Will Stewart
Executive Director of Leadership NH

Will Stewart’s commitment to NH communities began 20 years ago when he came to the Granite State—sight unseen—for a job as a reporter. Since then, he has held leadership positions at chambers of commerce and led the charge to keep young people in NH through Stay Work Play NH. In July, Stewart began his newest role as executive director of Leadership NH.

Stewart, who was born and raised in the south, packed his bags in Tennessee and first arrived in NH in 2004. His first job was writing for The Hippo, a weekly newspaper in Manchester. There, he learned about NH communities and wrote extensively about an issue that’s still pertinent today—housing affordability.

Following his time at The Hippo, Stewart served as a community organizer at NeighborWorks Southern NH. There, he says he gained first-hand knowledge of the challenges facing the city’s neighborhoods. Stewart also served as vice president of economic development at the Greater Manchester Chamber, president of the Greater Derry Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, Manchester Transit Authority commissioner, and as a Manchester Alderman for three terms.

“I’ve always had a place-based affinity, and I think that’s kind of the through line of my career thus far,” says Stewart, who made an unsuccessful run for mayor of Manchester last year. “It really brings me a lot of satisfaction being able to improve the place where I live whether that’s my neighborhood, my city, my region, or my state.”

Stewart says his new role at Leadership NH will allow him to further his desire to bring people together around community needs. “I’ll be helping to lead leaders so they can go out and make their own change for good across the state as a whole and to make even bigger impacts,” he says.

Leadership NH aims to build a community of informed and engaged leaders by exposing them to the challenges and opportunities facing NH. The 10-month program brings together 35 to 40 people a year and has more than 1,100 alumni since being launched in 1992.

Stewart says in talking to alumni one of the phrases he hears repeatedly is that the program is a “transformative and life changing” experience.  “Right now, I’m in listening and learning mode,” Stewart says, adding one of his goals is to find ways to attract a broader range of leaders to the program. “We want to bring more people and ideas into the fold. What can we do better in finding our cohort? There are a lot of voices out there,” he says, explaining that programs, communities and civic spaces throughout the state need to be more reflective of the changing demographics of NH. 

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