About Karen
Proven Leadership
Karen Liot Hill is a nineteen-year City Councilor in the City of Lebanon, NH, focusing on issues of sustainability, social justice, economic vitality, affordable housing, transparency, and inclusiveness. Karen served as Lebanon’s Mayor in 2008-09, during which time she signed onto the US Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement on behalf of the people of Lebanon. She currently sits on the City’s Economic Development Commission, Governance Committee, Joint City/School Board Task Force, and the Diversity, Equity & Inclusiveness Commission. In 2016, Karen was elected Treasurer of Grafton County, where she currently serves in her fourth term and is responsible for investing taxpayer dollars, securing favorable interest rates when borrowing is necessary, and exercising oversight of fiscal matters.
Karen has dedicated herself to public and community service in Lebanon, the Upper Valley region, and the State of New Hampshire, where she has served on the board of the Local Government Center, the municipal league for New Hampshire cities and towns, WISE, which supports victims of domestic and sexual violence, Vital Communities, a nonprofit that seeks to develop solutions to regional challenges in the Upper Valley, and the Lebanon Middle School Parent-Teacher Organization. Karen is an annual presenter to Leadership Upper Valley for “Government and Politics Day,” where she facilitates a program to increase participants' knowledge and engagement with local and state government in New Hampshire and Vermont.
Karen was the first recipient of the NH Young Democrats “Ted Kennedy Young Elected Official of the Year” prize in 2009 and was named one of New Hampshire’s “Top 40 Under 40” in 2010 by the Union Leader newspaper. She is a Dartmouth Class of 2000. She graduated from college with Honors in Government and a three-year old, an achievement she is very proud of.
The Lebanon Times
Summer 2019
"Karen is a walking-talking multitasker with a deeply rooted passion for civic duty and community awareness."
Boards & Committees
Vital Communities - helped with succession planning and strategic planning, still serve on Nominating Committee
Wise - helped transition organization from rented space to permanent facility on Bank Street
Leadership Upper Valley - have led Government & Politics Day for 10 years
New Hampshire Municipal Association - statewide advocacy organization for cities and towns
Lebanon Middle School Parent Teacher Organization (LMS PTO) - past president, fostered increased coordination and collaboration between parents and admin
First Baptist Church of Lebanon - former songleader for 15+ years
Lebanon Energy Advisory Committee - founding member (was created as part of Lebanon's participation in US Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement, which I signed as Mayor in 2009)
Westboro Yard Committee (former City Council subcommittee) - worked to secure brownfields grant funding to clean up 2 acres on the north end to create a park
Lebanon Pedestrian & Bicyclist Advisory Committee - City Council representative
Lebanon Outing Club - volunteer lift attendant and concessions for many years
CATV - City Council representative
Grafton County Economic Development Commission - City Council representative
Chaired the City Task Force on the Welcoming Lebanon Ordinance/Fair & Impartial Policing to make recommendations to the City Council
Chaired the City Task Force on Homelessness to make recommendations to the City Council
City Council Governance Subcommittee
Subcommittee for the Implementation of the Master Plan
Lebanon Economic Development Commission - CURRENT City Council representative
Joint City Council/School Board Task Force - CURRENT City Council representative
Young Elected Officials Network - national organization of progressive local, county, and state leaders (honorary member, having aged out at 40 two years ago)
Lebanon, Upper Valley, Grafton County & New Hampshire Democratic Party