2026 Board of Directors

Officers

  • President: Nancy Jones
    Stronger Together Fox Valley
  • Vice President: Wendy Propson
    VPI Outagamie & Winnebago Birth to 3 – Director
  • Secretary: Diane Penzenstadler
    44°North Advertising & Design – President/Owner
  • Past President: Allison Laverty Montag Winnebago County Public Health – Community Health Strategist

Directors

  • Amanda Abshire
    City of Appleton – Deputy City Attorney
  • Anjuli Anderpaw
    Menasha Joint School District – 4K/SPE
  • Jamie Boucher
    Plexus – Designer for Global Brand Experience
  • Don Hietpas
    Retired AASD – Chief Financial Officer
  • Peter Kelly
    Retired United Way Fox Cities – President & CEO
  • Chu Lee-Yang
    Calumet County – Children, Youth and Families Division Manager
  • Katie Neitzel
    EAA – Major Gift Officer
  • Andrea Parnau
    Plexus – VP Supply Chain
  • Mary Parsons
    Retired LEAVEN – Executive Director
  • Steph Paulson
    U.S. Venture – SVP of HR Operations
  • Ryan Popp
    Baker Tilly – Senior Manager
  • Patricia Sarvela
    ThedaCare – Chief Development Officer
  • Angela Steuck
    Family Services of NEW – Vice President
  • Oliver Zornow
    Building for Kids – Executive Director

Leaders building a strong foundation for the next generation

First 5 Fox Valley a charitable organization in the State of Wisconsin with the purpose to cultivate a community that empowers and supports every family to build a solid foundation for children in their first five years.  The volunteer leadership team is comprised of community and business leaders, health care and child development experts and early childhood service providers from the Help Me Grow Fox Valley advisory committee.  The First 5 Fox Valley Board wants to ensure children are developmentally ready and on track to reach their full potential. To that end, the following three strategic outcome goal statements have been developed.

  • Improve local efforts to strengthen early identification and intervention practices, which encompass routine surveillance, screening, developmental promotion and referral to appropriate services that support a child’s unique developmental needs.
  • Implement the Help Me Grow Centralized Access Point that will refer and link families to community resources to support children’s development. The HMG Centralized Access Point and call center will provide a family-centered approach or “warm handoff” to connect and follow-up with parents having difficulty navigating the service system.
  • Coordinate strategic advocacy efforts on early childhood issues providing a hub for partnering agencies to develop a collective voice within the Fox Cities.


Board leaders coordinate the following workgroups to utilize volunteers to expand and explore opportunities to develop the strategic outcomes.  Workgroups are: 

  • Advocacy and Policy 
  • Family and Community Outreach
  • Health Provider Outreach
  • Marketing, Media and Messaging
  • Research and Data
  • Governance and Sustainability