After a months-long search, Monadnock United Way has a new president.
Liz Larose, the current director of marketing and communications at the Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center, has been appointed to the position.
LaRose said she is “honored” to be joining MUW, an organization she says is known for its dedication to strengthening and improving the quality of life in the region.
She said she is excited to begin work with the organization, especially while it’s undergoing work on its strategic plan.
“United Way is going toward a collective-impact model,” LaRose said. “This is a model where an entire community is brought together to address social change. We’ll have a chance to really make an impact on the community.”
Laura Gingras, vice president of philanthropy and community relations for the Monadnock Community Hospital, was on the United Way presidential search committee.
Gingras said she has known LaRose professionally for many years. She said LaRose previously provided marketing and communications for the Monadnock Community Hospital.
“Liz has always impressed me as incredibly creative and strategic in her thinking, she doesn’t ever look at one problem with a narrow view, she has a way of looking at everything in a comprehensive way,” Gingras said. “She’s good at engaging people, she’s a good collaborator and she gets things done.”
Years ago, when the hospital was looking to construct a direct access road to the facility, Larose developed a communication strategy that was “very effective,” Gingras said.
“I will never forget that town meeting,” she said. “It was a snowstorm, but still so many people came out to vote for the TIF (tax increment financing) district.”
She said LaRose was instrumental in effectively communicating the importance of the project to the community, which brought the access road to fruition. LaRose helped the hospital deal with a large volume of media request after the New Hampshire Ball Bearings explosion in 2014 and has done an “extraordinary” job with communication at Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center.
LaRose said there will be a lot of overlap between her past experience in communication at her new position as MUW president.
“This job has a big communication, writing and marketing component,” LaRose said, adding that it will require reaching out to the right people and effectively communicating with them in order to grow the organization.
MUW funds programs that serve a wide variety of community needs. Last year, funding was allocated towards services that stabilize citizens, empower well-being and help kids succeed.
Gingras said she is passionate about MUW because it reaches so many people in the region, and is “thrilled” LaRose is now at the helm.
Abby Kessler can be reached at 924-7172, ext. 234 or akessler@ledgertranscript.com.