Our PEOPLE
Meet the team
Get to know our dedicated team passionate about supporting kinship caregivers. If you’re interested in joining our cause, we’d love your involvement.
EXCUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jessica Parker
jparker@stepupparents.org | 603-319-4739
The mission of Step Up Parents has resonated with me both personally and professionally since first learning about the organization at a Rotary meeting five years ago. The assistance Step Up Parents provides has such a profoundly positive impact in the lives of families affected by substance use disorders. I am excited to apply my knowledge and experience in nonprofit sector to further the mission of Step Up Parents. It is an honor to be able to play a role in helping to ensure these critical services are available for kinship caregivers in the community now and in the future.
I care very deeply about families affected by substance use disorders, mental health issues, and poverty having the opportunity to not just survive, but thrive. In addition to my work at Step Up Parents, I serve on the board of Leadership Seacoast and as a member of the leadership team of Home for All. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my husband, son, and our dogs, cats, and chickens.
PRESIDENT
Jennifer DuChene
Step Up Parents aligns with my personal and professional interest in helping young children grow into healthy, happy and productive adults. I began my professional life as an attorney and later earned my teaching credentials and master’s degree in education. I have been teaching in Montessori preschool classrooms on the Seacoast for the last fifteen years.
Two years ago, I became a CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocate), where I am able to utilize both my legal and teaching expertise to advocate for children in the Family Court system. Step Up Parents provides me with an additional opportunity to support children and the families who love and care for them. As a mother, a teacher and a legal advocate, I have deep empathy and compassion for family and generational struggles surrounding mental health and substance misuse. The children who witness those struggles need strong and resilient caregivers and those caregivers need support. I am looking forward to being part of an organization whose purpose is to assist the relative caregivers who step up when it matters the most.
Vice President (Founder)
Denyse Richter
drichter@stepupparents.org | 603.319.4746
Step Up Parents was born out of a desire to lend a hand. With a good friend now raising her granddaughter as a result of her own child’s long battle with substance use disorder, I felt a call to help.
Her story and other life experiences have brought me to this mission to help kinship caregivers and their children.
My greatest joy in life is my family. My husband and I raised three wonderful daughters in the beautiful Seacoast of New Hampshire. I was a stay at home mother and have worked with my husband in different business ventures over the years. With an interest in schools and education, I also served two terms on my local school board. In 1985, I graduated from Boston College with a degree in Marketing.
BOARD MEMBER
Laura Johnson
I am eager to work alongside the Step Up Parents team due to my personal connection to the challenges faced by families with recovering parents. I have a good understanding and empathy for the struggles involved, both emotionally and financially. I know and appreciate the impact that even the smallest acts of kindness can have, as they provide a brief respite and glimmer of relief in what can be an overwhelming journey. I strongly believe in the power of support and compassion in these difficult situations to foster well-being for both children and caregivers.
I am the Director of Mortgage and Consumer Lending for Bangor Savings Bank. I have over 30 years of financial services experience, including 22 years of successful Residential and Consumer lending and leadership throughout New England, in areas including MA, RI, CT, NH, VT, and ME. I have successfully directed multiple teams and strategies through a variety of business transitions and market conditions. Strengths include relationship management, contract negotiation, product development, systems development, compliance, project management, and implementation.
My family has lived and enjoyed New Hampshire since 2016, currently residing in Portsmouth. We have deep family roots in Central Maine with my father being an 11th generation Gordon, in Skowhegan, Maine. I have enjoyed volunteering and fundraising for various youth sports organizations and was team parent liaison for Saint Anselm Football in New Hampshire.
BOARD MEMBER
Nate Pearson
While I have not directly been affected with the parental situations Step Up Parents supports, at this point we all know someone who has had issues with substance abuse or mental illness. Raising children is hard enough but is incrementally more difficult for grandparents to step up to the role unexpectedly. Being employed by a community-focused bank has provided me the opportunity to give back, and when I learned about Step Up Parents, I was not even aware these issues existed. Maine and New Hampshire have been hit hard by the opioid epidemic and through SUP we can help support children and families that never expected to be in their situations.
BOARD MEMBER
Jennifer Caesar
I have built a career around digital growth marketing in the B2B technology space over the last 10+ years. I currently manage the digital marketing for the adtech company, Emodo, owned by Ericsson and based in San Francisco. I have volunteered with various organizations on the Seacoast throughout the years, but this will be my first board position, and I am looking forward to helping grow and promote Step Up Parents. I live in Dover with my husband, Chris, and goldendoodle, Auggie.
BOARD MEMBER
John Moynihan
Step Up Parents spoke to me from the moment I first learned of the organization. Not too many years ago, I was on the brink of losing my family due to my own substance misuse. If not for the support of my family and friends, things could have turned out very differently for me. Coming out of COVID, I found myself drawn towards advocacy and working towards destigmatizing mental health and substance misuse disorders. I’m honored to step into this role and play a part in making a difference for the families and children Step Up Parents serves.
BOARD MEMBER
John Sheedy
After learning about Step Up Parents from a friend (and fellow board member), its mission immediately struck a chord for me. My wife and I have raised our niece whose parents were unable to provide her with a stable home environment, and we have experienced firsthand the challenges and personal rewards of providing kinship care for an extended family member.
While we have been fortunate to be able to raise our niece and our three daughters without financial assistance, I know many families face financial struggles that make kinship caregiving much more difficult. I am excited to join in Step Up Parents' mission to help ease families' financial burdens and to provide support to caregivers in oftentimes difficult situations.
I grew up in Southern New Hampshire and later settled in Berwick, Maine, where my wife and I have raised our daughters and our niece. Most of my career has been focused in technology and software, including my current position as a Senior Product Manager at B2W Software in Portsmouth.
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Deb Anthony
I learned about Step Up Parents during the last year of my tenure at Gather as the Executive Director. I was impressed by the mission and vision of the organization. In a world where addiction has impacted so many families, this organization has a concrete solution. Addiction has impacted my life, and like so many others, I have seen the devastation it can bring to families. Professionally I have worked in the nonprofit sector most of my life and had the privilege of leading several amazing organizations both here in New England and on the West Coast. My strength has always been aligning mission with action.
adivsory committee
Jaime Yates
I am the Community Relations Manager at Service Credit Union, where I oversee sponsorships, events and community outreach, as well as financial education and literacy. I have a Masters in Communication, and I’m passionate about giving back to the community and advocating for military members and veterans. I currently serve on the board of directors for the Portsmouth Music and Arts Center as well as the Seacoast Chapter of Veterans Count and the NH Social Responsibility Committee for the CCUA, as well as various planning committees for nonprofit events. I pride myself on working with community partners to create opportunity and increase collaboration and impact across the state. I first became aware of Step Up Parents during the pandemic and am excited to see how I can best help the organization especially in planning fundraising events.