Our Staff

Paul William Barada, Chairman

It was the exemplary effort that Paul Barada put forth in his last position – bringing new businesses to Rushville as the Executive Director of the Rush County Chamber of Commerce – that led Paul and two partners to form the firm now known as Barada Associates back in 1979. Subsequently Paul has served as President and now Chairman of Barada Associates for 30 years, championing business development, marketing and account maintenance.

Paul earned a BS in business from Indiana University, attended Indiana University School of Law, attended University of Dayton School of Law, did graduate work at Butler University, and completed a 6-year Institute for Organization Management program at the University of Notre Dame. In 2006, Paul was elected to serve on the Executive Council of the Indiana University Alumni Association, and in 2009 was elected member of the board of directors of the Indiana University Athletic “I” Association.

Paul founded and served as the first president of the Rush County Community Foundation, which now has assets in excess of $7,000,000.00 and has helped hundreds of deserving students attend college. In 1993, Paul was appointed to the board of directors of the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory in Chicago. Paul also served on NCREL’s Editorial Advisory Board. In addition, Paul served two terms as a member and president of the local board of school trustees for Rush County Schools.

Paul has served as president of the Rushville High School Alumni Association, where he received the Distinguished Service Award in 1995, and the Culver Summer School Alumni Association, where he received their Alumni Leadership Award in 1991.

Paul was named Rush County’s “Most Influential Man of the 1980s” and received the Rush County Chamber of Commerce “Outstanding Citizen” award for 1993. In 1996 Paul was appointed to the “Council of the Sagamores of the Wabash” by Governor Evan Bayh, which is the award is the highest honor that the Governor of Indiana bestows.

Paul has also served as a member of the Culver Educational Foundation Board of Trustees, a director of the Rush County Industrial Development Corporation, a trustee of Rush Memorial Hospital, and as past chairman of the Southeastern Indiana Private Industry Council.

In addition to his book on reference checking published by McGraw-Hill in 2004, Paul’s writings on the subject of reference checking have appeared in Nation’s Business, Human Resource Executive, the Employment Management Association Journal, Prentice Hall’s Manager’s Letter, the Indiana Business Magazine, and HR Magazine, the publication of the Society for Human Resource Management. He has been quoted in Consumer Reports, US News & World Report, Dun’s Business Month, The New York Times, Time Magazine, Forbes, Industry Week, Indianapolis Monthly, and The Wall Street Journal. He also serves as the “Salary & Negotiation Expert.” on one of Monster.com’s most popular message boards and has authored a weekly commentary on contemporary issues for his hometown newspaper and radio for more than thirty years.

Paul and his wife, Connie, also an IU graduate, have three sons and eight grandchildren.

William C. Barada, President

During the ten years that Will Barada has served as President of Barada Associates, he’s shown tireless dedication wearing every hat from chief operating officer to director of business development. Through these efforts he’s helped grow the family business into an industry leading background screening company. His accomplishments were culminated in 2008 when he negotiated for the purchase of full ownership of the business from the original founding partners.

Prior to joining the family business, Will served in Community Outreach for WFYI Indianapolis, the local PBS affiliate.

Will earned his BA in English Education from Indiana University and is a member of National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) and the Indianapolis chapter of the Society of Human resource Professionals (SHRM).

In his free time, Will pursues his passion as a husband and father. Will and his wife, Eileen, also an IU graduate, have three sons, Matthew, Nicholas, and Joseph.

Mardella Huskins, Director of Client Services

In her current role as Director of Client Services, Huskins serves as the primary point of contact and chief problem solver for all Barada Associates customers. She also supervises delivery of services by internal staff and manages relationships with vendors and information suppliers.

Huskins joined Barada Associates in 1984 and boasts that she’s spent more than half of her life helping clients obtain information about prospective employees.

Huskins is a member of the Blue River Society for Human Resource Professionals (BRSHRM).

A native of Rushville, Indiana, Huskins and her husband of 24 years fill their time with their three daughters and one granddaughter. Huskins is an Assistant Coach for the Rushville Consolidated High School Cheerleaders and enjoys baking cakes and fixing the hairdos of the cheerleaders on her squad.