Marie Barry

Marie Barry currently serves as the Director of Community Economic & Workforce Development at the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative where she leads RWHC’s efforts to utilize one of rural communities’ greatest assets – their hospitals – as a driver of economic development. RWHC is acooperative of 40 rural hospitals across Wisconsin that has provided shared services and acted as an advocate for our member hospitals for over 40 years.

Marie has an undergraduate degree from UW-Madison and a graduate degree in Community and Economic Development from Pennsylvania State University. She previously worked for two senators in the Wisconsin legislature and successfully shepherded bipartisan bills from drafting to being signed into law, including during split party control of the legislative and executive Branch. In addition to her work in the healthcare sector, Marie is a cooperative advocate. She served on the board of Cooperative Network and currently sits on the UW Center for Cooperatives Advisory Committee. She also advocates for rural economies through her roles on the Chicago Fed’s Rural Steering Committee, Partners for Rural America Board, and Wisconsin Rural Partners Board.