Linda Harvey to Retire From Laconia Area Community Land Trust

Linda Harvey with Laconia Area Community Land Trust's first tenant board member Bob, after closing on one of the earliest properties in 1993.

Linda Harvey of Laconia Area Community Land Trust has announced her upcoming retirement in May. Harvey, the founding executive director of LACLT, has been with the organization over 23 years and moved it from a fledgling startup to a successful organization.
 
“It’s been a privilege to be part of this wonderful organization, and I’m so happy with all the great things we’ve accomplished. I’m excited for the next leader to take this terrific organization to even higher levels of achievement,” Harvey says.

LACLT Board Chair Jason Hicks notes, “On behalf of the LACLT Board, we are extremely grateful to Linda for her remarkable service. As a sole employee starting with a borrowed folding chair, she grew the organization into a nationally recognized success story. Linda engaged local communities to recognize a need for affordable housing for its citizens and helped them provide it. She developed a vast network of committed stakeholders to create permanently affordable community assets. She assembled a team of highly skilled staff to provide programs of excellence and impact to thousands of Lakes Region residents. Under her leadership, LACLT has invested $87 million into the community to build neighborhoods and change lives. We will be forever mindful and proud of her achievements and stewardship. It is with mixed emotions that wish her well in her future endeavors, and we transition to new leadership.”
 
Hicks and Harvey say LACLT has long had succession plans in place to cover planned and unplanned absences, making it is easy for the organization to draw from these plans in moving ahead. The board’s transition team is in place and has been working with a consultant to find the next executive director.
 
Since Harvey began, the organization has developed 277 units of permanently affordable housing. Another 89 units in three towns are in the immediate pipeline and thousands of Lakes Region residents have participated in LACLT’s free financial literacy and home buyer education services.
 
In October, LACLT celebrated the completion of the River’s Edge project in Laconia, converting a site comprised formerly of contaminated soil into 32 units of permanently affordable housing. Harvey and LACLT have won dozens of awards over the years, including the Lakes Region Chamber’s Irwin Award, Business NH Magazine’s Business of the Decade, Citizen’s Bank Community Champion, Lakes Region Visionary Award, Lakes Region Community Leadership Award, and awards for excellence in nonprofit management. Harvey was named Zonta’s Woman of Achievement and one of the Lakes Region’s 100 Legendary Locals in Ray Carbone’s book of the same name.
 
“I’m looking forward to focusing on my health, having more time with family and friends, and supporting the Land Trust in new ways. It’s an exciting time for me and for the Land Trust,” she says.