Alicia Stenersen has spent more hours than she can count watching — and rewatching — videos of school board meetings, parsing budget documents and translating state education jargon into something her neighbors can actually use.
That conviction is why Stenersen is the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript’s Hometown Hero for May. She was nominated by Shauna Babineau.
“Alicia Stenersen exemplifies what it means to be a hometown hero. As co-chair of Working Together for Jaffrey-Rindge, she has played a foundational role in building a volunteer-driven organization dedicated to strengthening our local community in support of public education,” Babineau said. “From coordinating events to organizing volunteers and ensuring initiatives remain inclusive and mission-focused, Alicia’s leadership has been steady, thoughtful, and rooted in service.”
Working Together for Jaffrey-Rindge is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has become one of the most vocal community voices on public education funding in the two-town district. Under Stenersen’s leadership, the group has produced a monthly newsletter, mailed information directly to residents, hosted community trainings and partnered with statewide advocacy organizations — all aimed at giving residents the tools to participate in decisions about their schools.
“It’s so cliche to say that kids are our future, but there’s also a reality behind that statement that we don’t often consider,” Stenersen said. “They literally are the people who are going to be managing our grocery stores, working at our doctors’ offices, caring for us as we age. They are the people who are going to, when I’m old, they’re the ones who are going to be there.”
A therapist by profession, Stenersen holds master’s degrees in child development and in mental health counseling. She grew up in Fitzwilliam, later moved to Rindge and now lives in Jaffrey, where she is raising her two children, who are both in the Jaffrey-Rindge schools.
Her path to advocacy began, she said, with her kids. Having been homeschooled herself, Stenersen said the experience left her with deep convictions about the role of public schools.
“That experience led me to really believe strongly in public schools and really recognize their value and their importance in shaping children’s academic skills, their social-emotional skills, and really just being kind of that hub for community,” she said. “Our school community is part of our broader community and I think that’s a really beautiful thing.”
She began participating in district committees, served a term on the school board, and eventually took on the leadership of Working Together, a group that emerged from community concern over the $3 million budget reduction proposed two years ago by Dan Aho, now a member of the Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School Board.
Another parent had started Working Together as a Facebook group and asked Stenersen to help run it. After the $3 million cut passed and the original organizer stepped down, Stenersen guided the group through the process of becoming a nonprofit, building a board of directors and shaping its mission to be “a multidirectional bridge” connecting families, residents, businesses and community members in support of the schools.
Much of the early work involved translating complex budget and policy information into plain language, including a training on Robert’s Rules of Order that drew nearly 30 residents.
“There’s just a lot of information. People don’t know what to do with all of that, or they don’t have access to it,” Stenersen said.
This year, the group’s two main goals are mobilizing residents around state-level funding advocacy and raising money to supplement programs that have been lost to budget cuts.
“I just see a future where everybody belongs and feels supported and feels that they have what they need to be successful in life,” she said. “And I want that for our kids.”
Stenersen will step down as co-chair this summer due to a family relocation but plans to stay on as a strategic adviser.
Residents can learn more about Working Together for Jaffrey-Rindge on Facebook or by emailing WorkingTogetherJR@gmail.com.
