Michele Holt-Shannon
Michele Holt-Shannon is a co-founder and co-director for New Hampshire Listens, a civic engagement initiative of the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. Her work on and off campus is focused on helping communities solve problems, restore trust, and decrease divisions by attending to equity, increasing participation and using dialogue to improve communication patterns.
In the same way that communities need the physical infrastructure of roads, bridges, and buildings, they also need to build, strengthen, and sustain civic infrastructure to support a strong democracy. The organization's mission is to help NH residents talk and work together to create communities that work for everyone.
Ms. Holt-Shannon can speak to the media about dialogue across differences, racial equity, school and community engagement, youth and student voice, responding to community social crises, and cross-sector collaboration. She received her master's degree in higher education and student affairs from Bowling Green State University, an MTS in world religions and theological studies from Boston College, and a bachelor's degree in biology and psychology from the University of Alabama.
