Meet Our Board
Trina Inglefinger, Chair
Trina Ingelfinger serves as the Early Care and Education Policy Director at New Futures. She leads and supports state policy to expand access and affordability to quality early learning opportunities for all New Hampshire children. Trina previously served as Chief Attorney for the New England Region of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, where she coordinated with national enforcement leaders to develop agency policy and public information initiatives. Trina earned a JD from Boston College Law School and a master’s degree in education law from UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law. She is currently pursuing a Master of Social Work at the University of Illinois.
Shannon Tremblay, Vice Chair
Shannon Tremblay, our Vice Chair, has been in the early childhood education field for 18 years, working in various roles in privately owned as well as non-profit organizations. She has an undergraduate degree in Childhood Studies from Plymouth State University, as well as a master's degree in Early Childhood Education from Champlain College. Shannon was the director of a non-profit child care center in Portsmouth, NH, before leaving that position to focus on child care advocacy throughout the state. As a mother of 4, she is a major advocate for affordability in child care: "Families shouldn't have to pay more for child care than college tuition."
Leanna Lorden, Secretary
Leanna Lorden, our Secretary,
is a New Hampshire native living in the rural Sunapee region. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Keene State College and began her career as a long-term substitute teacher before shifting into nonprofit work in 2010. Since then, she has dedicated her career to supporting New Hampshire’s children, families, and early childhood workforce. Her work over years has strengthened her passion for advocacy, leadership, and building community connections. Leanna is motivated by the belief that every act of giving back, big or small, helps strengthen communities and creates a better future for children and families. As a parent of one, Leanna’s life outside of work is just as full. When she’s not at the office, you can usually find her at the hockey rink cheering her son on, or enjoying the peace and beauty of the outdoors at her family’s place up north. She believes affordable, accessible child care and housing are key to making New Hampshire more attractive to young professionals. Her guiding advice to her younger self and to others is simple: Acknowledge your feelings, lean into the uncomfortable, and trust that growth follows.
Kendra Lewis, Voting Member
Kendra is a State Specialist for Health & Well-Being at UNH Extension. Her work focuses on coordinating and delivering social, emotional, and mental health programming to NH residents. She previously worked for Cooperative Extension in California as the Academic Coordinator for Evaluation for 4-H Youth Development. She has a background in human development and a passion for social emotional learning. She has extensive experience in evaluating both school-based and out-of-school-time social-emotional and positive youth development programs. She is a co-author of three mindfulness curricula for Pre-K, K-3rd graders, and teens and adults. Kendra has also taught courses such as research methods, program development, issues in child development, contemporary families, issues in parenting, family studies, family stress and coping, and youth facing adversity for University of New Hampshire, Oregon State University, California State University, Chico, and California State University, Sacramento.
Melisa Caldwell, Voting Member
Director of Seacoast Community School. Melissa carries three degrees, a Bachelor's in Elementary Education with a Mathematics concentration (UMaine Farmington), a Master's in Literacy Education (University of Southern Maine), and also holds a Certificate in Advanced Graduate Studies in Educational Leadership (University of New England). Her 23 years in teaching, advocacy in project-based learning, as well as working in leadership roles that ranged from; being an elementary school principal to a Director of Professional Growth, where she trained teachers and expanded Pre-K programming, to working with the Maine Department of Education to create and implement curriculum for Pre-K, provides a strong foundation to leading Seacoast Community School. When Melissa isn't advocating for education, she is with her children Lucian and Maia. They can be found on the soccer field, lacrosse field, or at the dance studio. As a family they love the many memories they create at Great Moose Lake in Maine, where they enjoy being on the water, paddleboarding, water skiing, spending time on the boat, and swimming.
Melinda Fauteux, Voting Member
Melinda is an employee of Gorham Community Learning Center since 2007 and Director of GCLC since 2013. Fun fact: she attended GCLC as a student ☺. She is also the Chair of the Coos County Directors Network and member of the Coos Coalition Leadership Team. Melinda prioritizes high quality education and care in her programs and values partnerships within the community. She is goal driven to best serve the community and believes in a creative approach to obtain goals. Born and raised in Northern NH, she still reside here with her husband, daughter and dog. She is a graduate of White Mountains Community College with an Associates in ECE, and Graduate of Granite State College with Bachelors in ECE.