Meet Our Board of Directors
Adam Ruedig
Adam Ruedig is a financial advisor with The Ruedig Group at UBS in Concord and Portsmouth, Prior to his career as a financial advisor Adam worked as an architect in New York and Boston. In addition to the Reaching Higher NH board, Adam serves on the Board of the Portsmouth Housing Authority. He has served on the boards of 3S Artspace and Red River Theater. Adam is a graduate of New Hampshire public schools and currently has two children in the Portsmouth public school system.
Misty Crompton
Misty Crompton is a dedicated grade 7 social studies teacher of 22 years who lives with her family in New Boston, NH. As a middle school educator in Derry she has served in many additional roles over the years including Team Leader, History Club advisor, Junior Oratorical organizer and Podcast Club leader. A former adjunct instructor with Southern New Hampshire University, she currently serves on the board of the Derry Education Association, RISE of Peace for Education, and is a member of the education committee with Racial Unity Team of New Hampshire.
Committed to the promise of public education, Misty has also served in various roles with the National Education Association of New Hampshire such as volunteering with education-related committees, serving as a representative for their national assembly and working with their Leaders for Just Schools program. In 2020, she was the recipient of the Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical Award through the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation to enhance the work of Leaders for Just Schools throughout the state.
Ashley Major
Ashley Major is a CPA and is currently the Assistant Vice President of Finance at Saint Anselm College. Prior to that she spent 10 years at a regional accounting firm where she performed audit, tax and consulting engagements with a diverse background of clients including several non-profits throughout NH. She has also served on several non-profit boards of directors and committees of boards. She currently resides in southern NH with her husband and dog where she enjoys ever changing hobbies which have included quilting, reading, running and shopping.
Heidi Crumrine
Heidi Crumrine is an English and reading teacher at Concord High School. She has been teaching for 19 years, including three years in the New York City Public Schools. She is the 2018 NH Teacher of the Year.
She has a B.S. from the University of New Hampshire, an M.A.T. in English education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an M.Ed. in reading instruction from Grand Canyon University. Heidi’s writing is published in the “Today’s Teacher” column in the Concord Monitor, as well as on Education Post, Heinemann and various education blogs. Heidi derives great joy in engaging with the students in front of her who she knows they are the best hope for the future.
Doug Cullen
Cullen was a 2015 recipient of the Pinkerton Academy Alan B. Shepard Award for exceptional contributions to the Pinkerton school community and selected in 2024 for the New Hampshire Extended Learning Opportunity Coordinator of the Year Award by the New Hampshire Excellence in Education Awards.
With over 40 years of experience in business and education focused on business and partnership development his background includes supporting the information technology needs of various sized companies in North America and Europe in many industries such as Insurance, Secondary and Higher Education, Manufacturing and Biotechnology. Cullen frequently appears in written and broadcast media throughout Hampshire and appears before New Hampshire House, Senate, and Administrative hearings advocating for better educational solutions that include strengthening community partnerships and workforce development efforts.
Elizabeth Lahey
Elizabeth Lahey is an attorney in Concord. She has been practicing for over 10 years in both the private and public sector. In addition to the Reaching Higher NH board, Elizabeth serves on the board for 603 Legal Aid and the advisory council for the New Hampshire Endowment for Health Race and Equity series. Elizabeth is a graduate of Laconia High School, Kent State University, and UNH School of Law. She and her wife currently have a child in the public school system.
Emeritus Members
Pawn Nitichan
Pawn Nitichan is the Executive Director of City Year New Hampshire and a Vice President of City Year Inc. With Nitichan’s leadership and her commitment to helping students, corps members, and staff succeed, City Year New Hampshire has more than tripled its service capacity and developed a widely recognized culture of idealism. The organization consistently provides high-quality service to kids and communities as reflected in numerous awards including ten Best of City Year Awards, City Year National’s highest recognition, as well as a Corporate Fund’s Dunfey Award. Among Nitichan’s community and professional commitments, she serves on the boards of New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Manchester Proud, as well as the Governor’s Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Council.
Tom Rath
Tom Rath is one of the most notable Republican strategists and advisers in the state. Tom served as the Chairman of the election campaigns of New Hampshire’s former U.S. Senators, Warren Rudman, and Judd Gregg and he actively assisted in the U.S. Senate process that confirmed David Souter as Supreme Court Justice. He was appointed as New Hampshire attorney general in 1978 and later founded Rath, Young, and Pignatelli to provide guidance on legislative and public policy issues.
Alan Reische
Alan Reische is a retired partner with Sheehan Phinney in Manchester. He has been a director of the New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits, a trustee of NHPR, a director with the New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits and a director and former chair of New Hampshire Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). Alan and his wife Joan have been the 2008 recipients of the NH Charitable Foundation’s Lifetime of Service Award. Alan also has served as a member of Governor Lynch’s Live Free and Start-Up Committee and previously chaired the subcommittee for revisions to and updating of New Hampshire’s securities law. He is a current member of the Board of Directors of City Year NH, and continues to serve on the Governance Committee for NHPR.