Cooperative Childcare Solutions
Understanding the Crisis and Moving Forward Together
The childcare crisis is straining rural communities — creating business disruptions, reducing access to affordable quality care, and causing burnout for childcare workers. Join the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives and Cooperative Development Services for a webinar on the childcare crisis. Drawing on eight months of firsthand research, this presentation will share ways rural communities and employers have addressed childcare gaps through collaboration, advocacy, and the cooperative model.
Register
Cooperative Childcare Solutions – Iowa
Thursday, October 15, 12-1 pm CT
Register for Webinar
Cooperative Childcare Solutions – Minnesota
Thursday, October 22, 12-1 pm CT
Register for Webinar
Cooperative Childcare Solutions – Wisconsin
Thursday, October 29, 12-1 pm CT
Register for Webinar
While each webinar is state-specific, key takeaways are consistent across the Upper Midwest. All are welcome!
Webinars are free to attend; registration is required.
Who Should Attend?
- Employers seeking solutions to workforce challenges related to childcare access
- Community and economic development professionals working to strengthen rural economies
- Policymakers and public officials interested in expanding childcare options in their communities.
Presenters
Kristin Forde Hurckes
Cooperative Development Specialist
UW Center for Cooperatives
Kristin Forde Hurckes is part of the team of Cooperative Development Specialists at the Center who supports worker cooperatives in rural community with an emphasis on worker cooperative conversions. She emphasizes the importance of both individual and collective commitment to the significant cultural and organizational change that is required to shift toward democratic and participatory decision making. She enjoys learning about the many creative ways cooperatives organize and structure themselves; and developing effective formats for group processes.
Char Vrieze
Cooperative Development Specialist
Cooperative Development Services
Char Vrieze joined CDS in 2022 as a Cooperative Development Specialist, leading the worker-owned cooperative program and supporting businesses across multiple sectors. Raised on a family farm, she brings experience in cooperative leadership, public policy, and cooperative education, having previously led 40 Square Cooperative Solutions and the Minnesota Cooperative Education Foundation. Her contributions to the cooperative movement have earned statewide and national recognition, including an award from the Association of Cooperative Educators.
Julia Chamberland
Cooperative Development Specialist
Cooperative Development Services
Julia joins CDS as a passionate advocate for local food systems, farmer agency, and community-led economies. Raised in rural Iowa, she brings firsthand understanding of both the strengths and challenges of rural communities, along with a deep optimism about their future. Before joining CDS, she managed the inaugural Uptown Farmers Market in Minneapolis, a successful community-led initiative that welcomed more than 40 vendors and 2,000 weekly visitors. She also led agrivoltaics crop research with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Minnesota and has experience ranging from CSA farming to agricultural research in South Africa.
This free webinar is supported by CoBank.
UW Center for Cooperatives events are open to all. The University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension provides equal opportunities in employment and programming in compliance with state and federal law. You may request an interpreter, materials in an alternative language and/or format, and/or other services to make these event more accessible. Contact mawebster@wisc.edu. Make your request 25 days before the event. There is no added cost to you for these services.