KIDS Consortium staff brings a wealth of experience in planning, education, and administration to the organization. We share a passion for service-learning and a commitment to fully integrating the KIDS model into the culture of a school district and the community in which it resides.

Francine Rudoff

Executive Director

Francine Rudoff has served as the Executive Director of KIDS Consortium since 1998, managing all aspects of the organization’s work. Under her leadership, the organization has greatly expanded its reach around the Northeast, engaging over 10,000 K-12 students in service-learning experiences and training more than 500 educators annually. She collaborates with state departments of education, non-profit organizations, businesses, and community-school district leadership teams across the U.S. on the integration of service-learning and citizenship education into policy, practice and culture. Fran also advocates for civic learning and engagement in her home state of Maine, having served on the Maine Legislature’s Citizenship Education Study Commission, Maine’s Task Force on Citizenship Education (supported by the national Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools), and the Maine Social Studies Professional Development Network. Nationally, Fran is involved in the National Service-Learning Partnership and the Service-Learning Providers Network. Prior to joining KIDS Consortium, Fran worked on a wide range of environmental and planning projects for 20 years at the state and national levels, holding positions with the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, the Maine State Planning Office, the Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She holds a Master of Regional Planning degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Rochester.

Tracy Harkins

Education Programs Manager

Tracy Harkins is the Education Programs Manager at KIDS Consortium, where she coordinates major grant-funded projects and professional development services. Tracy joined KIDS Consortium in 2000 as an Education Consultant and has extensive experience creating and delivering professional development programs and resources on service-learning. She also works with school districts and communities as they develop policies and administrative support structures to sustain service-learning. Tracy co-authored the KIDS as Planners Guidebook and Working With KIDS: A Service-Learning guide for Community Partners. Prior to joining KIDS, Tracy was a service-learning practitioner at the elementary and middle levels for 7 years. She also holds certificates in mediation, conflict resolution, and facilitation, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from the University of Southern Maine. She is currently working on her Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership. She has received Critical Friends training and has facilitated a variety of professional development opportunities at local, state, and national levels.

Barbara Fiore

Education Consultant

Barbara Fiore is an Education Consultant with KIDS Consortium, where she designs and delivers service-learning professional development, and collaborates with school district and community leadership teams as they develop policies and supports to integrate and sustain service-learning. Barbara also managed a collaboration with the Choices Program at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies. Prior to joining KIDS in 2005, Barbara was an Outward Bound instructor and Program Director for fifteen years. Among her many achievements at Outward Bound’s Newry Mountain Center, were the creation of the first International Wilderness Leadership Semester Course offered for college credits and the design of Educational Services contract courses for schools and organizations. Barbara serves on the Board of the Watershed School in Rockland, Maine and worked as the Program Director for the Outdoor Center for Learning and Leadership at the University of Southern Maine. She holds a B.A, from the University of Maine at Orono and a M.Ed. from Antioch New England Graduate School.

Matt Robinson

Education Consultant

Matt Robinson is an Education Consultant with KIDS Consortium, where he designs and delivers service-learning professional development, and collaborates with school district and community leadership teams as they develop policies and supports to integrate and sustain service-learning. Matt also coordinates Project Citizen in Maine with the national Center for Civic Education. Matt joined KIDS Consortium in 2007, following fifteen years of experience teaching students at the middle and high school levels in alternative and regular education settings. He approaches the work of an education consultant as a classroom practitioner of service-learning. Drawing on his interest in history and civics education, Matt coached High School Mock Trial Competition teams in Maine. Matt earned a B.S. degree in Education from the University of Maine at Farmington and a M.Ed from the University of Maine.

Terri Coolidge Marin

Administrative Manager

Terri Marin manages the administrative and technology systems for the KIDS organization. Prior to joining KIDS in 2001, Terri was Administrative Secretary for the Poland Community School for over ten years – where she honed her amazing ability to juggle many tasks at the same time! Terri also handles logistical planning, registrations and communications for our many workshops and conferences and collaborates with the Executive Director and Education Consultants on special projects. Recently, Terri worked on a yearlong project to redesign the KIDS Website and created our e-newsletter, which she edits and blasts out to the world on a regular basis. When she’s not at KIDS, Terri serves as President of her local lake watershed association, which she organized in 1997. She is a Volunteer Lake Monitor, and was named the Conservation Educator of the Year in 2004 for implementing service-learning erosion control projects within the association's watershed.

Brenda Tarmey

Finance Manager

Brenda Tarmey joined the staff of KIDS Consortium in 2008 as our Financial Manager, bringing many years of hands-on financial management and accounting. Her managerial experience also includes human resource and related benefits management including health insurance, pension plans, Worker’s Compensation, and OSHA compliance. Brenda earned her Associate of Science in Business Administration degree at the University of Maine. She also holds certificates in Employment & Labor Law in Maine, State and Federal Personnel Laws, Time Management Training, ISO auditor and certification, Domestic and International Letters of Credit and other business and computer related training. Brenda is also the general manager and a shareholder of T.H. Creations, Inc., a Lewiston-based web design and development company, and has held positions with Bachman Industries, Inc. and the Portland Newspapers (PPH/MST).

Susan Karnes

Administrative Assistant

Susan Karnes joined the KIDS team in 2010 as our Administrative Assistant. Susan's focus is on customer service - helping our clients order products, tracking accounts, updating our databases, assisting with event registrations, and supporting our education consultants as they prepare for trainings and consulting projects. Susan comes to us with a rich and diverse skill set after working for many years in the customer service departments at LL Bean and Central Maine Power, and as a pre-school teacher in Brunswick. She lives in Durham, Maine and also volunteers as a Girl Scout leader for her twin daughters.

Jo Anna Gates

AmeriCorps*VISTA

Jo Anna Gates of Kalamazoo, Michigan joined KIDS Consortium as an AmeriCorps*VISTA member for 2009-2010. Jo is part of a larger statewide team of AmeriCorps*VISTA members organized by Communities for Children and Youth, a statewide initiative of the Maine Children’s Cabinet working to promote positive child and youth development. At KIDS, Jo will work with KIDS Consortium staff to increase the number of Maine K-12 students involved in service-learning projects in their communities, focusing on a new initiative designed to engage students in “Green” projects that will make their schools more environmentally responsible and sustainable. Jo will also help KIDS Consortium improve its use of technology and social networking tools, and assist with fundraising efforts and outreach to local community organizations and school districts with populations of children and youth at risk of poverty.

Most recently employed by Parker Hannifin as an Information Technology Analyst in their Hydraulic Systems Division in Kalamazoo, MI, Jo comes to KIDS Consortium with a diverse background in information technology, communications and science. She holds a master’s degree in physical chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, mathematics and physics from Kalamazoo College in Michigan.