‘This job can be difficult, aggravating and a lot of fun. I absolutely loved it,’ says Karen Wadsworth, who’s stepping down as clerk of the New Hampshire House after 20 years on the job.

'Merging and integrating payers and providers is what we are doing with ElevateHealth,’ says Corbin Petro, president of ElevateHealth, a collaboration of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Dartmouth Hitchcock and Elliot Health System.

When she started at the New Hampshire Food Bank, 12 years ago, its network of pantries served about 65,000 people, says Executive Director Mel Gosselin. This year, it’s about 130,000.

Since opening in April 2013, the Monadnock Food Co-Op has grown from 1,200 members to 2,100 and sales are up 40 percent over last year, says its general manager, Michael Faber.

Impressed by the quality of education and affordability of N.H.'s community college system while serving as interim chancellor, educator and public servant Bonnie Newman started a scholarship fund that provides one-year full tuition to seven Granite State students

Manchester Community Music School's Billie Tooley says that the skills gained by learning to become a musician or singer can be used in any career or life path, making the school a vital part of the community.

Barbara Sedoric, creator of the LastingMatters Organizer, is helping people confront one of the most difficult subjects of all – the inevitability of death and how to plan for it

The local food movement is gaining momentum, says Agriculture Commissioner Lorraine Merrill, making farming a viable career choice for New Hampshirites.

Manufacturing ‘is a bright spot, and it’s not something young people think about when they think of New Hampshire,’ says Carmen Lorentz, the new director of the state Division of Economic Development

"My task is getting people to work together for a common cause," says Nick Vailas, founder of Bedford Ambulatory Surgical Center and Compass Healthcare Advisers, of his work in organizing and sustaining the annual CHaD NH East-West High School All Star Football Game.

Twenty years after running for governor of New Hampshire, Wayne King is working to secure international funding for the Phoenix Project, a $12 million pilot effort aimed at cleaning up endemic oil spills in West Africa while fostering economic development.

Michael Ettlinger, founding director of the new Carsey School of Public Policy at UNH, aims to build it into ‘an outstanding school of public policy with highly regarded graduates as well as being a home for outstanding multidisciplinary research and a range of effective initiatives.’

Managed care in New Hampshire represents the best opportunity to provide the appropriate level of care to the Medicaid population, says Scott Westover, executive director of New Hampshire Healthy Families.

Kerry Pfrimmer, who last fall became New Hampshire district director of SCORE, says his organization’s impact ‘is quite significant and growing each year.’