Brenda Husband
Employment/Employer Relations Consultant
Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland

How long have you served on the Northern California Planning Committee and what prompted you to serve?
I've been a part of the committee since October of 2007. What we did was pull together managers from various departments in a meeting to survey how something of this nature would benefit them and what were their current needs. Each shared model ideas that would be helpful to their department as a whole and Children's Hospital & Research Center, Oakland. What prompted me to work with this committee was the fact that I am an advocate for internal career growth for our employees, and since we are contributing to this fund, why not make our money work for us. I believe everyone can be and do whatever their dreams will allow them.

This committee serves an important function. How would you describe your role and what has it bee like to serve in this capacity?
Actually serving on the committee gives me that up close opportunity to assist with the design and/or what model training could look like to fit our ever-changing healthcare the 21st century, as well as voice our concerns for specific pediatric training.

Do you feel that you are helping your employees by serving on this committee and if so how?
Yes. I do believe we as an organization are helping staff. Our ability to motivate, encourage and inspire our employees to enhance and embrace a career ladder of their choose is a win-win situation. They may be in one classification today, but could eventually become something else. Example: A Food Service worker could move to become a Central Supply Tech via the Education Training Fund, and/or housekeeper could do the same or become a Medical Assistant. "Home grown" staff is a good thing which gives us the flexibility to mentor and mold them to our specialized Pediatric expectations.

Ms. Husband serves on the Education Fund's Regional Planning Committee for Northern California. The committee is made up of employer and union leaders most familiar with the operations of the Education Fund's programs, work with Fund staff to develop, implement and evaluation programs and make recommendations about these programs to the Board of Trustees. They also act as the "selection committee" for stipend and other programs to ensure that all participating employers and unions are adequately represented. Four Planning Committees currently serve the regions of Northern California, Southern California, the Northwest and Colorado.