I’m humbled and honored to begin my full time position as the Executive Director of the United Way of Sheboygan County.  While I have been working in this role on a part time basis for the past six months, I am excited to fully embrace the position. I was certainly familiar with the United Way prior to my employment, but I have more recently learned how fortunate Sheboygan County is to be served by this organization.  The mission of working with so many wonderful organizations and partner agencies for the goal of improving lives is one which I am looking forward to.  It is my hope and commitment that with my leadership of the team, we will continue the rich tradition of the United Way of Sheboygan County. 

As some of you know, I have spent the last thirty-three years working in the field of education.  While certainly different, my new role is an extension of what I have been doing all those years. I could not have found a better fit, as the collaborative nature of United Way is what I have tried to do as I worked with so many teachers, students, parents and community members.  One such example of that collaboration from United Way is the Community Partnership for Children (CPC), a cradle to career initiative focused on prevention support for youth and their families. With United Way serving as the backbone organization, the CPC is a collaborative project comprised of representatives from Sheboygan County Health and Human Services, Aurora Memorial Medical Center, St. Nicholas Hospital, Prevea Health, the Family Resource Center, Family Connections, Sheboygan County Head Start & Early Head Start, the Early Learning Center, the Plymouth Area School District, UW-Extension Sheboygan County, Lakeshore CAP, Birth to Three, Mental Health America in Sheboygan County and other community volunteers. With the participation of these organizations, initiatives supporting early childhood success have been developed and are being implemented county-wide.

Over the past year, Todd and Karri Neils worked tirelessly as the Campaign Co-Chairs for the 2016 Campaign. Getting to know them better was a pleasure and to see them care so deeply about the United Way’s mission was impressive.  Because of their commitment, and that of the many generous donors and business champions, we again had a tremendous campaign.  With those campaign dollars, United Way was able to invest a record amount of money into programs that will help people throughout Sheboygan County. It is hard to describe the feeling when people come together for a common cause of helping others. 

I’d like to thank my predecessors for building such a capable and strong organization, as well as the leadership of former Board Presidents Tony Klockow and Adam Payne and current Board President Kristi Jankowski, as they led the organization through this transition. I am excited to take on this new challenge and continue supporting Sheboygan County through my leadership of United Way.