DURHAM, N.H. — Twenty-four leading practitioners working to improve affordable housing and smart growth in communities in Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire have been awarded Policy Leadership Fellowships by the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. The fellows will work together to strengthen the collective capacity of northern New England to advance policies that help support families and communities in the region. The fellowship includes an award of $1,000 to support the ongoing work of these outstanding nonprofit leaders.

“Good public policy is critical to our foundation’s mission to improve the health of the people of New Hampshire,” said Mary Vallier-Kaplan, vice president and chief operating officer at the Endowment for Health. “The work of the Carsey Institute to support the strategic capacity of regional non-profit leaders is a great asset for New Hampshire. We are pleased to join with other foundations from across New England to support this effort.”

The 2007 Carsey Policy Leadership Fellows include:

MAINE

Ethan Boxer-Macomber, development officer, Avesta Housing

Erin Cooperrider, development director, Community Housing of Maine

Maggie Drummond, policy director, GrowSmart Maine

Michael Finnegan, senior loan and investment officer, Coastal Enterprises, Inc.

William Floyd, executive director, Genesis Community Loan Fund

Donald Gean, executive director, York County Shelter Programs, Inc.

Chris LaRoche, housing development coordinator, York County Community Action Corporation

Nicole Witherbee, federal budget analyst, Maine Center for Economic Policy

VERMONT

Deb Brighton, Ad Hoc Associates

Noelle MacKay, executive director, Vermont Forum on Sprawl

Rita Markley, executive director, Committee on Temporary Shelter

Polly Nichol, director of housing programs, Vermont Housing and Conservation Board

Kenn Sassorossi, vice president of asset management & partner relations, Housing Vermont

Connie Snow, executive director, Windham Housing Trust

Brenda Torpy, chief executive director, Champlain Housing Trust

Amy Wright, director of development, Cathedral Square Corporation

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Will Abbott, vice president for policy & land management, Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests

Alice Chamberlin, attorney

Dean Christon, executive director, New Hampshire Housing and Finance Authority

Anne Duncan Cooley, executive director, Upper Valley Housing Coalition

Julie Eades, president, New Hampshire Community Loan Fund

David Frydman, legal counsel, New Hampshire House of Representatives

Ignatius MacLellan

Jeffrey Taylor, president, Jeffrey H. Taylor and Associates, Inc.

Keith Thibault, development director, Southwestern Community Services, Inc.

The program will be launched at a two-and-a-half day residential seminar in Portsmouth, which will open on Dec. 3, 2007 with a presentation by Barry Bluestone, director of the Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University. Bluestone will speak about national and New England challenges, opportunities, and policy priorities at the nexus of housing and smart growth. His presentation is open to the public on an advance registration basis. To register, contact the Carsey Institute at amy.sterndale@unh.edu.

“Affordable housing and smart growth policies are critical issues in northern New England,” notes Carsey Institute Director Mil Duncan. “Citizens and leaders across the region are wrestling with both how to preserve the landscapes we love and how to make it possible for low and moderate income families to live in places where housing costs are rising dramatically. These wonderful 24 leaders selected as the Policy Leadership Fellows in this second year of our initiative are making real strides on these tough issues. The Carsey Institute looks forward to working with them and their colleagues over the next year to widen the dialogue and expand our tool box of solutions for both housing equity and conservation.”

This work will be led by Andrea Colnes, director of Carsey’s Policy Leadership Initiative. This initiative is supported by the Jane’s Trust, with additional support for participants from the Maine Community Foundation, The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, and the Vermont Community Foundation.

The Carsey Institute conducts research and analysis on the challenges facing families and communities in New Hampshire, New England, and the nation. The Carsey Institute sponsors independent, interdisciplinary research that documents trends and conditions affecting families and communities, providing valuable information and analysis to policymakers, practitioners, the media, and the general public. Through this work, the Carsey Institute contributes to public dialogue on policies that encourage social mobility and sustain healthy, equitable communities.

The Carsey Institute was established in May 2002 with a generous gift from UNH alumna and noted television producer Marcy Carsey.