President and CEO, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation
Dick Ober leads the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, the largest private provider of nonprofit grants and student aid in northern New England. The Foundation manages over $620 million in charitable funds donated by hundreds of families and individuals, and awards some 5,000 grants and scholarships exceeding $30 million annually.
Dick has 30 years of experience in nonprofit management and civic affairs. Before coming to the Foundation, he held senior staff positions at the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests and the Monadnock Conservancy. He has served on numerous nonprofit boards and public commissions, including several Gubernatorial appointments. Dick currently serves as a trustee of the Center for Effective Philanthropy and Board Chair of the Community Foundations Leading Change (CF Leads) organization. He is also the founder of the Community Foundation Opportunity Network.
Dick has written and lectured widely on community philanthropy, civic life, and the connections between people and the places they live. His work has been published in books, book chapters, magazines, and journals. He has been recognized with awards from the Environmental Protection Agency, the State of New Hampshire, and Plymouth State University, and has repeatedly been named as one of the state’s most influential people by Business New Hampshire magazine.
Dick lives with his wife and daughter in Dublin, New Hampshire.
Foundations have an opportunity to influence policy in profound ways. How should foundation leaders think about their role influencing policy? What is the spectrum of approaches available? What are lessons learned from attempts to influence policy and create new partnerships? If you or your foundation wish to influence policy or are merely curious about the policy realm, join us for a rich discussion that will include three case studies of local, regional, and national policy change efforts by foundations (including community foundations) on topics including the opioid epidemic, the water crisis in Flint, and housing.