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603-746-5294

Rep Mel Myler

Education

Merrimack District - 10

Personal Biography
5th term in the NH House
Represents Hopkinton and Concord, Ward 5
California Western University (San Diego, CA; BA); University of Michigan MA

Rep. Myler has been a proven leader, manager, and agent of change in education work for over forty eight years. In 2008, he retired from his executive staff position with the National Education Association (NEA) after serving the organization at the local, state and national level. For twenty-one years, he was the Executive Director of the NEA New Hampshire.

He is a consensus builder providing a hands-on, creative approach to strategic planning and systems thinking. In each of his work experiences, he has initiated organizational change to meet new demands faced by a changing world. His knowledge of organizational development and ability to organize has allowed him to seek the common ground to effect needed modifications in operation and program systems. Through his career, he has demonstrated an ability to move an organization into new dimensions while accommodating the human side of the enterprise. He is recognized by his colleagues as a leader, mentor, and agent of change.

Qualified by:
Creating system change initiatives through organizational development at various levels of educational employee unions and community organizations.
Developing community outreach programs on coalition building directed at teacher recognition, school transformation, health care initiatives, school funding modification, and legislative initiatives.
Coaching and mentoring staff in accordance with a negotiated Master Agreement, processing any employee concern, developing a process for employee inclusion in organizational policy development.
Leading organizations through a strategic planning, organizational change and budgeting process while constantly renewing the organizational culture.
Managing and supervising a staff of thirty, various governance boards and committees, regional offices and staff, numerous work teams, and budgets that vary from over $3 million to $15 million.
Coordinating with elected leaders positive association relations with the media.
Coordinating the legislative and political action initiatives.

PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Past consultant with the KnowledgeWorks Foundation (Cincinnati, OH) which initiated the “Ohio Transformation Dialogue for Public Education” sponsored by Governor Strickland.
• Created a systems change strategy through the use of an organizational learning community training program and planning initiative for large systems change.
• Sponsored a four year organizational cultural change plan to create a “Framework for Change” that initiated an inclusive decision-making process for governance and staff working in a union environment.
• Developed a strategic program for a collective bargaining and compensation program which moved in six years the average New Hampshire teacher salary from a rank of 50th to 23rd in the nation.
• Initiated the first small state affiliate strategic planning process.
• Created the first small state computer literacy program for all state staff.
• Promoted a work team approach to decision-making and policy recommendations which includes both staff and governance working together.
• Founded the successful NH Alliance for Effective Schools (School Improvement Program) - a coalition of school and business community representatives dedicated to school transformation. This program became a national model.
• Sponsored the creation of a labor/management health care trust and partnership that increased the coverage while reducing health care cost for school employees.
• Initiated a research program within the Association to provide valuable collective bargaining data that is becoming the standard for the school community.

Other Activities:
Facilitator, Malden (MA) School Capacity Project of the Massachusetts Education Partnership
Serves on the City Year New Hampshire Board of Directors
Active participant in serving clients at the Concord Friendly Kitchen

Personal Facts:
Resident of Contoocook, NH for 40 years
Married for 54 years to Diane
Two children – Marcy and Jason
Four Grand Children – Tucker, McKenzie, Cassidy, Gigi May

Local Government Involvement
His forty-eight year professional career has been in the field of public education. He has worked at the local, state, and national levels in educational policy making and implementation. At the local level, he was a field representative for the Michigan Education Association in the districts of Warren and Lansing. He was responsible developing strong learning conditions for students that lead to solid working conditions for teachers. We regularly dealt with school funding issues at the local level.
In New Hampshire, he was the Executive Director of NEA NH for 21 years. During his tenure, we worked closely with the Department of Education on issues facing public education. He initiated in the mid-80’s the NH Alliance for Effective Schools. This collaborative of labor, management, higher education, legislature focused on initiating local based decision-making to create innovative schools. We had some 70 local schools engaged in substantive school change prior to the funding being eliminating from the state budget.
Since retiring from NEA NH, he has been engaged nationally in three ways. First, he joined the executive staff of the National Education Association for eight years. His position was to work with our 51 state affiliates in assisting them to be proactive in respond to state and federal education initiatives. The “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) federal legislation was most challenging as we sought to impact policies driving this federal initiative.
Second, he left the NEA and became a consultant with the KnowledgeWorks Foundation of Cincinnati , Ohio. One of our initiatives was the “Ohio Transformation Dialogue for Public Education” sponsored by Governor Strickland which created a coordinated effort of all public education stakeholders focused on school change.

Miscellaneous Information:
Avid alpine skier, golfer, snow showing, reader of various gendras.

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