RESILIENT NH
profiles
Joining Together to Find Greater Strength How an organizational merger led Joy Barrett to ‘think bigger’ BY L I I SA R AJ A L A
HELPING NEW HAMPSHIRE’S KIDS realize their full potential has been the mission of Joy Barrett, CEO of the Granite State Children’s Alliance, since she made a conscious decision to switch careers in the early 2000s. After roughly 15 years operating a computer software training business, Barrett had an eye-opening experience when she performed pro bono work, training adults served by nonprofit agencies providing workforce development skills. “The adults I trained didn’t fully understand the opportunity (the computer software training) was going to give them in their life, for their potential to become more self sufficient. I remember at that very moment thinking I wanted to focus energy on prevention – I wanted to help kids be on the trajectory to reaching their full potential,” says Barrett. Wanting to be more involved in helping others, Barrett moved into social services as the coordinator of the Economic Opportunity Center, a program of Southern New Hampshire Services, in 2004. And in 2007 she was named executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Nashua and Salem, where she remained for nearly eight years. “It was incredibly satisfying. We had countless success stories of kids who were in challenging situations (but) because there was a caring adult in their life who believed in them, they succeeded,” says Barrett. Big Brothers Big Sisters relies heavily on public support and donations. Over time, it became clear for Big Brothers Big Sisters services and programs to thrive, the four BBBS agencies needed to explore merging into a statewide organization. “Even though we worked closely together as a BBBS Alliance, there was little consistency in our service delivery,” says Barrett. “We thought collectively we could serve more kids, particularly in the North Country, and invest more resources into recruitment and monitoring of matches to make sure kids were safe and benefitting from long and strong relationships.” As expected, merging the BBBS agencies met some natural resistance. “Rightfully so, people are very proud of their local organizations, and have such commitment to a certain region that sometimes it’s hard to let that go in order to take the next step,” says Barrett, who credits the merger into a statewide BBBS organization to the leadership in each of the four agencies and boards. ”The stars aligned,” a phrase Barrett often says. “It’s never just about a great idea, it also has to be the right time and with the right people involved,” she says. “It was important to bring us together so we would be a more resilient and stronger statewide organization, and in the end Big Brothers Big Sisters of NH 16 RESILIENT NH 2021
is serving kids well; making communities stronger.” With the elimination of her Nashua agency’s position, Barrett was encouraged to explore a leadership role at the Granite State Children’s Alliance (GSCA), a nonprofit organization representing the network of Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) in New Hampshire. CACs serve as a child/family-friendly, victim-centered, neutral setting for joint investigations and forensic interviews of child victims of crimes involving sexual abuse and felony level physical abuse, and child witnesses to violence such as a homicide or a serious domestic assault. CACs in New Hampshire provide forensic interviews, family support and follow-up services to approximately 2,100 child victims and their families each year. “I wanted to do something that would have a great impact on the wellness and resilience of children, and I found myself motivated by the transformation that was taking place in New Hampshire with child protection,” says Barrett, who has served as CEO since 2014. “It is a privilege to work on behalf of children and I am very proud that CACs remain dedicated to the tireless fight of assuring children and their families have a victim-centered CAC experience in a safe, responsive place to heal, survive and thrive.”
“There are days that are very difficult for all our staff, especially now, but ... there’s a built-in resiliency and calling in wanting to be a part of this work.” FILLING A SERVICES GAP The Granite State Children’s Alliance operates four Child Advocacy Centers in NH while providing technical assistance and support to the other six CACs in the network. When Barrett joined the organization, the CACs were limited in staff capacity and although CACs provided an essential service by conducting forensic interviews for child abuse investigations, many CACs were challenged to provide a higher level of
