New Hampshire, Minnesota ROC leaders elected ROC Association Directors

The final results are in, and Kimber Capen has been elected ROC Association Director for the New England Region.

Capen joins Natividad Seefeld, President of Park Plaza Cooperative in Fridley, Minn., and Liz Wood, President of Duvall Riverside Village Cooperative in Duvall, Wash., on both the ROC Association and ROC USA boards of directors. Seefeld was elected in this cycle to represent the East, Midwest and South region while Wood was elected last year in the Mountain West region.

Capen, has served for several years as president of Medvil Cooperative in Goffstown, N.H. He works as a restaurant industry consultant after trying a short stint in retirement. Medvil is a 55+ resident-owned community of about 300 homes 15 minutes west of Manchester, New Hampshire’s largest city. The community has been supported by ROC-NH since becoming a cooperative in 2006.

ROC USA President Paul Bradley congratulated Capen and Seefeld.

“Between the two regions with elections this year, we had six ROC leaders willing to contribute their time, ideas and energy to building the ROC Association, a national association of local communities – and that part of this is completely inspiring to me,” Bradley said.  “Communities have always relied upon strong volunteer leaders and so does the nonprofit Network and ROC USA.”

Seefeld, an incumbent Director, was challenged by Majory Gilsrud, president of Madelia Mobile Village in Madelia, Minn., while Capen faced three opponents: Larry Erickson of Pine Tree Village in Carver, Mass.; Brenda Norton of Fisherville Estates in Concord, N.H.; and Lynn Nugent of Ryder Woods in Milford, Conn.

Bradley said earlier that the ROC Association Directors are a vital part of the way ROC USA operates, providing ROC residents — those directly served by ROC USA’s work — with three peers on ROC USA’s Board. They are, in essence, three of his bosses.

“Transparency is so important and ROC USA Board members, be they ROC Association Directors or those chosen by the other LLC Members, see it all and help shape our mission,” he said. “The ROC Association Directors bring the voice and perspective of ROC residents to the very core of our social venture.”

The ROC Association is made up of ROCs that are or once were under contract with a Certified Technical Assistance Provider trained and certified by ROC USA® Network. These communities elect Directors to the ROC USA, LLC Board of Directors, helping ensure customer involvement in the governance of ROC USA as a non-profit social venture.

One Director is elected from each of three regions and serves a two-year term. Staggered elections are held every other year. The Association was started by two ROC leaders, Seefeld and Lois Parris, both former appointees to the ROC USA Board of Directors.

Membership is free to all of the more than 170 communities that have been or are supported by a ROC USA Network Affiliate.