FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Portsmouth, NH, January 23, 2020) – – The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire is pleased to announce the appointment of two new members to its Board of Directors. The selected members are respected in the community and will join a group of civic and business leaders to guide the Trail as it expands across the state.

The new members are Selina Choate, Associate Director of UNH McNair Scholars Program and Eric Cooper, Financial Advisor with Commonwealth Financial Group.

“We are so happy that Selina Choate and Eric Cooper will working with us to further the mission of the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire,” said Dennis Britton, Vice President of Black Heritage Trail Board of Directors.  “They bring with them years of experience in the public and private sector, and they are committed to making New Hampshire a place where everyone has the opportunity thrives and belong.”

The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire Board of Directors is currently led by President Robert Thompson, Vice President Dennis Britton, Secretary Tony Delyani, Treasurer Stanford Cross.

 

 

 

 

Selina Choate

Selina Choate is the Associate Director for the Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement program at UNH. She earned a B.A. in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of New Hampshire (UNH).In her current role, she prepares first-generation college students, low-income individuals, and undergraduates who are underrepresented in graduate school by race for admission into Ph.D. programs around the world. She has worked for the university’s Office of First-Year Programs for six consecutive years and served as the Liberty Mutual Sponsored Diversity Network Program for five years. Before working at UNH, she served as a Staff Assistant and Outreach Representative in Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter’s constituent services office. She worked as a Community Organizer for the New Hampshire Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty—working to repeal the death penalty law in the state of NH. She served on two state boards (NH Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty & the Greater Manchester YMCA) and served as the Secretary and Treasurer for the Manchester NAACP, unit 2019. She is a past co-chair of the President’s Commission on the Status of People of Color, a co-founder and former advisor for NALA, the support group for women of color at UNH, and the former advisor for Delta Xi Phi, Multicultural Sorority, Inc. Selina is a two-time recipient of the UNH Social Justice Award (2007 &2016); a recipient of the Vanessa Washington-Johnson Bloeman Youth Leadership Award (2013); and the Manchester NAACP Excellence in Community Award (2012).

Eric Cooper 

Eric Cooper is a financial advisor who works in Bedford, New Hampshire, who has been in the financial industry for 13 years. Cooper is currently employed by Commonwealth Financial Group. During their career, the advisor has held roles at Digital Federal Credit Union, Canobie Lake Park, Men’s Wearhouse, Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Mml Investors Services, Strategic Advisers Inc, Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company, American National Insurance Co and Financial Insurance Services.