Message from the Founding Board

Kimberly Lavallee is an active supporter of the Public Charter School movement. She is a Co-Founder of The Founders Academy Public Charter School and Spark Academy of Advanced Technologies. Mrs. Lavallee currently serves as a board member of both charter schools. She currently serves as Chair of The Founders Academy Foundation. 

Kimberly’s professional background is in the commercial and residential real-estate industry where she worked for 23 years in the appraisal field, managing approximately 50 appraisers throughout three states. She worked as a professional fundraiser for a national non-profit as well.  

Robert Best (Bob) is an attorney and partner at Sulloway & Hollis in Concord, where he serves as chair of the firm’s healthcare practice group. Bob has extensive experience advising non-profit organizations including hospitals, professional societies, trade groups, and charitable organizations. Bob is an Adjunct faculty member at NHTI in Concord, he is the Chair of the Merrimack Planning Board, the Vice President of the Merrimack Rotary Club, and served as a board member of Merrimack PTA Kindergarten and Preschool.

Prior to coming to New Hampshire, Bob’s background includes experience in administration for public, private, and academic healthcare settings, as well as biomedical research at Louisiana State University Medical Center, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Bob and his wife Kate live in southern New Hampshire, with their four children.  

Jim has held various executive roles in California, New York, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Connecticut, Ohio, and now New Hampshire as the Vice President of Sales and Client Services for a regional Blue Cross subsidiary. 

Volunteering for a time locally in town government as a Planning board (alt) and Forestry board member, Jim now focuses his spare time on helping expand school choice throughout New Hampshire:

* Founder and former chairman of the The Windham Academy Charter School, a successful K-8 school with over 300 students. 

* Founder of The New Hampshire Career Academy (allowing for Tuition Free Early College), a proposed new school available to ALL New Hampshire juniors and seniors for 2023. 

* One of several Founders of The New Hampshire Charter School Foundation. A statewide team of experienced charter school leaders, advocating for School Choice, assisting charter schools - start up, operations and renewals throughout the state. 

Jim currently lives in Windham with his wife and three young boys. 

Patricia Humphrey is a devoted supporter of the public charter school movement and has offered much of her life to this cause. She is the Founder of the New Hampshire Center for Innovative School (NHCIS) and a founder of the Academy for Science and Design (ASD) in Nashua and Spark Academy of Advanced Technologies at the Manchester Community College.

Patricia is an experienced school administrator, educator, and board director. She has taught K-8 in New York City and in New Hampshire, and has directed a unique, independent school in New York City. Patty has extensive experience with public policy and fund-raising.

Gary Has been in the Construction and Design Field since 1980. He received his Associates Degree from University of New Hampshire Thompson School, and a Bachelor’s degree from Boston Architectural College (BAC). He is also a licensed Site Supervisor in the State of Massachusetts. 

Gary has extensive experience in commercial interior fit-up projects, building renovations, and ground-up construction projects. Prior to forming NorthPoint, Gary served as Director of Design and Construction for TeamCon Construction Management Corp., and Wall-Tech Systems, Inc. In addition, He has also worked as a Team Captain, Construction Administrator, Project Manager for architectural firms in Boston, MA and Portsmouth, NH.

Gary’s responsibilities include overseeing the overall development of projects. He works closely with clients and Architects to understand their specific needs and is especially effective in providing consultations and assistance in value engineering for projects to be completed within budget. Gary provides guidance through his in-depth involvement with all of our design teams, and maintains an active role throughout all stages of project development.

Along with his Presidential duties, Gary remains dedicated to the effort of advancing our Construction Community by mentoring and helping to inform the younger generations about our industry. Along with his motivation to enhance the industry of construction and the trades, Gary holds a firm focus on giving back to the community and remains an influential element of various organizations for education and opportunity in the community. Gary sits on the Board of Directors and the Facilities Committee for The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Nashua, Board of Directors for The Founders Academy, and Board of Directors for Spark Academy in Manchester, NH. 

Sally has spent her career in health care and health care education.  After working for many years as a critical care nurse, clinical supervisor and educator, she further specialized her training and became a bioethicist.  She currently works as a clinical ethicist at the University of Vermont Medical Center, and is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine.  Sally is a member of the American Society for Bioethics and the Humanities, and the former chair of the Rural Bioethics Affinity Group. She is also a former board member and chairperson for the Vermont Ethics Network.  

Sally and her husband, Peter, raised their family in southern New Hampshire, and now live in New London.  They have 3 adult children and 2 grandchildren.

Leo Plante has an extensive background in finance. He worked as a Goodyear Executive Professor in the College of Business Administration at Kent State University and was formally employed in the investment banking divisions of Goldman, Sachs and Citibank. He also enjoyed being a self-employed investment manager and venture capitalist. 

He has taught finance and economics at several colleges and universities including the Robins School of Business, University of Richmond.  He is a graduate of Brown University and holds advanced degrees in finance, economics and ethics from Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania and Weston Jesuit School of Theology (Boston College), respectively.