Beth Wood
Co-owner
21 Bar & Grill, Keene, NH
Beth Wood is in the vanguard of Keene’s youth leadership movement. Raised and educated in Keene, she is committed to making her home city and the Monadnock region a better place for people to live and thrive.
While in high school, Beth scooped ice cream at Twinkle Town Mini Golf. She started bartending at 21 Bar & Grill while in college, working her way up to general manager over the next 11 years. Taking it one step further, Beth and her husband recently purchased 21!
As a psychology student working at 21, Beth relished the opportunity to interact with people from many diverse backgrounds. As a result of listening to patrons and other business owners over the years, Beth formed impressions about what worked and didn’t work in the downtown district. She also held the position of Downtown Coordinator, where she connected city government, businesses, and nonprofit groups interested in cultivating and maintaining a vibrant city center. Beth continues to be actively involved with the Keene Downtown Group and the community at large.
Beth was one of the founders of the Greater Keene Rotaract Club, which is part of Rotary International and engages young adults in community service. She is currently a member of The Keene Elm City Rotary Club. Beth is an enthusiastic supporter of several non-profit organizations – four years on the Keene Family YMCA Sneakerball committee; co-chair of the team that fed the Walldog artists three meals a day in 2019; founder of Operation Elves, a holiday gift-giving program for underprivileged children; and a former board member of Radically Rural, an organization that promotes robust, rural communities.
Beth earned a degree in psychology from Keene State College. In 2019 she was one of several recipients of the Keene Sentinel’s annual Extraordinary Women award. Her nominator said, “Beth has a huge heart, loves our local community, and deserves to be recognized for everything she does to positively impact the area and people around her.” Also a Keene Sentinel Trendsetter winner in 2020, Beth looks forward to bringing her enthusiasm and in-depth knowledge of the community to bear in this year’s MUW campaign.