Organization
profile
The opportunity
New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence offers a unique opportunity to direct
a statewide organization that is a national leader in the movement to end violence against women.
Thirty-three years after its founding, the groundbreaking and collaborative work of the Coalition has
earned it high visibility and credibility in N.H. and nationally, while its mission and values remain
rooted in the women’s empowerment and social change movements.
The Coalition is the umbrella organization for a network of 14 independent member programs. Those
programs provide direct services and prevention education, and is supported by a central Coalition
office that provides funding, training, technical assistance, public policy advocacy and forums for
resource sharing and networking. The Coalition office is located in Concord, N.H. the capital city of a
state known for its scenic beauty, healthy environment and high quality of life.
The Coalition’s next executive director will shape its work for many years to come, by leading two
major new efforts, as well as overseeing an impressive array of current programs and initiatives. The
newly identified strategic priorities are the development of a statewide fundraising strategy,
coordinated with the member programs, to reduce the reliance on public funding for the Coalition’s
activities and for victims’ services; and the design and implementation of statewide plans for the
primary prevention of sexual assault and domestic violence.
The Coalition today
The Coalition’s mission is ambitious and
strategic in its analysis of the steps
necessary to end all forms of interpersonal
violence.
Services
The Coalition’s 14 independent member
programs provide direct services to victims
of domestic and sexual violence and
stalking, and prevention education in their
host communities. Services are free and
confidential, and include 24-hour crisis
lines, emergency shelter, court advocacy,
police and hospital accompaniment and
support groups.
The Coalition’s mission
The New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and
Sexual Violence creates safe and just communities
through advocacy, prevention and empowerment of
anyone affected by sexual violence, domestic violence
and stalking.
This mission is accomplished by the Coalition, which
includes 14 independent community-based member
programs, a Board of Directors and a central staff
working together to:
 Influence public policy on the local, state and
national levels;
 Ensure that quality services are provided to
victims;
 Promote the accountability of societal systems
and communities for their responses to sexual
violence, domestic violence and stalking;
 Prevent violence and abuse before they occur.
The Coalition office fiscally supports the
member programs’ direct services and
prevention activities by managing state
funding contracts and passing through state
and federal funds. Additionally, the
Coalition staff provides networking and
resource-sharing opportunities for member
program staff through regular meetings, and ongoing training and technical assistance on topics
including technology safety, organizational development, program evaluation, prevention, trauma2
informed services, cultural diversity, service enhancement board development, management and
leadership.
Education
Most of what New Hampshire citizens and policymakers know about the causes and effects of
domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking, they know because of the Coalition. The Coalition
sponsors research on the prevalence of violence in New Hampshire; provides resources and sources for
responsible news reporting; testifies at legislative hearings; conducts high-profile press events with
partners such as the attorney general and the governor; and conducts trainings for medical, legal and
law enforcement professionals, as well as state agencies.
Its member programs conduct community- and school-based prevention education programs and help
local advocates and survivors tell their stories to influence public opinion. In addition, the Coalition is
developing more-effective messaging campaigns using the concepts of the FrameWorks Institute, and
is in the beginning stages of a comprehensive branding and public-awareness project.
Public Policy
By the numbers
Total Coalition budget: $4.7
million
Operating budget: $645,000
Percentage of budget supporting
direct services and/or statewide
programs: 86%
Member programs: 14
Central office staff: 13
Individuals receiving direct
assistance annually: 15,000
Because of the effectiveness of the Coalition’s public policy
work, New Hampshire has some of the most progressive
domestic and sexual violence laws in the country. Its policy staff
is highly respected in the state Legislature, and valued for the
expertise it brings to issues involving interpersonal violence.
Perpetrator accountability and services
While the primary focus of the Coalition’s activities has been the
development of services and supports for victims, the staff
partners with sex offender treatment providers and batterer
intervention programs to ensure that victims’ needs are addressed
and that proper accountability is being communicated.
Individuals receiving training or
other outreach annually: 55,000
Coalition staff members have participated in the development of
standards for batterer intervention programs, have worked on sex
offender policy issues on the state and local levels, and have
helped develop more-effective responses by child protective services responses to abusive fathers,
holding them accountable for exposing their children to battering.
Collaborations
The Coalition is proud of the many collaborations and partnerships that support our work on behalf of
victims. Nationally, the Coalition is a recognized leader in addressing the co-occurrence of domestic
violence and child abuse and neglect, in developing strategies to improve custody outcomes for
battered women with children, and in addressing the mental health and substance abuse needs of
survivors.
The AmeriCorps Victim Assistance Program (AVAP) is a multi-agency collaboration, housed by
the Coalition, which ensures direct services are available to victims by placing AVAP members across
3
the state at crisis centers, police departments, prosecutor offices, the state Dept. of Corrections, child
advocacy centers, and on college and university campuses.
The Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program is a joint project of the Coalition and the
state Dept. of Justice. SANE trains nurses to provide comprehensive care to sexual assault survivors
and conduct medical/forensic examinations.
The Domestic Violence Specialist Program was built on the principle that abused and neglected
children are best served when they can remain in a safe home with a non-violent parent. Domestic
Violence Specialists (DVSs), employed by Coalition member programs, are co-located at local district
offices of the state Division for Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) to provide assistance and
training to child protective service workers while providing advocacy services to battered women
involved with DCYF.
The federally funded Open Doors to Safety Project provided intensive training and technical
assistance to advocates at member programs to improve services to survivors with substance abuse and
mental health issues. The Coalition continues to employ a full-time Trauma Specialist to work with
member programs and organize statewide trainings to enhance the ability of communities to provide
trauma-informed services.
Coalition staff members convene the NH Coalition Against Human Trafficking, and have led efforts
in the state to address trafficking from policy, training and services perspectives.
Additionally, Coalition staff has participated in numerous research partnerships with professors at the
University of New Hampshire and an epidemiologist from the NH Division of Public Health Services
and the Institute for Health Policy and Practice at UNH.
Organizational culture
The Coalition staff, its Board of Directors and
member programs strive to operate using
clearly stated values of ethical
communication, non-competition and
consensus decision-making, and from a
commitment to keep the voices of survivors as
central determiners of our programs and
activities.
Direct feedback from survivors is
incorporated into all program initiatives,
activities and evaluations. All member
program executive directors provide direct
services to victims at some level, and interact
with survivors on a regular basis, providing a
constant means of assessing survivors’ real
needs as the Coalition develops strategies and
plans for future initiatives.
The Coalition’s values
 Collaboration: We believe sexual violence,
domestic violence and stalking are community
issues requiring joint responsibility and close
collaboration with all partners.
 Commitment: We will be dynamic, innovative and
visionary leaders through thoughtful reflection,
attention to quality and striving for continuous
growth.
 Integrity: We communicate honestly among
ourselves and with our community partners and
the people we serve.
 Respect: We embrace diversity and strive to
ensure that all voices are heard and respected.
 Empowerment: We ensure that individuals are
able to speak in their own voices and have access
to options and resources to achieve safety and
well-being.
Member program competition for funding is
kept to a minimum by a funding formula for
4
distribution of government funds and through open sharing among member programs and the Coalition
office of grant funds that are available and being pursued.
Governance
The Coalition has a highly engaged board of directors that is actively involved in strategic planning,
committee work and self-evaluation. Leadership is actively cultivated through board discussions and
orientation, and all directors are expected to take leadership roles at some point during their terms.
A governance committee monitors the professions, geographic areas, skills, experience, diversity and
perspectives of board members, and recruits new members to fill identified gaps. Four board seats are
designated for member program executive directors, to build leadership skills and share governance
principles, and to ensure that board governance is informed by victims’ needs and concerns.
Funding
For three decades, the Coalition and its partners have successfully advocated on the state and federal
levels for government support for victim services and for coordinating and advocacy work of state
coalitions. Federal funding accounts for about three-quarters of its $5.7-million budget, with most of
the remainder coming from the state. More than $3 million is distributed to the member programs for
direct services.
Key issues and priorities
In addition to the programs outlined above, a recent strategic planning process identified two major
areas for focus over the next three years: expanding and diversifying the Coalition’s funding base and
developing our capacity for primary prevention work. Both goals are ambitious, but essential for the
Coalition’s continued effectiveness.
While government support has allowed us to establish a solid base of victims’ services, it doesn’t
provide sufficient resources to serve victims’ diverse and complex needs, and it is vulnerable to
economic and political instability. The government also hasn’t funded primary prevention, which is
central to achieving our goal of ending domestic and sexual violence.
The development plan has become a major focus for the board during the past year. It outlines steps for
building development capacity, donor development, retiring the debt on our office building, building
our reserves, and raising enough money, along with government support, to sustain existing Coalition
staff and activities. Longer-term, we hope to raise enough private money to distribute substantial
amounts to member programs.
The Coalition also was one of 14 states participating in the DELTA PREP Project, funded by the CDC
Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to build Coalition-wide capacity for primary
prevention work. The Coalition partnered with the NH Division of Public Health Services to develop a
statewide Sexual Assault Primary Prevention Plan. During the coming years the Coalition will develop
and deliver training to insure local prevention education programs utilize the most effective prevention
principles and strategies.
Our next leader
Our next Executive Director will assume leadership of a mature, highly respected organization that is
5
in the midst of a time of transition on many levels. In addition to transitioning to new leadership, the
Board of Directors is moving from an activist board to a more professional governing and fund raising
board. The member programs are also in transition, exploring their relationship to each other and what
it means to be “in coalition”. Through this transition time, the organization, its staff, member
programs and Board of Directors have continued to provide quality services to survivors of domestic
and sexual assault and stalking, and have continued their strong record of collaboration with a variety
of public and private partners. The next Executive Director will support the organization through
transition and position it to enter its next developmental phase. She or he will be an experienced,
confident leader and an excellent communicator. The next executive director will be supported by, and
will support, a talented and committed central office staff led by a four-person management team. She
or he will have the skills necessary to effectively collaborate with the member programs to achieve the
mission and goals, and will successfully engage the Board of Directors in their efforts to create a vision
for the organization.
Candidates with experience in the field of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking will receive
preference.
Our next executive director will:








Have deep understanding of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking within the context
of social change and anti-oppression frames
Be both skilled and stylistically aligned to lead and manage a complex and collaborative
organization
Be adept at networking and building partnerships both within New Hampshire and nationally
Have experience managing complex financial structures
Be an articulate spokesperson who is comfortable engaging the news media and elected
officials
Demonstrate and support consensus decision-making and ethical communication
Be skillful at managing transition
Respect and support the Coalition’s current programs
Compensation and benefits
The starting salary range will be commensurate with experience, and reviewed annually by the board
of directors. Increases, when given, are based on factors such as demonstrated ability, effort and merit,
as well as the Coalition’s ability to fund the increase.
Other benefits include health and dental insurance coverage and contribution into a retirement plan.
6