Leadership
The Healthy Monadnock Alliance Executive Committee (EC) is a group of community-minded individuals who are committed to improving community health and well-being. The members of the EC, representing multiple sectors of the region, are responsible for establishing the vision and carrying out the mission of the Alliance. The EC strives to: Empower people and groups to take greater responsibility for individual and population-level health; Support the adoption and/or development of evidence-based strategies; Direct plans and actions at the population level; Promote quality of life; and Promote health equity.
Executive Committee Members
Susan Ashworth
Susan Ashworth is the Director of Community Relations at Home Healthcare, Hospice, and Community Services. She also oversees the agency’s nutrition programs for seniors and transportation programs. She has an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University. Susan has been on the Council for a Healthier Community since its inception.
Ellen Avery
Ellen Avery serves as the Executive Director of Community Volunteer Transportation Company (CVTC). Ellen has more than 37 years of experience working and volunteering in the region in the areas of higher education, education administration, arts management, special event production, institutional advancement, and social service administration. She was an incorporator and vice chair of the CVTC Board until 2010. While residing in Jaffrey Center, Ellen has served on the boards of the Jaffrey Center Village Improvement Society, the Jaffrey Historic District Commission, and the Park Theatre.
Suzanne Bansley
Suzanne Bansley is a Grant Professional Certified (G.P.C.); she has an M.B.A. in Managing for Sustainability from Marlboro College in Vermont (now Emerson College in Boston) and a Bachelor’s in business management, specializing in finance from Southern Connecticut State University. Suzanne has been Cheshire County’s grants manager since 2014 and is passionate about serving our community and helping organizations within it succeed. Her mission is to deliver incredible value by offsetting the costs of county projects, obtaining funds to launch new programs, providing fiscal sponsor services to area collaborations and coalitions, searching for grants, and providing grant writing and management advice to Cheshire County nonprofits. In her free time, Suzanne loves to run marathons, alpine skiing, and travel.
Beth Daniels
Beth Daniels is the Chief Operating Officer at Southwestern Community Services (SCS). She has worked in the field of social services for twenty years, has a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services, and has completed Leadership Monadnock. SCS provides a multitude of vital services, such as Fuel Assistance, WIC, Head Start, Senior Housing, and Emergency Shelter, among others, to the most vulnerable households throughout Cheshire and Sullivan Counties.
Alicia Deaver
Alicia Deaver, MS, CCLS, is the Executive Director of Rise for baby and family. Alicia has lived in Keene since 2018 and loves living in this region. Her passion is early childhood education, with a focus on social-emotional development and helping families to thrive. In her time in Alaska and Mississippi, she worked in various direct service and management positions that focused on bolstering children’s mental health and well-being by increasing the quality of early care and education programs, providing individualized child developmental and behavioral support, and helping families. She is a proponent of the Strengthening Families and Pyramid Model frameworks for building inclusive communities that support the unique needs of children and families. Alicia has a bachelor’s degree in Child and Family Studies with an emphasis on Child Life. She became a certified Child Life Specialist in 2006. She has a master’s degree in Early Intervention, and she is currently enrolled in a doctoral program in Human Development and Family Studies. Outside of her work, she loves spending time with her family, cooking and baking, hiking, and simply enjoying nature.
Tammy Dwyer
Tammy Dwyer is the Director of Community Engagement at the Center for Population Health at Cheshire Medical Center. She has over 25 years of leadership experience working in the areas of women’s health, animal welfare, and human services. Tammy developed a strong sense of devotion to the community through her many years of work in the nonprofit sector. She graduated from Vermont College with a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts. She is an award-winning filmmaker and believes in the power of story and its potential to change lives. Tammy lives in Maine with her husband, Tad, rescue dogs Max and Scout, and their son, Nick.
Eileen Fernandes
Eileen Fernandes had over thirty-five years of professional experience in the social service field before retiring in 2021. For the twenty-six years residing in the Monadnock Region, she held a number of leadership positions at Cheshire Housing Trust, Southwestern Community Services, Cheshire Medical Center, and Monadnock Family Services. She received her baccalaureate degree from the University of Massachusetts-North Adams in 1982 and a master of management administration from Marlboro College in 2012. She received the Keene Health Alliance Leadership Award in 2009 in recognition of her exemplary leadership efforts and the Keene Extraordinary Woman Award in 2015. As a result of her efforts as project director for Operation Flood Recovery after the flooding in 2005, she received a citation from Governor John H. Lynch for dedication and commitment to the citizens of New Hampshire.
Terry Johnson
Terry brings a passion for collaborating with community partners to the Southwest Region Planning Commission to create healthier people and places in the Monadnock Region and throughout the state. He has extensive experience working at the intersection of planning and public health and has built a 35-year track record leading projects that bring together partners across multiple sectors, including planning, transportation, housing, economic development, food systems, public health, and healthcare. Terry provides leadership for SWRPC’s public health planning projects. He was awarded the NH Governor’s Council on Physical Activity and
Health Outstanding Achievement Award in 2017 and graduated from the University of Louisiana with a B.S. in Health and Physical Education.
Elizabeth LaRose
Elizabeth A. LaRose, APR, joined the Monadnock United Way as president in November 2016. Before that, she was the director of marketing and communications for six years at Crotched Mountain Foundation in Greenfield, NH—a multi-service nonprofit serving people with disabilities. Liz is an active member of her community, most recently serving as the 2016 president of the Public Relations Society of America Yankee Chapter. Liz is a 2011 graduate of Leadership New Hampshire, and she holds an Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) from the Public Relations Society of America in New York. She received her bachelor of arts in communications from Rivier University in Nashua, NH.
Dan Smith
Dan Smith is the Executive Director of the Keene Family YMCA. He has twenty-five years of experience in not-for-profits and 10 years at the YMCA. Dan lived for 8 years in the countries of Papua New Guinea and Fiji, working with Habitat for Humanity International. He studied Theater Arts at Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY.
Julie Quinn
Julie Quinn is the Care Coordination Manager for Monadnock Community Hospital. Julie received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Boston College and has been a critical care nurse for ten years. Identifying the crucial role of preventative healthcare, she recently moved to NH and made the transition into population health. In her role at MCH, she oversees case management, transitional care, outpatient quality initiatives,
and chronic care management programs. Her passions include hiking and skiing.
Ed Walker
Ed Walker is the Fire Chief/Emergency Management Director for the Town of Peterborough (NH), a position he has held since May 2014. Before joining Peterborough, Ed served for six years as the Director of the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy and 23 years with the Weston (MA) Fire Department, where he rose through the ranks to Fire Chief. Ed holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Maine, a BS in Fire and Safety Engineering Technology from the University of Cincinnati, and an MBA from Northeastern University. Ed participates in many community groups, including the Rotary Club of Peterborough, Monadnock at Home, and the ConVal Substance Abuse Task Force. In 2016, Ed was named the New Hampshire Emergency Manager of the Year.
Phil Wyzik
Philip F. Wyzik, MA, has served as the Chief Executive Officer at Monadnock Family Services from 2012 through 2025. MFS serves the Monadnock Region by providing outpatient behavioral health counseling and prevention services for adults and seniors. Before joining MFS, Phil served as the president and CEO of The Mental Health Association of Connecticut. He received his Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Assumption College.