Helen Raikes lives in Ashland, Nebraska, where she has been co-chair of Ashland Greenwood Area Communities for Kids (AGA C4K)  for four years.  AGA C4K has focused on support for parents and childcare providers. The Parents of Preschoolers (POPS) program and  reading and partnerships with the Ashland Library are signature programs. AGA C4K also focuses on expanding childcare capacity, building a staffing pipeline and interpreting early childhood needs to the Ashland-Greenwood communities. Helen Raikes is Willa Cather Professor Emeritus of Child, Youth and Family Studies, University of Nebraska and was instrumental through research and advocacy in formative years of Early Head Start and Nebraska’s Sixpence program. Her husband was the late Ron Raikes and they have three children and six grandchildren, ranging from age 3 to 19. She says those grandchildren, five of whom live in Nebraska, provide her with endless delights.