Who We Are

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Jeanne is the Executive Director at Family Forum, Inc. She has worked for Head Start for 27 years. For 24 of those years, she has been with Family Forum Inc., and seven of those years she has been the Executive Director. Jeanne has experience in various positions at Family Forum, Inc. as a Family Service Worker, Head Start Pre-School Teacher, and Early Head Start Home Visitor. She also worked for the Office of Head Start as an Early Childhood Specialist in the Training and Technical Assistance department. Jeanne holds a master's degree in education. She is proud to see staff building resilient classrooms, and to see each adult's focus on widening their windows of tolerance. Jeanne's goal is to aid staff, children, and families in making positive choices that create positive changes. A fun fact about Jeanne is that she served in the Army National Guard for nine years and was ranked as sergeant. Jeanne enjoys participating/watching sports and four-wheeling/ATV riding in her free time.

PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Joan is the Early Head Start Director at Family Forum, Inc. She has been with the agency for 31 1/2 years and has worked for the last five years as the Early Head Start Director. Previously, she was an EHS Assistant Director, Center Manager, Health Coordinator, and Health Assistant. She has a bachelor's degree in human services with education in nursing, nutrition, and family services. She is extremely proud of the wonderful work and connections she sees staff make with the children and families that come through our program. Joan feels honored to work with all of the staff, to learn from them, support them, and work side-by-side with them as they support the children and families. Overall, Joan feels very lucky to work for such a wonderful agency that truly cares about the children, families, staff, and communities that we are a part of, Joan explains that, "We are working with families to plant seeds of hope, knowledge, acceptance, civility, and kindness." Joan's goal is to shift more program focus on children three years and younger and prenatal women within the next five to ten years to make the greatest difference in the lives of children and families within our communities. Joan loves spending time outdoors; hiking, biking, and enjoying the sun. One fun fact she shares about herself is that she is a fangirl of Mr. Rogers.

FINANCE OFFICER

Lynn is the Finance Officer at Family Forum, Inc. She has worked for the agency for five years, the whole time in her current position. She has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. Lynn is proud of the agency's ability to help young children to be successful in kindergarten. Her goal is to help find the financing to provide program supplies to the families within our program. A fun fact about Lynn is that she is not from Wisconsin. Lynn loves putting together a good puzzle and playing a game. She is also the proud pup-parent of one of the cutest dachshunds in the world (verified by an outside source). She would love to find a dachshund owners group in the area.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Heather is the newest addition to our Executive Team, starting with Family Forum, Inc. in 2023. She is excited to be part of the team and assist in asking good questions to help move our agency into the future. Her educational background includes that of organization development. She is proud of Family Forum, Inc.'s ability to work as a team, and she is inspired by the team approaches that are in place here. Heather says, "My goal for Family Forum, Inc. is that we move toward being a strength-based organization by looking at communication as a skill to show the culture of the organization, and how the culture of the administrative team moves into the management team and moves into the frontlines." Heather also explains that helping others to understand the process flow of decisions and how those decisions impact the frontlines is a goal of hers. She explains that helping others discover the strengths they bring is important in working with others. "If we don't know what others bring how can we see how we work well as a team?" A fun fact about Heather is that she is a person who attempts to find the good in every situation by thinking about problems and trying to give solutions that will be positive.