Gretchen Hacquard

Gretchen Hacquard joined the ICA in 2006 and is the Director of Membership. In this role, she coordinates often with colleagues, regions and sectors to provide better value to members and exchange information. She also supports the Membership Committee of the ICA Board, informs members, and is always happy to provide advice and connect members when asked. Like most staff, she wears various hats. As a super user of computers, databases, websites, etc. she also plays the role of Technology Manager where she provides advice to colleagues and coordination for IT coop issues. She is also the coordinator of the ICA Youth Network. She also plays various roles in ICA’s General Assemblies and conferences, mainly voting and registration, as well as other roles depending on the needs of the event. She also supports various ICA Board Committees and Working Groups as relevant.

Ms. Hacquard comes from the US cooperative movement where she worked primarily in the areas of advocacy and development. She worked with the NRECA International Foundation on strategy and fundraising, consulted for Land O`Lakes International Development Programs, and was Legislative Director of the U.S. Overseas Co-operative Development Council (OCDC) where she not only represented cooperative members with various domestic and international government bodies but also did marketing, institutional development, communications, and management. Prior to that, she worked for United States Senator Max Baucus.

Gretchen has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Montana State University (USA) and a Master’s degree in International Affairs from American University’s School of International Service. She studied music for over 20 years and played her flute for events and tutored. She also attended the University of Bologna’s (Canada) Summer Program for Cooperative Studies as well as the University of Missouri’s (USA) Graduate Institute for Cooperative Leadership.