About Jen
Public Service

Jen's commitment to public education led her to run for the Lunenburg School Committee in 2003. She has served for over five years on the committee and is currently the elected Chair. Jen began her tenure on the board during a difficult time for the schools and was instrumental in rebuilding the relationships between the schools, the town, and the other town boards.

  • As a member of the Lunenburg School Committee, Jen has brought the schools and town together to create a balanced budget for five straight years, while also improving the education and test scores of our children.
  • As Chair of the School Committee, Jen is responsible for a budget of $15 million and has worked effectively as liaison to the Finance Committee and member of the Capital Planning Committee.
  • As member of the Primary School Building Committee, Jen worked with architects, builders, and town officials to build an outstanding new school while completing the project on budget.

Jen has also served as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Lunenburg Democratic Town Committee, where she re-energized community activists and helped to elect strong leaders to represent our towns.

Personal
Benson Family Jen and Maya

Jen and Brent Benson have been married for 15 years. Brent works for Oracle Corporation as a Software Applications Architect. Jen and Brent have three children, Hannah, 14, Maya, 12 and Noah, 8 who all attend the Lunenburg public schools.

Benson Family Benson Family

Jen grew up in Rochester, NH. She attended Rochester Public Schools and graduated from Spaulding High School. She began her college career at Rochester Institute of Technology for photography but transferred to Florida Atlantic University where she graduated with a BA in Art History.

Benson Family

Her father, Bill, worked as an apprentice patternmaker at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, but when he was laid off, just as Jen was due to arrive, he became a letter carrier for the US Postal Service. After 13 years as a letter carrier, Bill went on to become a realtor and then back to patternmaking in Beverly, MA.

Jen's mother, Betty, began working in the post office as a clerk after Jen started kindergarten. She soon moved up to her own rural route, and started taking night courses. She graduated with a BS in Accounting from New Hampshire College. She began to work her way through the US Postal Service. After receiving her MBA at the University of New Hampshire, she worked all the way up to the USPS Headquarters in Washington, DC.

Jonathan, Jen's brother, is an architect in Concord, NH. He is a graduate of Syracuse University. He still lives in Rochester with his wife Lisa, and their 2 children, Emily and Sarah.