When Betsy Paine and her family moved to Andover during the summer of 2005 as her husband, Mike Henriques, stepped into the Head of School role at Proctor Academy, Betsy jumped with two feet into the Andover community. With her “day job” as Senior Staff Attorney for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of New Hampshire, Betsy’s engagement in the local community spans both the local and state levels. A former Board Member of The Andover Beacon, and the Andover School Moderator for well over a decade, Betsy also served on Proctor Academy’s Harassment Committee for 16 years.

Prior to 2014, when she began her work with CASA, Betsy worked for 21 years for the New Hampshire Circuit Court as a Domestic Violence Specialist and grant coordinator for funding to the courts under the Violence Against Women Act. Her professional experience led to her sit on the New Hampshire Governor’s Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence, the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee, the New Hampshire Commission on the Status of Women, the Interagency Council on Women Offenders, the New Hampshire Supreme Court Committee on the Status of the Legal Profession, and the New Hampshire Bar Association Committee on Gender Equality. 

Additionally, her service on other non-profit boards includes New Hampshire Public Radio, Northern Forest Canoe Trail, Williams College Alumni Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Committee, New Futures, the Northern New Hampshire Foundation of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, and the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.

Too often, we see individuals through a singular lens based on our direct interactions with the person. We do not see the “whole” of their being — their professional life, dedication to causes dear to them, or the many different “hats” they are able to wear on any given day. As Mike and Betsy move on from their roles at Proctor Academy and their home in Andover, we take this opportunity to thank Betsy for her service to the Andover community through her various volunteer leadership roles. 

Betsy views the act of loving others as an action, and her remarkable capacity to love those in need of love is an inspiration to all of us. Thank you, Betsy, for your service to Andover.