Cathy Howe Thwaits has worked in the early childhood education field for over 30 years. Since 1997, she has served as Executive Director/Head Start Director for Marathon County Child Development Agency, Inc. in Wausau, Wisconsin. Prior to Head Start, Cathy served the field of Early Childhood Education as an early exceptional needs teacher for the St. Paul, MN public schools, a family day care provider, a parent-cooperative preschool teacher, co-director and lead teacher of the Gesell Institute for Study of Young Children at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point and associate lecturer at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. Her life and career have been devoted to providing quality services to all children and families and her experiences have allowed her to experience the field of early childhood education from many different perspectives.

Cathy serves on the board of directors of the Wisconsin Head Start Association, The Registry, and the Marathon County Early Years Coalition. She serves on several state and local task forces and advisory committees. She has presented at local, state, regional and national early childhood conferences.

Cathy earned a B.A. in Elementary and Early Childhood Education from the College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, MN and a M.S. in Human and Community Resources: Child and Family Studies from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. She is currently completing a Ph.D. in Adult Education from Capella University. Her dissertation is titled: "The Influence of Reframing Explanatory Language Style on Early Childhood Teachers' Perceptions of the Costs Related to Challenging Behavior".