Karen has served the past six years with the University of New Hampshire Extension 4-H Youth Development program in Belknap County. She has been an accomplished professional in program innovation and authentic stakeholder engagement building coalitions to address community needs.
Deighan has a Doctorate of Education from Plymouth State University and a Masters in Special Education from the University of New Hampshire. She has served in numerous leadership roles within New Hampshire 4-H professionals, has presented frequently at national 4-H Professional workshops across the country, and most recently has been published in Youth Development journals due to her National and NE Regional 4-H coalition work around Youth Thriving. Karen is also a successful fundraiser and grant writer helping secure over $750,000 since 2020 in support of the 4-H Youth Development Program in New Hampshire and New England.
"I have had the unique opportunity to learn about the people, the culture, and many community partners in Belknap County. I am so thankful for the time shared with great people in Belknap County. I am forever thankful. Since beginning my role with Extension, I have increased the number of 4-H youth enrolled in the county program by 150% and have maintained those numbers for the past two years. During the last 4-H program year, I aligned the needs of the community with the goals of the NH 4-H Program - to develop opportunities for youth to build 21st Century Skills needed for the future workforce and quality community engagement. I developed initiatives that involved youth in experiences ranging from building their leadership skills to creating future entrepreneurs.”
“I am very excited to take on this new professional opportunity in Carroll County, my home county where I first started as a 4-H volunteer with my kids. I look forward to making the 4-H program stronger, and giving back to the program and Carroll County communities who first introduced me to UNH Extension work through 4-H! The best is yet to come!"
She will continue to support a few 4-H activities in Belknap County in October until a new 4-H Program Manager is hired.
Please join me in welcoming Karen to this new role in UNH Extension in Carroll County at Karen.Deighan@unh.edu
