On September 18th, Deb McLoud and Alice Handwerk from Breakthrough Manchester, addressed the Rotary Club of Nashua regarding Breakthrough Manchester. Alice is Director of Philanthropy and Communications. Alice has a background in social work in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. before coming to Breakthrough, and lives in Amherst with her family. Deb has been Executive Director since August 2018, with a previous background in finance and philanthropy. She serves on several boards and community groups in Manchester and throughout the state and was part of Leadership NH in 2020.
- Breakthrough Manchester is 32 years old and the agency is exploring expansion into Nashua.
- Based on the campus of Derryfield School, which provides in-kind space for offices, school year and summer programs. Breakthrough raises its own funds for programming, in partnership with Southern NH University.
- Annual fundraising event is a trivia event modeled on Are you Smarter Than a 5th Grader.
- Two-part mission: putting underrepresented middle-school students on a path to college, as well as training education-focused college students from across the country during a 9-week summer student-teaching intensive program.
- The 6-year program engages local middle school and high school students, many of whom would be first-generation college students, students living in out-of-home placements such as kinship caregiving or foster care, students of color, and students from low-income households. In five Saturday sessions per year, students are guided through college preparation skills, application support and other services.
- Many alumni return as teaching fellows. This summer five teaching fellows were school-based alumni who participated in the program when they were students in Manchester.
- Summer programming includes a blend of academics and field trips, including events in Boston and on the Seacoast.