Stephanie began her role with the NEW Partnership for Children and Families on January 24, 2001, as Training Manager and became director in April, 2004. Before joining the NEW Partnership, she worked in and supervised child welfare practice in several county agencies in the NEW Partnership training region. Stephanie received her BSW from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and her MSW from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis.

Patty joined NEW Partnership in March of 2010, after spending 17 years with the Manitowoc County Human Services Department. While there, Patty worked extensively with children and families, including 7 years as Foster Care Coordinator in which she was responsible for recruiting, licensing, training and retaining foster families. Patty obtained her BSW from UW-Green Bay.

Candy is a retired faculty member of the UW-Green Bay Social Work Professional Program. She has a Masters Degree in Social Work from UW - Madison. As a therapist, Candy specialized in child, adolescent and family therapies, and has experience working with victim and perpetrators of sexual, physical and emotional abuse, and domestic violence. Candy has also held administrative positions in public, non-profit, and private healthcare agencies. Over the past several years, Candy has helped to develop and train Ethics and Boundaries curricula for NEW Partnership

Jennifer became the Trainer with NEW Partnership in February, 2009. She has been practicing in the field of child welfare since receiving her BSW with a Child Welfare Emphasis in 1994, primarily focusing on ongoing services to families and working with foster parents. Prior to coming to NEW Partnership, Jennifer served as a Foster Care Coordinator for Outagamie and Calumet Counties for 11 years, and worked with the Receiving Home, Respite Care, and Kinship Care Programs. She has enjoyed training parents, staff, and foster parents over the past 13 years. Jennifer obtained her MSW degree from UW-Green Bay in 2009.

Liz M. Hessler, CMP - Program Assistant III
920-465-2724
hesslere@uwgb.edu

Liz began with NEW Partnership in February of 1999 after 10 years as a Financial Clerk with Green Bay Correctional Institution. She is also an "Insight" Alcohol Risk Reduction Program facilitator for University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. In her spare time, Liz is the bookkeeper for the family business, AutoPro and Truck, in Green Bay. Originally from Guam, Liz teaches Ancient and Modern Polynesian dancing and also loves hiding out at her cabin in Michigan with her husband. Her daughter Danica is a Social Worker for the Green Bay school system and son Jerrid works for the family business.

Kristin began with NEW Partnerships as the Training Specialist in April of 2008. Kristin attended UW-Madison where she received both her BSW and MSSW degrees. From 1998-2004, she worked for Dane County Department of Human Services as the Foster Care Recruitment and Training Coordinator. Kristin lived in North Dakota from 2004-2007 where she worked with domestic and international adoptive parents along with providing birthparent counseling for Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota. Kristin lives in Green Bay with her husband, Matt.

Karen Opolka-
Financial Specialist
920-465-2813
opolkak@uwgb.edu

Karen became the Financial Specialist for NEW Partnership in 1997. Before joining NEW Partnership, Karen was an office manager for contracting companies throughout the country.

Tammy joined the NEW Partnership in January 2004. She came to us from Brown County Human Services Department where she served as Deputy Director.

Samantha Surowiec -
Program Manager
920-465-2363
surowies@uwgb.edu