Candidate Profile: Ann McLane Kuster

General Information

Name : Ann McLane "Annie" Kuster

Age : 56

Place of residence : Hopkinton, New Hampshire

Education

College

Attended college : Yes

College : Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H.

Degree : Bachelor's Degree, 1978

Grad school: Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C.

Degree: Law degree, 1984

Employment Information

Job titles held : Adoption attorney and public policy advocate at Rath, Young and Pignatelli, P.C.; founder Newfound Strategies LLC, a consulting and training practice for nonprofits

Employers : Rath, Young and Pignatelli, P.C.; Newfound Strategies LLC

Political Information

Party affiliation : Democrat

Running for a: Federal office 

Running for position: U.S. House of Representatives (NH-CD2)

Chamber/district: NH-CD2

Incumbent: No

Previous elective offices : NA

Unsuccessful bids for elective offices : 2010 Second Congressional District

Party HQ

Address 15 N. Main St., Level 3

Concord, NH 03301

Phone (603) 225-3327

Campaign manager Garrick Delzell

URLs

Website : kusterforcongress.com

Twitter: twitter.com/annmclanekuster

Facebook : facebook.com/kuster

YouTube: youtube.com/annmclanekuster

Other facts

I have spent my life bringing people together to strengthen New Hampshire – as an adoption attorney, a public policy advocate, an author and an active volunteer in the state nonprofit community.

I have been actively involved in a number of significant health and education policy issues, including the creation of the UNIQUE College Savings Program to help families save for their children’s college education and the Medication Bridge Program to make free medication available to low-income families.

I was born and raised in Concord, NH. My parents were community leaders – my mother Susan McLane was a State Senator and pioneer for women in New Hampshire politics, and my father Malcolm was a prominent attorney who served as Mayor of Concord, on the Executive Council, and ran for Governor as an Independent in 1972.

I graduated from Dartmouth College in 1978, in the third class with women, and received my law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1984.

Active in community service, I have served on the Board of Trustees of many community organizations, including the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, the Capitol Center for the Arts and Child and Family Services of New Hampshire. She was a founder of the Women’s Fund of New Hampshire and served on the Board of the Tucker Foundation at Dartmouth College to encourage community service. For her work, Child & Family Services honored Annie with the “Voice for Children” award. She also received the “Champion for Choice” award from NARAL Pro-Choice New Hampshire for her work as an adoption attorney.

With my mother Susan, I co-authored a book entitled “The Last Dance: Facing Alzheimer’s with Love and Laughter,” and after my mother’s death, I toured the state with her father speaking about aging, Alzheimer’s, and family care. As a result, I received the Rainbow Award from Riverbend Community Mental Health Center in 2008, celebrating those who raise awareness of mental-health issues in New Hampshire.

Over the past 25 years, I helped hundreds of New Hampshire families adopt children, and I was a member of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. In January 2011, I founded Newfound Strategies LLC, a consulting and training practice that works with nonprofit clients to maximize their effectiveness and sustainability. Newfound Strategies consults with nonprofit clients in New Hampshire and beyond with a focus on fundraising and grassroots outreach to build organizational strength and capacity.

In 2010, I was the Democratic nominee for Congress in the Second Congressional District of New Hampshire, narrowly losing by just 3,551 votes (1%) in one of the closest open-seat races in the country.

I live in Hopkinton with my husband Brad, an environmental attorney, where we raised our sons Zach, a recent college graduate, and Travis, who attends college in Hanover, NH.