Allied Health Education, Access & Development (AHEAD) Program Wins First Place in 2026 Innovation Challenge

Awarded $100,000 to Help Connect Students with Health Care Employers

Concord, NH – With an emphasis on building a structured pathway for high school students to explore allied health specialties, earn credentials and connect directly with health care employers across New Hampshire, the Allied Health Education, Access & Development (AHEAD) Program, led by Laurel Geller and Armon Farahani, was named the 1^st place winner of HealthForce NH’s Innovation Challenge 2026 and awarded $100,000 toward its project.

“We are absolutely thrilled to celebrate this year’s winners. Through the Innovation Challenge, we wanted to create a space where problem solvers could bring their ideas forward, be seen, be supported and be challenged to grow,” said Maureen Znoj, senior director, HealthForce NH.

“Reducing Work Disability Among NH Health Care Workers Through Work-Health Coaching,”  Dr. Karen Huyck, Work Health CoLab, Inc., was awarded $60,000 for second place in the Innovation Challenge. Work Health CoLab takes a whole-system approach to workforce health, offering coaching for workers, occupational medicine support for care teams and medical leave management for employers to keep New Hampshire’s workforce healthy and productive.

Third place and $40,000 went to “PEER Program at APD,” Paula Seaman, MSN, DA, RN, CENP, Chief Nursing Officer, Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital. APD’s PEER Program takes a whole-person approach to retaining New Hampshire’s frontline health care workforce, providing timely, individualized mental health resources to help caregivers sustain their own well-being while continuing to serve their communities.

“While we are thrilled to recognize our winners, I hope what people take away from the Innovation Challenge is a sense of what is possible when Granite Staters decide to stop waiting for someone else to solve the problem,” said Znoj. “Tonight’s Innovation Challenge competitors are rooted in the belief that New Hampshire’s health care workforce challenges can and will be solved and I want to congratulate all the nominees for the creativity and passion put forth in their proposals.”

The competition was open to New Hampshire individuals, established organizations, or new organizations within any industry. All proposals needed to reflect original thinking or original adaptations and applications of existing programs, changed to be unique, and had to be focused on health care workforce in New Hampshire. After an application process that included comprehensive proposals being submitted, semi-finalists were selected to participate in a live pitch event. The final winners were selected after extensive evaluation and deliberation by a panel of judges.

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