Colleen Steinbruecker – Executive Director
Colleen Steinbruecker is a native of Sheboygan County. She grew up in Sheboygan Falls, and currently resides in Sheboygan with her husband and their 8-year-old son.
Colleen is a graduate of both Moraine Park Technical College, where she earned her Associate’s degree in Child Development, and Lakeland College where she earned her Bachelor of the Arts Degree in Elementary Education, with a minor in Early Childhood. Along with her education, she brings over 20 years of experience in early childhood education.
Colleen began working for Family Connections in 2012, as an Early Childhood Consultant and Trainer. In 2019, she left her position as Early Childhood Consultant and joined the Sheboygan County United Way where she served as the Community Partnership for Children Coordinator. In 2021, she returned to Family Connections as Executive Director. Colleen has served many roles in Early Childhood Education. First, she began her career working in childcare centers as a teacher of all ages. Next, she worked exclusively with early learners as a Head Start Teacher for eight years. She has been an Adjunct Instructor in the Early Childhood Program at Moraine Park Technical College and also was the director of the childcare at the Sheboygan Falls YMCA.
Colleen has a passion for early learning and has been advocating for Early Childhood Professionals for more than 20 years. In her free time, Colleen enjoys spending time with her family, walking and spending time outdoors.
Michelle Christus – Early Learning Support Specialist
Michelle Christus was born and raised in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and is the youngest of 3 siblings. Michelle earned her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from Marian University. Throughout her career, Michelle has been dedicated to Early Childhood education and has held various jobs in the field, such as a child care teacher and center director. Michelle joined Family Connections in 2015, as an Early Childhood Consultant and Trainer. Michelle is dedicated to helping others and ensuring children receive high quality education. Michelle likes to attend events at Road America during the summer, spend time with family and friends, and catch up on her favorite television shows in her free time.
Susan Crisp – Welcome Baby Resource Specialist
Susan Crisp is a native of Wisconsin and has lived in Menomonie, Chilton and Sheboygan. Susan has also had the opportunity to live in Norwich, England. Susan graduated from Chilton High School and has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Lacrosse. She has taught in Chilton, Plymouth, and Sheboygan Public Schools and also in Norwich, England.
Susan has worked as a parent educator with families for the past 24 years in Sheboygan County. She believes working with families and supporting them during special times in their lives is very important for a successful community. Susan enjoys the opportunity that Family Connections gives her to make a positive contribution to families.
Susan and her husband David have two married daughters, Elizabeth and Nadine. They have also been blessed with a grandson named Joey. During her spare time, you will find Susan knitting, reading and walking.
Deb Streblow – Welcome Baby Resource Specialist
Deb Streblow is a native of Plymouth, Wisconsin and graduated from Plymouth High School. She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Education from Marian University and taught at Riverview Middle School in Plymouth for 13 years. She then joined the Sheboygan Area School District, first as a teacher at Horace Mann, and then as an administrator at Cleveland Elementary, Central High School, and Grant Elementary School. Deb earned her Master of Science Degree in Educational Leadership from Cardinal Stritch University in 2002. After retiring from the school district, she joined our team in 2017.
Deb has been a resident of Sheboygan since 2002, and enjoys spending time with her family, playing golf and gardening. She also enjoys spending part of the winter in Texas each year to escape the cold of Wisconsin. Deb and Peter share 4 children and 3 grandchildren. Two here in Sheboygan, and one in Austin, TX.
Deb is passionate about the mission of Family Connections and the Welcome Baby Program and will continue to work to ensure quality connections with our community.
Terri Schultz – Connections Coordinator/Parent Café Leader
Terri is a graduate of LTC with an associate degree in early childhood education and began working at The Salvation Army as a lead teacher and center director before joining Family Connections in 2014. Terri is the Connections Coordinator for Sheboygan and Fond du Lac County. She also leads Parent Cafes and provides professional development training. She is currently attending UW Green Bay majoring in Organizational Leadership.
She enjoys being with her friends and family, especially her grandson. She also likes to garden, cook, and walk her dog.
Michele Hemb – Family Support Specialist
Michele Hemb began her career at Family Connections at the beginning of 2023. She graduated from LTC with her associate degree in marketing in 2006. She later went on to graduate Cum Laude with a BA in Nonprofit Organizational Management, from Lakeland University in 2012.
Prior to her employment at Family Connections, Michele was the Executive Director of Rainbow Kids, Inc. in Sheboygan where she helped provide support to numerous families dealing with loss. She enjoys working with people and is willing to take the initiative to step in where needed to ensure the success of those in need.
Friends and family are very important to Michele and when she isn’t working, she enjoys spending as much time as she can with them. She loves to go ‘bumming’, bake, play, and get as many snuggles in as she can with her dear granddaughter, Marlee Grayce.
Shanda Yang – Welcome Baby Resource Specialist/Rainbow Kids Coordinator
Shanda Yang resides in Sheboygan, WI with her husband and daughter. She graduated from LTC with an associate degree in early childhood education. Previously, Shanda worked as a 4k assistant teacher at Here We Grow Childcare center for 7 years. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, traveling, playing volleyball and spending time with her family & church. She is passionate about early childhood and her community and is excited to be working with Family Connections.
Cassie Weber – Recruitment Specialist
Cassie Weber resides in St Cloud with her husband and two sons. She has been active in the field of early care and education for the past 10 years. Cassie began her career in early care in 2013 working in a licensed childcare center in Fond du Lac. With the demand so high for childcare, she made the decision to open her home to children and families and became a Licensed Family Childcare center. In 2020, Cassie expanded her childcare center and transitioned from a Licensed Family Childcare to a Licensed Group center. Due to the struggles of finding staff recently, she had to make the extremely tough decision to close her childcare center. Cassie then expanded her expertise and worked as a Quality Support Specialist, coaching early childhood educators in Calumet County. Her passion for the field led her to her current position. She understands the struggles childcare programs face, and is dedicated to supporting new providers and building childcare capacity in Sheboygan County. Cassie and her family spend their time camping, fishing, traveling, and watching their son’s sporting events. They are very involved in their community, volunteering their time at local athletic clubs.
Erin Williams – Recruitment Specialist
Erin Williams resides in Sheboygan Wisconsin with her three daughters. Erin attended college courses at Upper Iowa University and UW Green Bay. Throughout her career, Erin has been dedicated to early care and education and has held various jobs in the field, such as a childcare teacher and most recently a Head Start teacher. She is passionate about supporting the Early Childhood community and advocating for them. Erin likes to spend time with family and friends, spending time crafting, and attending local events.
Mary Katarincic – Early Learning Support Specialist
Mary Katarincic was raised in Grafton, Wisconsin, the 3rd of four children. When Mary was 5 and attended kindergarten for the first time, she knew she wanted to grow up to be a teacher. She has spent her entire adult life advocating for children and families in her community. Mary earned a bachelor’s degree Early Childhood Education from the University of Wisconsin Whitewater. After working for Milwaukee Public Schools for a few months, she realized that to meet the needs of her students she needed to return to school and earned her Early Childhood Special Education degree. Upon completing her special education degree, she continued to take coursework towards her master’s degree in early childhood education at the University of Concordia. Mary’s work experience includes 20 years in early childhood special education classrooms in the public-school setting. Recently, Mary has added the role of college instructor to her work resume and teaches early childhood courses for Wisconsin technical colleges. When not dedicating her time working to include students in the early childhood classroom, Mary enjoys spending time with her husband, 3 adult children and 2 fuzzy muppet doodle dogs.
