Rosanna is well-trained and deeply experienced for the job of Secretary of the USLHC. It may help you to know something about the extent of her experience.
Leadership at a young age
Having majored in psychology as an undergraduate, she took this background and experience to enter a career providing therapeutic care for troubled children. It is unusual for a person having only a bachelor’s degree in psychology to find work related to that field, but Rosanna gathered a strong reputation for effectiveness. While still in her mid-twenties, she advanced to become the director of the Billings Youth Home.
Under her leadership, the program became one of the best shelter care facilities in the nation. The population of youth served there could be extremely challenging, but she ran a program that kept them safe while providing the help they needed. She received an award from the state of Montana for her dedication. Since a key way to make a displaced youth feel safe is through food, she had the insight to hire staff who delivered excellent meals and snacks to the residents. Referral agencies joked that this program offered the best French cuisine in the state. And this was done while reducing food costs.
Rural experiences with Rosanna
After she married, Rosanna followed her husband in his career out to locations in far eastern Montana. These were some of the most remote locations in the lower 48 states.
In Baker (population about 3,000), the pair operated a small farm, where, in addition to their dog and cat, they cared for a milk cow, a calf, two Belgian horses, some geese, lots of chickens, a couple of goats, and a lamb.
Not finding work there that needed her training and background, Rosanna landed a job at the local livestock auction, where she started as a gate swinger to bring animals into the sales ring. Quickly, she advanced to keeping sales records and helping local ranchers settle up at the auction desk.
The local bank in Fallon County converted its bookkeeping to run on an IBM System 32, a “mini-computer” that had to be housed in its own room with its own cooling equipment. The bank president recruited Rosanna to hand-verify every loan account after the conversion to the new system. Her role was to examine every record from A to Z to confirm the accuracy of the values for principle, interest, and payments. In order to do this, she re-calculated these values using a small but powerful programmable calculator that she brought from home.
Later, in Forsyth, Montana, Rosanna found a position in a bustling dental practice and later managed the office in the very active local mental health center satellite office. This satellite office served a geographic area of more than 6,000 square miles but covered a population of fewer than 9,000 people.
Ranking leadership in youth care
When she and her spouse had the opportunity to move to Billings, Montana, Rosanna took a job as a ranking staff member at Ted Lechner Youth Services Center, helping to design and implement the care and treatment program there. The Center was the first juvenile detention facility in Montana.
Given the clientele Rosanna has served, one can say that she is difficult to intimidate. Her husband personally observed an incident in which a huge man with a significant history of violent behavior confronted her. He was the father of one of the children placed in her care. He appeared at her office demanding access to his child. The youth was in placement as protection from this man. Consequently, Rosanna was not about to give in to his demand. Recognizing her resolve, he reluctantly backed down and departed peaceably.
Following her experience at the Youth Service Center, Rosanna entered graduate school at the University of Montana.
Communications
Rosanna currently designs and typesets the Happy Heeler, the newsletter of the USLHC. A Macintosh computer owner since 1984, she quickly became interested in digital design and typesetting. Having created numerous newsletters that served her profession and some causes she cares about, she is well-qualified with the right experience for this role. One of her newsletters, Special Interest, informed her colleagues in a far-flung special education cooperative serving rural Montana. It won a statewide award for excellence, recognizing both its outstanding design and its well-written, useful content.
Boards of Directors
Rosanna has served on several boards of directors. At this time, she is the Board Secretary for the Yellowstone Valley Kennel Club (YVKC). This licensed AKC club is the largest kennel club in her region.
She served for a term on the community board for our regional National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate. Membership on this board was quite prestigious, and many community leaders competed for a position on it. During her association with that board, she began a decades-long experience as a volunteer at the radio station. Every spring and fall, she offered a great deal of her time processing the station’s fundraising pledges as they arrived by telephone, via the web, and email.