Congratulations to the two teams from Wisconsin advancing to the final round of the Alliance for the American Dream competition, where they will compete for potential investment.
On January 29, members of the Alliance of the American Dream convened in Phoenix for a pitch competition that included 12 teams from 4 universities – Arizona State University, Ohio State University, The University of Utah, and The University of Wisconsin–Madison. A panel of experts from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors selected five teams to advance in the competition; this summer, teams will compete for funding to help implement their ideas in their home state.
The ideas that advanced were chosen for their interdisciplinary approach, technical components, and focus on inclusion for diverse communities.
“Thousands of Dane County households are weighed down by fixable civil legal problems—such as suspended driver’s licenses, consumer debt, child support arrears, and criminal records—that prevent them from advancing in the workforce, securing housing, and stabilizing their families. LIFT Dane will make data about these problems accessible to everyday residents; conduct holistic legal checkups to identify problems with legal solutions; and connect people to free legal aid to address these fixable legal problems. By removing barriers to finding and retaining a job, LIFT Dane’s low-cost, high-impact, tech-driven vision will boost local incomes, transform the middle class, and become a national model,” said Vicky Selkowe, Director of Legislative, Rulemaking & Training Compliance at Legal Action of Wisconsin.
LIFT (Legal Interventions for Transforming) Dane
Legal Action of Wisconsin, UW Law School, and Employment and Training Association (EATA) of Dane County
“Child care and Out-of-School Time care is expensive and hard to find, but absolutely essential to how our county’s economy functions. Despite the critical role this sector plays in our community, the workers who do this work still don’t earn enough. The DreamUp challenge brought us together to find ambitious solutions to the dramatic under-investment in child care and Out-of-School Time. We are excited about the opportunity to solve these problems that impact so many households in Dane County,” said the We Care for Dane Kids team.
We Care for Dane Kids
Wisconsin Early Childhood Association, Reach Dane, Satellite Family Child Care Systems, the UW Schools of Social Work and Education, the City of Madison, and Madison Out-of-School Time, and TASC
Proposal Summary | We Care for Dane Kids website
A multi-pronged approach to transforming the early childhood and after school care sectors that would supplement income for workers and child care costs, reduce operating expenses for facilities, and create a child care benefit program.
“Child care and Out-of-School Time care is expensive and hard to find, but absolutely essential to how our county’s economy functions. Despite the critical role this sector plays in our community, the workers who do this work still don’t earn enough. The DreamUp challenge brought us together to find ambitious solutions to the dramatic under-investment in child care and Out-of-School Time. We are excited about the opportunity to solve these problems that impact so many households in Dane County,” said the We Care for Dane Kids team.