Meet Rebecca Cooke
As a small business owner and nonprofit leader, Rebecca Cooke has focused her career on building community and serving others. Born and raised on an Eau Claire dairy farm and appointed by Governor Tony Evers to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Rebecca knows the economic and social challenges facing the small towns and rural communities for which she’s fiercely advocated for, from the kitchen table to the board room.
The Cooke Family Legacy of Service
The Cooke family settled in the Independence area of newly-formed Buffalo County in 1856 and began generations of working Wisconsin land and serving their community and country. Early patriarch Chauncey Cooke was an abolitionist who joined the Union Army at 16 years old and fought in the Civil War. Those values of service run strong through Rebecca’s family as ancestors served America in both World Wars, her grandfather was a Marine in Korea before coming home to work a union job in Eau Claire’s paper mill, and her father served as a medic at Walter Reed Hospital, caring for wounded soldiers returning from Vietnam. Her brother continued that tradition, serving in the Navy before returning home to farm in Eau Claire and ultimately joining the Madison Fire Department.
Raised on an Eau Claire Dairy Farm
Rebecca’s father took over the family dairy farm in Eau Claire after marrying her mother and continued on a decades long legacy. The youngest of three children, Rebecca began working on the farm and helping her mom with chores at a young age and was training calves for the fair by the time she was 7 years old.
Like most Wisconsin farm families, money was always tight. Rebecca’s parents were frugal and both had side jobs off the farm to support their family of five. Yet they were still a family that would give the shirts off their backs to help their neighbors – the first to the door with a casserole, volunteering as Sunday school teachers, hosting exchange students from across the world and giving opportunities to farm workers who needed a second chance.
Putting the Values of Service to Work
Rebecca’s parents taught her to be a servant leader and emphasized the values of hard work, personal responsibility, honesty, and loyalty. She learned to show up for people because it is the right thing to do, not because of what was in it for her.
Growing up showing cattle at fairs throughout the state, Rebecca became active in 4-H and later served as president of her club through high school. She had her first taste of affecting change during middle school when she went before the school board and city council to advocate for an underpass after her classmate was struck and killed by a car.
Building Opportunities for Others
Rebecca got her first job off the farm as a server at Mike’s Smokehouse when she was 16 years old. While at North High School in Eau Claire, she was captain of the soccer team, started a business that made and packaged jelly, and launched a project that gave financial support to soldiers coming home from the Iraq war called Relief for the Red Arrows.
Pell Grants, local scholarships, and financial aid allowed Rebecca to attend the University St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. She did work-study all four years for a nonprofit that supported low-income families, waited tables every weekend, and got involved with a social justice program that led service immersion trips focused on human dignity and working alongside communities in solidarity. It was through this program that she decided to devote her vocation to service.
Starting a Business and Investing in Her Community
Rebecca went to work electing Democrats to public office around the country before coming home to Eau Claire and using her savings to open a small retail business – Red’s Mercantile – that sourced goods from independent makers locally and throughout the country. Looking to help other local entrepreneurs she founded the Red Letter Grant in 2016, a nonprofit that supports and empowers female entrepreneurs by providing start-up capital, technical assistance and authentic networking opportunities throughout a ten county region of western Wisconsin. Within five years, the organization has helped launch 23 women-owned businesses.
Governor Tony Evers took notice of Rebecca’s business leadership and activism in the entrepreneurship ecosystem by making her the youngest appointee to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, where she was a vocal member of the board and co-chair of the newly formed Entrepreneurship & Innovation committee. Rebecca works with other business leaders and members of both parties to provide opportunities for Wisconsin residents.
Now, Rebecca is running for Congress to better serve communities across Wisconsin, put people first and provide more opportunities for success, and will be a relentless fighter for our way of life.
