Robin H. Mainhardt Northwest Connection Family Resources Counties/Tribes Served Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Florence, Forest, Iron, Oneida, Price, Rusk, Sawyer, Vilas, and Washburn counties, including the tribal communities of Bad River, Forest County Potawatomi, Lac Courte Oreilles, Lac du Flambeau, Red Cliff, Sokaogon, and St. Croix Contact Information robin.mainhardt@ncfrwi.net | 715-369-9255 About Early in my career, I worked as a store manager in Rhinelander giving me a sound background in business management. As I started my family, I transitioned to the child care field and later became a director of a corporate child care center, licensed for 90 children. The knowledge I gained in both of these occupations led me to work as the director of a child care resource and referral agency. My role included supporting child care providers around business practices, writing and administering grants for child care programs, and developing training specific to the child care community. This program merged with Northwest Connection Family Resources. During the past 13 years I have worked as a consultant for the YoungStar quality improvement program; conducted training on Pyramid Model, Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards, abusive head trauma, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome prevention, and Developmentally Appropriate Practice; became reliable in the ECERS and TIPTOS tools; provided resources to child care programs and community partners; and sat on the early childhood advisory committee for Nicolet College. The Most Exciting Part of Being a BCCA Interacting with community agencies and businesses has always been exciting for me. Networking is important to maintain relationships in a community, to help provide resources for businesses when opening (or closing), to maintain community growth, and in connecting businesses with others who may have similar interests or who may benefit from each other’s services. Knowledge of resources helps me to help connect people. Additionally, this position gives me the ability to talk with many people and use problem-solving skills in a positive manner. Goals for the Next Year A goal I have is to grow the Partner Up! program and develop the connections between child care programs and other businesses in communities. Another goal is to help our agency continue to serve as a leader in the field, providing community-based, quality programming for early childhood professionals.
