After nearly 16 years at New York’s largest community foundation, the New York Community Trust, Shawn Morehead is returning to the state that has long felt like home. Morehead became president and CEO of the NH Charitable Foundation in July, succeeding Richard Ober, who served in the role for 16 years. At New York Community Trust she was executive vice president and chief program officer, overseeing about $60 million in annual grantmaking and leading initiatives focused on education, equity and opportunity.
Although her career took her across the country, Morehead says NH has remained a constant throughout her life. “My mom grew up in Dover, my parents live in Laconia, and we spent almost every August of my childhood in New Hampshire,” she says. “As I have moved to all these different states, New Hampshire is the one I always kept coming back to. I’m very excited to be here and finally call it home.”
A graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy, Morehead earned degrees from Columbia University and Stanford Law School before building a career dedicated to expanding opportunity for underserved communities. She litigated civil rights cases on behalf of public school students with disabilities before moving into philanthropy.
“There were things we could accomplish in the courts, but there were a lot of things we really couldn’t. I wanted to be able to do more constructive problem-solving,” she says. That search led her to the New York Community Trust, where she discovered the unique power of community foundations.
“One of the magical things about community foundations is the way we sit at that intersection of generosity and possibility,” Morehead says. “The opportunity to help generous people use their resources to make life better for their neighbors is, in my view, just an unparalleled professional opportunity.”
Among the initiatives she led was a $40 million education fund supporting evidence-based reading instruction in New York City public schools, demonstrating how philanthropy can improve lives while influencing public policy.
As she takes the helm at NH’s statewide community foundation, Morehead says her first priority is listening. “I think of myself primarily as a learner,” she says. “Part of what excites me about coming to New Hampshire is to finally learn in depth about this state that has long been a part of my life.”
She says the foundation already has a strong record for supporting NH communities, and her role is to build on that success. “My task is to learn and collaborate with the staff, the board and the people of New Hampshire to
figure out the best way to continue to evolve,” she says. “Philanthropy gives us the opportunity to find constructive, practical ways to make life better for
our neighbors.”
