Seacoast Impact Collaborative names first director

The Seacoast Impact Collaborative has appointed Dr. Elizabeth Ackley as its inaugural director as the Portsmouth-based regional partnership expands work on housing, food, health, workforce and education. The hire gives the 2024 initiative dedicated leadership to build the infrastructure for coordinated action across the Seacoast.

Why it matters: - The Seacoast Impact Collaborative is moving from formation to execution with a dedicated director. - The appointment is meant to help local organizations align strategy, share data and coordinate investments around community challenges no single group can solve alone. - The role could strengthen regional responses across housing, food systems, health and human services, workforce development, transportation and education.

What happened: - The Seacoast Impact Collaborative named Dr. Elizabeth “Liz” Ackley as its inaugural director. - The announcement was made Oct. 13, 2026, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. - SIC was established in 2024 as a regional partnership focused on community well-being. - Gather serves as SIC’s inaugural fiscal host. - Ackley will spend most of her time on the Collaborative and the rest supporting Gather’s community-impact and systems-change work.

The details: - SIC brings together organizations across housing, food systems, health and human services, workforce development, transportation and education. - Ackley’s work will focus on coordination among partner organizations, resident engagement, data tracking and aligned investment. - Ackley said the goal is not to create another organization or program, but to help organizations work differently together by connecting people, information, resources and community priorities. - Gather Executive Director Anne Hayes said Ackley brings more than 16 years of experience across healthcare, public agencies, philanthropy and community-based organizations. - Hayes said Ackley’s career has centered on moving communities from fragmented efforts toward shared strategy and coordinated action. - Ackley most recently served as founding director of the Center for Community Health Innovation at Roanoke College in Virginia. - In that role, Ackley connected residents, government agencies, healthcare organizations, nonprofit partners and funders to improve community well-being. - Her work there included a resident-informed community health data system. - Ackley also led a $40 million community development initiative in Roanoke’s Melrose neighborhood. - She served as a local leader for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Invest Health initiative. - Ackley said the Seacoast’s opportunity is to build connective infrastructure that helps existing efforts add up to more than the sum of their parts while keeping community experience and priorities central. - Founding SIC participants include Gather, Cross Roads House, Portsmouth Housing Authority, HAVEN, Great Bay Community College, Safe Harbor Recovery Center, Greater Seacoast Community Health, Seacoast Mental Health Center, The Chase Home, COAST, Seacoast Community School and the City of Portsmouth Welfare Department. - Gather provides food and other immediate assistance to people experiencing food insecurity while expanding programs that support long-term stability. - Gather was founded in 1816 and operates New England’s first Community Food Center. - Gather serves more than 10,000 individuals each month across 120 communities in New Hampshire and Maine. - More information is available on Gather's website.

Between the lines: - The hire signals that SIC is prioritizing coordination over building another standalone service provider. - Ackley’s background suggests the Collaborative wants a leader comfortable with systems change, cross-sector convening and resident-informed planning. - The emphasis on data and aligned investment points to a longer-term strategy than one-time programming.

What's next: - SIC will begin building the infrastructure needed to turn shared priorities into coordinated regional action. - Ackley will work with partners to strengthen collaboration, engage residents and identify opportunities for joint action. - The Collaborative’s next phase will likely focus on translating existing relationships into measurable regional outcomes.

The bottom line: - SIC has chosen a director whose experience fits a regional model built on coordination, not duplication.