Belief

​Jenny maintains a steady balance of work and play with her husband, three children and their furry sidekicks, Griz and Pete.  A Livingston resident, she is both the Director of The Park County Special Education Cooperative as well as Rural Resilience's Co-Executive Director. Jenny has been dedicated to the education world, focusing primarily on special education and leadership for the past twenty years. She received the award for Montana Early Career Special Education Administrator in 2018, in recognition of her work to lead by example, honesty, creativity, and utilizing a collaborative approach.  In 2019, she was recognized as an Outstanding Leader through the Montana Council for Exceptional Children. Jenny currently serves as the Region IV Representative and Secretary for the Montana Council of Administrators for Special Education. Jenny says these commitments provide her the opportunity to learn from others throughout the state, and offer a network of resources she can bring home to Park County. She is passionate about recruiting and retaining qualified educators, and ensuring they feel valued within their school communities. In 2019, Jenny recognized that traditional supports for behavior and mental health needs were not successful in Park County’s rural communities, so she set out to revamp the system. Her passion for this project resulted in the creation of Rural Resilience. Jenny continues to lean on her hometown roots of making friends anywhere she goes through easy conversation and a bit of laughter. Jenny gathers people for good causes because, as she always says, “Together we are better.” 

Billi Taylor is a product of our rural Montana schools and is raising her three children in the same way in the Shields Valley. She grew up in Pony, Montana, attended her K-12 education at Harrison School, and received her K-8 Elementary Education degree and K-12 Reading Minor from UM Western. She started her teaching career in Alaska where she also received her Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from UA Fairbanks. She came home to Montana to be closer to family and teach, while also earning her Master’s in Educational Leadership and her Superintendent’s Certificate from MSU.  Billi is the Program Supervisor of Rural Resilience leading our Program’s fiscal management, coordination with collaborating organizations, planning for sustainability, designing therapeutic integration models for rural schools, connections through social media, and programmatic offerings through Rural Resilience for our rural students, families, and community members.  In early 2020, while Billi was the Shields Valley School District Superintendent, she and Jenny Malloy made a commitment to apply for grant funding through AMB West to help provide more accessibility and availability of behavioral and mental health support to our rural schools and communities.  With 13 years of teaching experience and 5 years in school administration, Billi brings depth of knowledge in varying aspects of education.  Her passion remains in finding and implementing creative, innovative, and effective ways to assist rural educators and schools to ultimately improve the social, emotional, academic, and personalized learning experiences for students. 

Bridget lives in Livingston with her daughter Fionn and their ever evolving crew of canine companions. She is a longstanding member of the community and has taught in Livingston schools for the past twenty one years. She credits her four years running the Learning Center, an alternative education program in the Livingston School District, with solidifying her passion for supporting students with behavioral needs. In 2017, Bridget won the Educator of the Year Award from the Montana Council for Exceptional Children. She later worked in the Belgrade School District as a multi-school Behavior Analyst before returning home to again serve the needs of students in Park County. Bridget is deeply committed to the healthy growth and development of all children, and is also celebrating her eighth year as the assistant coach of the Park High Cross Country team. She is currently working as the Behavior Analyst for Rural Resilience.