The Board of Directors brings together educators, healthcare providers, parents, and community members to lend expertise, direction and oversight to the Sandwich Children's Center. Above all, each member is dedicated to providing a safe and nurturing environment for children that fosters a long-lasting love of learning.
Molly Powers, President
Molly has made her way to Sandwich through her husband Paul who’s family has been coming to Sandwich since 1961. While majoring in Psychology in college, she earned a minor in Early Childhood Education. After graduation, she worked at Perkins School for the Blind for seven years. She loved every moment of her time working with severely disabled students from ages 4 to 22. While at Perkins Molly earned a Master Degree in Education in Mental Health Counseling and worked a therapist at Massachusetts Treatment Center, a jail in Bridgewater for convicted sex offenders. She also worked as mental health therapist in various correctional facilities in Massachusetts. Her last job was working with addicts in the Dedham House of Corrections. Molly enjoyed her work as a therapist but was happy in 2001 to find her way into the yoga business, as a manager of yoga studios and then a yoga instructor. In 2006, Molly started Powers of Healing in Cambridge where she works as Reiki healer. In 2019, she opened 2 Basket Street Yoga studio here in Sandwich,NH. She enjoys being part of the Sandwich community offering yoga classes to students of all levels. She is excited to be part of the Sandwich Children’s Center Board.
Nancy Heard, Vice President
Nancy was born and raised in Missoula Montana, the youngest of 5 children. Her Montana experience was a lot about piano and ballet. Nancy went to Macalester College in St. Paul Minnesota, halfway across the country from Missoula. There she met her current husband, Adam Heard. They stayed in Minnesota for several years and moved East to Massachusetts, where Adam was from, with their 3-year-old son, Jonathan. While they lived in MA they had 2 more children, Benjamin and Rebecca. They all moved to Concord, New Hampshire when Becca was 5 and that is where they all live now, at least in part. Adam and Nancy also live in a house in Sandwich which has been in Adam’s family for several generations. Nancy's profession, for the most part, has been to teach music, both private piano lessons and classroom general music classes. Nancy wants to be involved in her Sandwich community and she is excited to be part of the Sandwich Children’s Center.
Tora Olafsen, Secretary
Tora is a former Software Product Executive and Psychiatric Researcher bringing expertise in human psychology to early stage start-ups. Tora is passionate about collaborating with others to solve challenging problems with simple solutions while growing revenue. Tora grew up in Center Sandwich and after 16 years in Boston, moved with her husband and kids back to Sandwich to raise her daughters in a smaller community that values time spent outdoors. While she keenly misses the start-up world, she's applying her skills to a house renovation, her family, and creating new things from scratch. In her free time, she enjoys getting outside: running, biking, boating, and skiing of all kinds.
Justin Rider, Treasurer and Finance Chair
Justin joined the Board in February 2020 and is invested in improving communication between SCC and parents and the community as well as making SCC an exemplary early education childcare facility in the region. Justin has been in service working for the Federal Government for more than 16 years and graduated from Florida State University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. Justin and his family have lived in Moultonborough since December 2019. He currently has one child attending SCC after his oldest moved up to Moultonborough Central School.
Chris Speers, Development and Communications Co-Chair
Chris is an experienced educator, school fundraiser and proud parent of an SCC summer camper. Most recently he served as Director of Individual Giving at Ransom Everglades in Miami. In this role he oversaw the major and planned gift program for the school. Previously, he served as Associate Director of Development at the Dublin School (NH) and Deputy Finance Director for Mayor Setti Warren's gubernatorial campaign in Massachusetts. Before becoming a fundraiser, he served as Operations Manager for EF Language Travel. Before joining EF, Chris was Special Assistant to Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts. Chris holds a BA from Bates College and a MSEd in School Leadership from UPenn. His family has lived and summered in Sandwich for four generations. While Chris, his wife Rosy, and their son’s Mateo and Lucas technically live full time in Miami, they escape north as much as possible.
Tori Callahan, Development and Communications Co-Chair
Tori grew up in southern New Hampshire before making the journey out west and settling in San Diego after college, starting a career in technology building online fundraising software for nonprofits and dreaming up creative ways to service the social sector with opportunities for innovation and collaboration. Tori's passion for conscious capitalism, sustainability, and empowering social enterprises through technology continues to be a driving force in her professional and personal life. In San Diego, she met her now husband and they spent years traveling around the world, finding joy and wonder in immersing themselves in diverse cultures and landscapes. They bought their first home in San Diego and welcomed their two children. During the pandemic, Tori and her husband found themselves drawn to New Hampshire and this area's proximity to all the things they loved: the lake, mountains, the woods, and wide open space, and eventually they decided to make roots in Moultonborough to raise their children in a smaller community with a focus on nature and the outdoors.
Anne Gallivan
After spending a piece of every summer in Sandwich, Anne left her Vermont home of 45 years to come and stay. In 1979, her four-year-old (first of three sons) lost out on a place in several area preschools, so she and a friend created a cooperative preschool in her small town. Later, she became school librarian in that town’s K-8 school, retired after 21 years, represented four towns in the Vermont Legislature for two years, and directed a youth mentoring program for four years. She loves children and working with SCC to support the community’s youth.
Molly has made her way to Sandwich through her husband Paul who’s family has been coming to Sandwich since 1961. While majoring in Psychology in college, she earned a minor in Early Childhood Education. After graduation, she worked at Perkins School for the Blind for seven years. She loved every moment of her time working with severely disabled students from ages 4 to 22. While at Perkins Molly earned a Master Degree in Education in Mental Health Counseling and worked a therapist at Massachusetts Treatment Center, a jail in Bridgewater for convicted sex offenders. She also worked as mental health therapist in various correctional facilities in Massachusetts. Her last job was working with addicts in the Dedham House of Corrections. Molly enjoyed her work as a therapist but was happy in 2001 to find her way into the yoga business, as a manager of yoga studios and then a yoga instructor. In 2006, Molly started Powers of Healing in Cambridge where she works as Reiki healer. In 2019, she opened 2 Basket Street Yoga studio here in Sandwich,NH. She enjoys being part of the Sandwich community offering yoga classes to students of all levels. She is excited to be part of the Sandwich Children’s Center Board.
Nancy Heard, Vice President
Nancy was born and raised in Missoula Montana, the youngest of 5 children. Her Montana experience was a lot about piano and ballet. Nancy went to Macalester College in St. Paul Minnesota, halfway across the country from Missoula. There she met her current husband, Adam Heard. They stayed in Minnesota for several years and moved East to Massachusetts, where Adam was from, with their 3-year-old son, Jonathan. While they lived in MA they had 2 more children, Benjamin and Rebecca. They all moved to Concord, New Hampshire when Becca was 5 and that is where they all live now, at least in part. Adam and Nancy also live in a house in Sandwich which has been in Adam’s family for several generations. Nancy's profession, for the most part, has been to teach music, both private piano lessons and classroom general music classes. Nancy wants to be involved in her Sandwich community and she is excited to be part of the Sandwich Children’s Center.
Tora Olafsen, Secretary
Tora is a former Software Product Executive and Psychiatric Researcher bringing expertise in human psychology to early stage start-ups. Tora is passionate about collaborating with others to solve challenging problems with simple solutions while growing revenue. Tora grew up in Center Sandwich and after 16 years in Boston, moved with her husband and kids back to Sandwich to raise her daughters in a smaller community that values time spent outdoors. While she keenly misses the start-up world, she's applying her skills to a house renovation, her family, and creating new things from scratch. In her free time, she enjoys getting outside: running, biking, boating, and skiing of all kinds.
Justin Rider, Treasurer and Finance Chair
Justin joined the Board in February 2020 and is invested in improving communication between SCC and parents and the community as well as making SCC an exemplary early education childcare facility in the region. Justin has been in service working for the Federal Government for more than 16 years and graduated from Florida State University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. Justin and his family have lived in Moultonborough since December 2019. He currently has one child attending SCC after his oldest moved up to Moultonborough Central School.
Chris Speers, Development and Communications Co-Chair
Chris is an experienced educator, school fundraiser and proud parent of an SCC summer camper. Most recently he served as Director of Individual Giving at Ransom Everglades in Miami. In this role he oversaw the major and planned gift program for the school. Previously, he served as Associate Director of Development at the Dublin School (NH) and Deputy Finance Director for Mayor Setti Warren's gubernatorial campaign in Massachusetts. Before becoming a fundraiser, he served as Operations Manager for EF Language Travel. Before joining EF, Chris was Special Assistant to Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts. Chris holds a BA from Bates College and a MSEd in School Leadership from UPenn. His family has lived and summered in Sandwich for four generations. While Chris, his wife Rosy, and their son’s Mateo and Lucas technically live full time in Miami, they escape north as much as possible.
Tori Callahan, Development and Communications Co-Chair
Tori grew up in southern New Hampshire before making the journey out west and settling in San Diego after college, starting a career in technology building online fundraising software for nonprofits and dreaming up creative ways to service the social sector with opportunities for innovation and collaboration. Tori's passion for conscious capitalism, sustainability, and empowering social enterprises through technology continues to be a driving force in her professional and personal life. In San Diego, she met her now husband and they spent years traveling around the world, finding joy and wonder in immersing themselves in diverse cultures and landscapes. They bought their first home in San Diego and welcomed their two children. During the pandemic, Tori and her husband found themselves drawn to New Hampshire and this area's proximity to all the things they loved: the lake, mountains, the woods, and wide open space, and eventually they decided to make roots in Moultonborough to raise their children in a smaller community with a focus on nature and the outdoors.
Anne Gallivan
After spending a piece of every summer in Sandwich, Anne left her Vermont home of 45 years to come and stay. In 1979, her four-year-old (first of three sons) lost out on a place in several area preschools, so she and a friend created a cooperative preschool in her small town. Later, she became school librarian in that town’s K-8 school, retired after 21 years, represented four towns in the Vermont Legislature for two years, and directed a youth mentoring program for four years. She loves children and working with SCC to support the community’s youth.