Jennifer Horgan, policy director in the New Hampshire Senate Democrats’ Office, has been named the 2024 recipient of the Caroline and Martin Gross Fellowship.
The honor will enable Horgan to attend an intensive, three-week program this summer with public servants from around the world to share her experiences and learn how others are navigating sharpened partisan challenges as they develop policies and programs to benefit the public.
“It’s such an incredible opportunity to learn from other people who have different approaches about the coalition building and relationship building that are essential to get governments to be able to do what’s best for the people,” said Horgan, who will attend Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in July.
The fellowship, now in its 30th year, was established in memory of the late New Hampshire House Majority Leader Caroline Gross and the late Concord Mayor Martin Gross to honor dedication to public service.
The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation awards the fellowship annually to an extraordinary elected or appointed official in state or local government who demonstrates leadership ability and the highest standards of performance in public service.
Horgan, at 36, is one of the youngest recipients. It was a conscious choice for selection committee members to recognize Horgan’s proven leadership in helping bring senators together in divided political times and to invest in her talents as an emerging leader.
Horgan said she was shocked to even be considered for an honor that typically is awarded to veteran office-holders or government officials.
“I’m so flattered and honored,” she said, “and this is so totally out of my wheelhouse, completely, because I definitely prefer to be behind the scenes.”
Horgan has been director of policy for the Senate Democrats since January 2023, after 12 years as a Senate aide. During that time, she has had to adapt to fundamental changes in politics and how those changes affect building bipartisan support for legislation and even state budgets.
She handles everything from helping develop policy to drafting speeches, writing news releases to setting strategy on legislation and building the Democratic Caucus platform. That means she works to find agreement in often disagreeable times among senators, House members, staff, advocates, lobbyists and the public who land on all sides of public issues.
“It is undeniable that politics has become more charged and divided,” Horgan said. “The impact of this can often make it harder for people to come together to solve problems.”
Step 1, she said, is to talk with and listen to people who have different perspectives or experiences to understand those viewpoints and find common ground to move forward.
“I find that this can then create the space to, at the very least, begin a conversation, if not find a compromise or solution,” she said.
Horgan looks forward to returning from the leadership program with more tools to help New Hampshire’s lawmakers better serve the state.
“The thing that I’d want most is to have a different perspective, and to be able to say, ‘Hey, you know, this state tried things this way. This has worked for them, maybe this is something we could look at,’” she said.
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