Optimists Club
Give the gift of optimism
Hello everyone!
It has been QUITE a year here at Granite Goodness.
If you have never taken a look at our timeline page, it’s worth a peek.
Over the past year, Granite Goodness has grown in ways I could not have imagined.
In 2025, Granite Goodness:
Built big momentum
Had our first ever live show, with 115 attendees!!!
Co-hosted TEDx Portsmouth (largest TEDx event in all of New England), emceed the Bring Back the Trades 2025 Skills Expo at Gillette Stadium, and emceed the 2025 Manchester International Film Festival
Shared 500+ stories of progress and problem solving across New England in climate, energy, sustainability, housing, infrastructure, economics, workforce development, science, technology, and the nonprofit sector
Expanded coverage to all six New England states and joined the Progress Network
Grew our community
Hosted two guest reunions, joined three panels, held six sustainability networking events, and launched three partnerships
Tripled our podcast downloads and brought our solutions lens to 6 other podcasts
Grew the newsletter community by more than 6x to over 3,000 subscribers across Substack and Linkedin
Fostered an online community of 10,000+ social media followers (10x growth) engaging regularly with stories that counter cynicism and highlight real progress
Earned trust and recognition
Interviewed half of New Hampshire’s congressional delegation, the Governor of NH, UNH’s President, and many others offering optimistic, expert perspectives on housing, opioids, healthcare costs, trades careers, state economics, local food systems, and other issues important to New England.
Received three awards including NH Young Person of the Year, a UNH GOLD Award, and Catapult Seacoast’s Ten to Watch.
Published a piece in NH Business Review and attracted press from The Union Leader and UNH Magazine
It has been a lot of work, and I have loved every moment. Granite Goodness is not something I clock into. I live and breathe it.
From the beginning, I have done this project almost entirely for free, purely out of a desire to manifest a more optimistic view of our corner of the world. Apart from a handful of sponsorships, that has remained true.
Looking ahead, Granite Goodness has reached a point where, thanks to all of you, I get to dream even bigger about the impact it can have.
A new way to support Granite Goodness
When I look at everything Granite Goodness has been able to do with very little money, it is clear how much possibility opens up with even a modest amount of support.
So, in that spirit, and in response to popular demand, effective today we are officially launching a new way to support Granite Goodness: Optimists Club!
Optimists Club supports Granite Goodness and helps sustain our optimistic, local, solutions-focused storytelling.
Membership
$5 per month or $50 annually
Annual memberships are discounted to $35 through the end of 2025
Members receive:
An exclusive monthly newsletter featuring my personal favorite stories of progress and problem solving from around the world. This newsletter is paywalled and only for Optimists Club members. All other Granite Goodness content will always remain free. An optional mailed print copy is available for supporters who opt in.
Discounts to Granite Goodness LIVE shows and merchandise (coming in 2026)
The chance to be featured in newsletters, with one Optimists Club member randomly selected each issue
Optional recognition on the Granite Goodness website, including a short note about why you chose to support
If you like Granite Goodness and want to support our work, including:
Newsletters sharing stories of progress, with state-level editions launching across New England in 2026
Podcast interviews with leaders and optimists from across the region
LIVE events highlighting local problem solvers
Regular meetups (more coming in 2026)
Social media storytelling and collaborations with journalists, nonprofits, universities, and innovators
You can also gift an annual membership to someone else in your life who you think could use a little optimism, currently discounted to $35 through the end of 2025.
We’re building something bigger
From the beginning, part of the mission of Granite Goodness has been to help build a better way to tell stories about the problems we face. To do this, we rely on excellent local journalists across New Hampshire and New England, and we believe a healthy local media ecosystem is essential to an informed sense of optimism.
Optimists Club is designed with that belief built in. 10% of all Optimists Club revenue will be donated to organizations that support local journalism in New Hampshire and New England, including groups like the Granite State News Collaborative.
THANK YOU ALL for being part of this community and for helping me believe that optimism isn’t naive. It’s pragmatic.
Hard, and worth it.
Granite and good.
-Andy