Concord, NH - The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation has named Katherine B. Merrow of Hopkinton as its Vice President of the Program Department.  Merrow is responsible for providing strategic direction and oversight for the department, which annually awards approximately 4500 grants and scholarships totaling about $30 million.

Prior to joining the Foundation this fall, Merrow served as the first executive director of the New Hampshire Women's Policy Institute, where she designed and conducted research projects, developed programs for fundraising and financial management, and helped establish the Institute as an important source for data on women's issues in the state.  She also served as Senior Research Associate with the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies, with a focus on corrections, juvenile justice, substance use treatment, and human services issues. Merrow has also held positions in the state governments of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Merrow holds an M.B.A. from Southern New Hampshire University, and is a graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont. She is a graduate of the Leadership New Hampshire program and has served on several school- and community-based committees in Hopkinton. 

The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation has been improving the quality of life in our communities since 1962. It builds and manages a collection of charitable funds, totaling nearly $490 million (12/31/07), created by individuals, families and corporations. The Foundation is non-partisan, frequently playing the role of convener and catalyst on a broad spectrum of issues that affect our state. The Foundation awarded more than $32 million in grants, scholarships and initiatives last year; more than $125 million in just the past five years. Based in Concord, the Foundation roots itself in communities across the state through seven regions including Lakes, Manchester, Monadnock, Nashua, North Country, Piscataqua and Upper Valley. For more information, visit www.nhcf.org, or call 603-225-6641.