenn StuartGlenn Stuart

Glenn Stuart is a Professor of Theatre Emeritus at New England College, where he taught for 37 years. While there, he designed scenery and lighting for over 140 productions for the Theatre Department. In addition, Glenn was the founder of the Open Door Theatre, a professional company for which he designed and directed 21 productions. He continues to teach Shakespeare (one of his great passions) for the LINEC, Learning Institute at New England College.  Glenn has been a Community Bridges board member since 2005. He lives in Concord with his wife, Kelly Doremus, and their daughter Dylan.

Elizabeth Bornstein Elizabeth Bornstein 

A resident of the Town of Bow. Elizabeth works at the Boys and Girls Club of Central NH, Concord. In addition to her job, she volunteers at the Sierra Club, South Congregational Church, and Concord YMCA. Elizabeth also enjoys singing with the Songweavers, likes to read, and does adult coloring.


Kristin Phillips Kristin Phillips

Kristin Phillips is a principal at Smith Phillips Strategic Communications, a public relations firm in Concord. Kristin holds a BA in Communications from the University of New Hampshire. In addition, she graduated from the UNH Institute on Disability's Leadership program and served on the board of Best Buddies New Hampshire. Kristin lives in Concord with her husband and three children.

Stephen Gould

Steve Gould is the SVP, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, and Chief Human Resources Officer at rue21, a national retailer.  Steve has over 30 years of experience advising and counseling businesses, executive teams, and boards of directors. Steve serves as a member of the board of directors for several companies, has held officer and director positions for several nonprofit corporations, and served as a member of various advisory panels.

Steve is a graduate of Northeastern University and Suffolk University Law School. He and his wife live in Bow and enjoy skiing in the winter and hiking in all seasons.   

Emmett Collins 

Emmett works for ConcordTV, a local media center here in Concord. The company is based out of Concord High School but covers all kinds of events throughout the city. At ConcordTV, Emmett helps with video editing projects and other productions at the station and out in the community. 

Emmett went to school at NHTI and ran on their Cross Country team. He is coaching Cross Country and Track and Field at NHTI and has run eight marathons, including 3 Boston Marathons. I love to ski and volunteer at Waterville Valley in Adaptive Skiing every winter. Living in Canterbury, Emmett spends lots of time outdoors with friends and family. His older brother lives just outside of Boston with his wife and my two-year-old nephew.  So he also gets to spend time with them down in the city. Marathon weekend and St. Patrick’s Day are two of Emmett's favorite times of the year! 

Mark Lavalle - New member

 

In Memoriam:
A Tribute to our Friend and Board Member

“We are all heartbroken at the loss of John. His contributions to Community Bridges through his work on the Board have been immense. John had an incredible talent for getting to the core of an issue and providing clarity in the midst of complex discussions. He had been described as the ‘conscience of the Board.’ We will work to honor John’s memory by keeping that conscience and ability to find clarity strong in his absence.”

- Phil Sletten, Chair of the Community Bridges Board of Directors.

Community Bridges was fortunate to experience John's insight and leadership as a Board member for 16 years. He will be missed.

John Nathaniel Taylor was born on December 13, 1976, to Paul and Cheryl Taylor in Nashua, NH, and passed away June 4, 2023, after residing in the Concord area with his parents, Paul and Debora, and brother Mike.

In addition to his long career in retail, John volunteered at the Christa-McAuliffe Discovery Center; he was a long-standing board member at Community Bridges and enjoyed giving presentations at schools with his mobility service dog, Jessie. John regularly visited with residents at a nursing home, as well as served in his local church both on the worship team and in the Children's Ministry. 

In his free time, John enjoyed driving the golf cart with his brother Mike, camping, fishing, and canoeing. He enjoyed sporting events, lighthouses, learning about American history, and visiting covered bridges throughout NH and VT.

John lived a life of serving and encouraging others and will be extraordinarily missed by all whose lives he touched.