This Week's Nominee
| | Our 2023 Community Partner
While the challenges continue, so do the good works done by our neighbors, our teachers, our health care providers, our volunteers and so many others. This is their story. Ledyard National Bank is proud to support the 2023 Hometown Heroes, who were nominated by members of the community and selected by editors of the Concord Monitor. Nominate your Hometown Hero Today. |
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| | Hometown Hero: For some, programs at Kimball Jenkins help the underserved thrive
By RAY DUCKLER Monitor staff
For eight years, Julianne Gadoury of Concord was one of the grant coordinators for the New Hampshire Council of the Arts, assisting nonprofit organizations to enhance their arts education through a state-administered grant process.
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| She also worked with teachers on how to improve the arts for educational outcomes for students in kindergarten through high school. Drawing, dancing, music, theater and media were emphasized.
For the last 3½ years, Gadoury’s career as the executive director of Kimball Jenkins – listed on the National Register of Historic Places and a cultural center on three acres near downtown – has moved her to the other side. Now, she’s the one seeking financial help, and that, she says, creates more challenges than she had in the past.
“It can be very stressful,” Gadoury said. “A lot of people in Concord think Kimball has an endowment or a lot of money, but we don’t have a large donor base. We don’t have the financial standing that others across the state have.”
She’s the face of the organization, full of experience and fire, and that’s why three individuals who work at Kimball –Stacey Kline, Laura Zorawowicz and Yasamin Safarzadeh – combined their words to nominate Gadoury for Hometown Hero status.
Her full-time job is to keep Kimball strong. That costs money. She promotes creativity, explaining the importance of art and its many forms, to instill confidence and identity in young people, especially those living with disadvantages.
“We try to work with people to use the arts as a tool,” Gadoury said. “We work with people who are underfinanced or under-represented.”
That would include the LGBTA community and people of color.
“Part of this conscious and challenging work includes supporting traditionally marginalized members of the community,” she explained. “We are using the arts as a vehicle to address some of the most pressing challenges we face.”
To prepare for her switch from granter to grantee, Gadoury earned her MBA, saying that she “wanted to lead an arts organization, and an MBA in business would better prepare them for working in business.”
Basic skills are passed on to these students. Gardoury calls it positive youth mentorship.
“We teach them professional development and business skills,” she said. “If you’re building a building or a plaza, you have to know about budgets, permits, donations and writing stories for the media.”
To keep the institution alive and well, Gadoury said convincing local merchants to understand the significance of Kimball Jenkins will create revenue streams for an organization that relies on volunteers and financial support.
“We are steeped in collaborative partnerships and want to continuously partner with other organizations,” Gadoury said.
Money pays for summer camps, art displays, classes, internships and other projects. Gadoury has helped elevate Kimball to new heights, higher than in recent years.
“Kimball had financial challenges in the past,” Gadoury said. “When I got here I was given no files, and now we have documented policies and sustainability.”
But she added that help is always needed.
“Our work is far-reaching across many communities,” Gadoury said. “At this point, as we become increasingly sought after for partnerships, we need the investment from leaders in our state to continue this work. We need further investment to stabilize this work.”
Her energy and selflessness, combined with skills learned at her former job, have upped Kimball’s profile. And her work has been appreciated.
“My experiences in high school have been very stifling and homogenous, and I always feel out of place,” wrote one student. “I am here because of the promise of a truly inclusive and diverse space. I love art and meeting new people. ”
Gadoury said she’s working in an ideal situation. She lives in Concord and has two teenage children who are still in school here. She didn’t want to move. She landed in the best place possible, for herself and the community she serves.
“I wanted to stay in Concord, and Kimball Jenkins is a staple in our community,” Gadoury said. “Everyone in the community said the same thing, that Kimball Jenkins has so much potential, so it seems like a great fit for me.”
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