Working With Us

Our partner at Urban Rural Action created this video highlighting the initiative Connecting Across New Hampshire's Urban / Rural Divide. As part of this program, 26 strangers from all over New Hampshire met 4 times between Sept. 2020 and Feb. 2021 to connect, learn collaboration skills, and listen to each other's perspectives on issues such as criminal justice, health, race, climate and economy. This was an initiative by New Hampshire Listens and Urban Rural Action, with generous support from New Hampshire Humanities.

NH Listens partners with local communities, schools, and state-wide organizations to create environments that help move conversations forward. Working with us brings nonpartisan, civic engagement expertise into challenges your community is facing and helps guide the process, ensure broad outreach, and monitor fairness.

We design for virtual and in-person gatherings.

Our offerings are always tailored to each project, and may include: coalition building, issue framing, workshops on equity, facilitator training – including youth, designing and implementing community conversations, strategies for recruiting participants, analyzing and reporting on findings from conversations, and planning steps to move from talk to action.

The first step is always a conversation with us. You can reach us by email at nh.listens@unh.edu or by phone at 603-862-0692. We look forward to working with you!

Testimonials from People We've Worked With!

“It is with gratitude that I write this letter of support and gratitude for NH Listens at the Carsey School of Public Policy at UNH. As chair of the Claremont School Board, it seemed appropriate, as we transition out of Covid related restrictions, to gather as a community to meet our four candidates for school board and learn about them and for the candidates to learn the what citizens want and expect from the schools and them.”

“The planning of the forum was exceptional with very appealing and informative promotional information that gave the community a clear idea of what the outcomes of the evening would be...The event itself was skillfully facilitated; to say the attendees were diverse culturally and politically is an understatement. I sat back as an observer and saw groups sharing ideas, laughing, and collaborating, an incredible sight in these polarized times.”

“In conclusion, I want to thank NH Listens, the facilitators were just superb, the results were remarkable, and we were lucky enough to have the whole thing paid for by a grant. I recommend this format for anyone who wishes to engage their community in a positive process of local governance.”

~ Frank W. Sprague, Chair, Claremont School Board
“I look forward to setting our next steps to build upon the work of the series. Working with NH Listens was fantastic, thank you so much. I look forward to the next project we can do together!”

~ Annette Carbonneau, Senior Program Manager, North Country Health Consortium
“NH Listens is well organized and facilitates discussions in a manner where all opinions and views are shared in a respectful and constructive fashion. NH Listens helped my department hold a discussion with community members to assure mutual understanding and trust between the Community and our Police Officers. The event was well attended and met our goals. The follow-up report written by NH Listens was excellent and resulted in action steps to build upon the discussion.”

~ Anthony Colarusso, Chief of Police (retired), Dover, NH; current Head of Security, Wentworth Douglass Hospital
“Listening can be one of the most disruptive things you can do. Stop and listen. It can provide a pathway forward.”

~ Steve Abbott, Independent Consultant, Great Schools Partnership
"Please pass along my awe and gratitude to the other co-facilitators. I really enjoyed the training today, despite having my internet cut out a few times. I often do not enjoy zoom break out rooms, but I had really great conversations. The flow (and facilitation) of the training was wonderful I definitely plan on attending more and spreading the word to others! I also enjoyed you sharing about your early childhood work/perspectives, as I am currently in the field."

~ Stevie Klein, Family Engagement Coordinator, Greater Nashua Smart Start Coalition for Early Childhood Success, a program of United Way of Greater Nashua.