Resilience is like luck: those who don’t have it may think it’s just something that one is born with; those who do have it understand that it’s the result of deliberate strategy and mindset.
NH Business Review presents high-performing leaders in the Granite State who will share their formulas for business and personal resilience: not just surviving but thriving.
Hear from:
- Mark Butler, Market President, Cigna
- Victoria Arlen, Founder and Co-Chair of Victoria’s Victory Foundation
- JerriAnne Boggis, Executive Director of Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire
- Stephen Duprey, President of Foxfire Property Management and The Duprey Companies
- John Broderick, Senior Director External Affairs at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health
Watch the video recap of this event
This event was held on: Thursday, March 11, 2021
Meet the speakers:
VICTORIA ARLEN
Victoria Arlen’s life drastically changed in 2006 at the tender age of eleven when she developed two rare conditions known as Transverse Myelitis and Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis. This was an incredibly rare scenario and Victoria quickly lost the ability to speak, eat, walk and move. She slipped into a vegetative state in which doctors had written her off as a lost cause. Victoria spent nearly four years “locked” inside her own body completely aware of what was going on just unable to move or communicate. Doctors believed there was little hope of survival and recovery was unlikely. Victoria, however was not ready to give up. In 2010 after almost four years she began the nearly impossible fight back to life. Learning how to speak, eat and move all over again.
Victoria went on to exceedingly defy the odds and not only recovered but has since become an accomplished Motivational Speaker, Television Host and Swimmer. Her swimming resume includes three Silvers and a Gold medal from the London 2012 Paralympic Games as well as multiple World, American and Pan American Records.
In April 2015, Victoria made the transition from professional athlete to sportscaster and joined ESPN as one of the youngest on air talents hired by the company and reports and hosts across all platforms. In the Spring of 2016 Victoria defied yet another odd and after spending nearly a decade in a wheelchair paralyzed from the waist down was able to learn how take one step after another and eventually not only did she learn how to walk but within a year and a half in the Fall of 2017 she learned to dance as a contestant on Season 25 of Dancing with the Stars. Victoria and her dance partner Val Chmerkovskiy quickly became fan favorites.
Victoria is also carrying out her dream of helping others, serving as the Founder and Co-Chair of Victoria’s Victory Foundation, a nonprofit that assists those with mobility challenges to achieve their own personal victory.
Victoria’s book titled Locked In hit stores worldwide in August of 2018. In July of 2019 in addition to her ESPN duties, Victoria was announced as the new host of America Ninja Warrior Jr, Season 2 which launched in February 2020.
In the last year Victoria has branched into more creative spaces in both acting, producing, fashion and hosting with a variety of projects currently in the works.
Victoria has become world famous not only for her story and accomplishments but for her message: “Face It, Embrace It, Defy It, Conquer It.” ™
JERRIANNE BOGGIS
JerriAnne is the executive director of the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, the founder and director of The Harriet Wilson Project and the previous Director of Diversity Programs & Community Outreach at the University of New Hampshire.
JerriAnne was named one of 25 Extraordinary Women of Southern New Hampshire by the Nashua Telegraph in 2015; named the 2017 Freedom Fighter by Seacoast NAACP and in 2015, she was named by the New Hampshire Humanities Council as one of the 40 most influential New Hampshirites who have vastly enriched human understanding.
JOHN BRODERICK
John T. Broderick, Jr. is the senior director of External Affairs at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health (D-HH). Prior to joining D-HH, he was a member of the New Hampshire Supreme Court from 1995 to 2010, serving as chief justice from 2003 to 2010. During his time on the Court, the Broderick family experienced the devastating impacts of mental illness in a very public way.
For years, Broderick’s eldest son struggled with addiction, which had masked a severe underlying mental health issue. One evening, that struggle manifested itself in an assault that nearly cost Broderick his life, and sent his son to prison.
As a family they survived and healed, and now use their experience to help educate others that mental illness is not something to be ashamed of. Rather, it is something to be recognized and to be addressed just as any physical illness would be.
Mental Health Crusader – R.E.A.C.T.
“This is the most important and meaningful work of my career.”
In 2016, after having served as New Hampshire co-chair of national mental health awareness Campaign to Change Direction, Broderick helped to create D-HH’s R.E.A.C.T campaign. This powerful public awareness campaign represents the steps people can take when they recognize that they or someone they care about is experiencing mental health challenges.
In just over three years, Broderick has spoken more than 500 times to more than 100,000 high school and college students, business leaders and their employees, senior citizens and veterans. He has driven more than 80,000 miles crisscrossing New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and Massachusetts in an effort to improve understanding and awareness of mental illness, to eliminate its stigma and to encourage discussion. His family’s personal experience with undiagnosed and untreated mental illness is the driving force behind his dedication to share the 5 Signs/R.E.A.C.T messages with audiences and Broderick says this is the most important and meaningful work of his career.
Broderick’s efforts have received widespread media coverage and have inspired programs such as a statewide high school poster campaign with the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association’s “Life of an Athlete” program; a statewide, and much heralded, two-day Youth Summit in which nearly 350 teens gathered to tackle difficult issues through discussion, workshops and art; the “99 Faces Project” a nationally-traveling multi-media art exhibit by artist Lynda Cutrell, designed to reduce the stigma of mental illness which was accompanied by mental health programming at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; and more. His family’s journey was recently captured in a powerful documentary produced by Dartmouth-Hitchcock.
Broderick has spoken alongside countless luminaries, political figures and business executives including the chief justices of the New Hampshire and Vermont Supreme Courts, the attorneys general of Vermont and New Hampshire and their staffs, former CEO of Proctor & Gambel and former U.S. Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs Bob McDonald, and executives from Johnson & Johnson and Booz Allen Hamilton, among many others.
MARK BUTLER
Mark Butler was appointed President of Cigna New England in January of 2015. In this position as President, he is responsible for all new and existing relationships with employers, building successful, collaborative partnerships with hospitals and physicians, focused on improving the affordability and quality of healthcare services and enhancing Cigna’s community presence and value across 5 New England States. Prior to his appointment, Mark held leadership positions in Sales and Account Management for Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. In January of 2007, Mark was promoted to Senior Vice President of Sales and he assumed responsibility for all sales activities across all of New England.
Prior to joining Cigna, Mark served as the Vice President of Sales for United Healthcare of New England. He was responsible for new account acquisition and existing business retention and growth from 1997 through 2002.
Mark has over 40 years of experience in the health care industry. The first sixteen years of his career were spent with The Travelers Insurance Company, where he held various positions in Sales and Marketing, as well as positions in Claims and Operations Management. From 1994 through 1997 Mark held sales leadership positions at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and Tufts HealthPlan.
Mark holds a degree in Economics from Siena College in Loudonville, NY. Mark is also a graduate of the Executive Leadership Development Program at the University Of Virginia Darden School Of Management. Mark and his wife, Millie, reside in Westboro, Massachusetts and have two children.
STEPHEN DUPREY
Stephen Duprey is the owner of the Duprey Companies, businesses develop, own, and manage commercial and hospitality real estate in New Hampshire. These businesses have been in operation since 1981 and the company is headquartered in Concord. While these businesses have been his vocation, Steve’s avocation has been in community development in Concord and New Hampshire.
Steve currently serves as President of the Board of Trustees for The Currier Museum of Art and has previously served on the boards of the Capitol Center for the Arts, the NH Historical Society and the Red River Theatre. Under his leadership the Currier acquired its second Frank Lloyd Wright residence in the City of Manchester, the only museum in the country to hold two iconic architectural landmarks. The Currier is recognized for its innovative programs to integrate the museum with the greater New Hampshire community and to move the museum “outside the walls”; and it has developed outreach programs to serve veterans, citizens with mental health challenges and patrons with memory impairment. It also has played a significant role in neighborhood stabilization by acquisition and redevelopment of significant architectural landmarks in the area.
Steve has served on the Board of the Carroll County YMCA and as chair of the NH YMCA. He has served on the NH Personal Commission and the NH Ballot Law Commission. He also served on the Governor’s Interagency Task Force on Homelessness for many years. He currently serves on the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority as Vice Chair, and on the National Finance Authority, headquartered in New Hampshire where he serves as Vice Chair. He is serving his fifth term on the Board of Directors of the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce.
Seven years ago, Steve developed the idea for a complete renovation of Concord’s Main Street and built community support for the project among multiple stakeholders. He then led the effort to apply for and secure partial federal funding for the project, developed the financing plan in conjunction with the City administration, and chaired the 22-member committee that held over twenty public hearings to receive input and build community consensus for the design and construction of the project. The project won over 18 state, regional and national awards for community redevelopment, design and construction. Concord’s Main Street, now known as “New Hampshire’s Main Street” has seen an upsurge in local and visitor traffic and has helped support a resurgent downtown retail and office community.
More recently Steve led the effort to keep the Merrimack County Superior Courthouse in the downtown after legislation had been passed that would have moved the court to a more remote corner of the city, with significant negative impacts on the City and County. He led the effort to persuade the Legislature to change the law to permit the project to remain in the downtown, took on the contractual responsibility for financing, designing and building the project to state requirements, and completed the project a year ahead of the anticipated timeline at almost 20% lower cost than the state of New Hampshire had originally anticipated. The new Merrimack County Superior Court has won design awards and is often cited as a model for a public/private partnership, in this case a venture between the State of New Hampshire, Merrimack County and the City of Concord.
Most recently, Steve developed the idea, worked to design and then oversaw the construction for the Capitol Center for the Arts to build a second 400 seat venue and to restore an 1850s historic building into the new Bank of New Hampshire Stage. He acquired and held the property for the CCA before the project was a certainty, retained and oversaw the engineering, design and construction, and developed an innovative financing plan for the project utilizing federal and state tax credits to insure that the new venue would be debt free after completion. The project opened in late 2019 winning numerous awards.
In the late 1980s, Steve created the concept and worked to create the legislation that became the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority (CDFA), serving on the initial Board of Directors. The CDFA is recognized as the single most significant community redevelopment tool available in New Hampshire. While serving on the initial board, he was the primary advocate for the community development part of the CDFA mission, advocating for the use of the CDFA credits that created the Colonial Theater in Keene, the Capitol Center for the Arts and the Red River Theaters in Concord, the redevelopment of the Wentworth by the Sea hotel on the seacoast and the Mountain View Grand Historic Hotel in northern New Hampshire, among many other projects.
Steve has served either as Campaign Chair or Finance Chair for numerous New Hampshire Governors and members of Congress. He served as a senior advisor to Senator John McCain in 2007 and 2008, continuing as an advisor in the Senator’s 2010 and 2016 Senate reelection campaigns. In addition, he served four terms as Chairman of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee and as a senior member of the Republican National Committee where he served as the leader in their successful efforts to preserve the first in the nation presidential primary.
Steve is a native of North Conway. He holds a B.A in Public Policy from New College and a J.D. from Cornell University Law School.
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