Janet Black is the Vice President of Operations at Regional Enterprises for Adults and Children, Inc. (REACH, Inc.) and owns and operates Hand in Hand Childcare Center in Eau Claire. She has held various roles in the childcare industry throughout her career, including as a Teacher, Billing Coordinator, Assistant Director, and Interim Director. Janet has also been a certified county respite provider for children in foster care for Eau Claire County and is the proud mom to two school aged children.

Amanda Dohms is an Instructor and Program Director of the Early Childhood Education program at Chippewa Valley Technical College. Amanda has her master’s degree in education and is a National Board-Certified Teacher. She has worked in early childhood for over 15 years and is an advocate for high quality early childhood education.

Renee Ernsting is the Director of Child Care Partnership at Western Dairyland. She has worked for the agency for 20 years in various positions, promoting positive outcomes for young children and their families in 10 western Wisconsin counties.  Her current focus is on connecting families with childcare services, developing childcare professionals, and collecting data that impacts communities.  Renee works to develop solutions to the complex childcare challenges in her service delivery area.

Chris Hambuch-Boyle and her family are longtime residents of Eau Claire. She started teaching in the Eau Claire Area School District in 1979. Chris' entire 35-year teaching career was spent working with children and families at the preschool level, often serving needs in their least restrictive environments...their homes or childcare. Chris was on the ground floor when Eau Claire's community collaborative "Eau Claire 4 Tomorrow" (4-year-old kindergarten) program was developed approximately 20 years ago. Presently, Chris is a member of JONAH's Child Poverty Task Force where along with Western Dairyland Resource and Referral houses some of the most recent research on Child Care in the Chippewa Valley. She has also served on both the ECASD School Board and Eau Claire's County Board since her retirement from the ECASD. Presently, Chris is a full-time organizer for the Wisconsin Public Education Network covering all of Northwest Wisconsin.