DCF Executive Team

The Executive Team is appointed by Wisconsin's governor and has the day-to-day tasks of managing the Department of Children and Families, as well as determining our agency's future direction.

Our Executive Team welcomes the opportunity to speak at conferences and meet with partners, stakeholders, and other interested parties across the state. To request a member of our Executive Team, please complete this form in its entirety. 

Secretary-designee Jeff Pertl 

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Secretary-designee Jeff Pertl was appointed by Gov. Evers in September 2024, after serving as the Department of Children and Families (DCF) deputy secretary for six years. 

Prior to working at DCF, Jeff spent a decade as the senior policy advisor at the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), working on issues around early childhood education, school finance, and closing the achievement gap. He was the liaison to DCF, working collaboratively on early childhood and family policy issues.

Jeff was as a long-time county supervisor and possesses a wealth of experience in local government financial, personnel, and human services issues. Additionally, he served several years on the Wisconsin Counties Association (WCA) board of directors, working on statewide issues like youth justice reform, child welfare funding, and early childhood education access.

As a child of divorced parents, Jeff experienced firsthand the vital role child support has in creating a positive, stable family environment. As an adult, he and his wife have been licensed foster parents, and their two boys were adopted at birth in Wisconsin. Both boys love participating in their neighborhood early care and education program.

Deputy Secretary Nadya Pérez-Reyes 

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Nadya Pérez-Reyes was appointed deputy secretary in September 2024, after serving as the Department of Children and Families (DCF) assistant secretary for four years. 

Prior to working at DCF, Nadya worked as an attorney with the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Juvenile and Mental Health Office, where she represented children in delinquency, waiver, children in need of protection or services (CHIPS), juvenile in need of protection or services (JIPS) proceedings and parents in termination of parental rights (TPR) cases.  Nadya also worked in the State Public Defender’s Washington and Ozaukee County Trial offices, representing both adults and children. Before joining the Wisconsin State Public Defender, she worked at Legal Action of Wisconsin and the Government Accountability Board (now the State Elections Board).

Nadya has a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, Spanish Language and Literature, and Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies; a Master of Arts in Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies with an emphasis on the African Diaspora; and a Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.