Sara Mauskopf
Sara Mauskopf is the co-founder and CEO of Winnie. She’s also the mom of three young children and vocal advocate for high quality child care and early education for all.
It feels like just yesterday that I was a brand new mom brainstorming with my co-founder about how we could make parents’ lives easier. That brainstorm turned into a company and this month that company celebrated its 10-year anniversary.
Winnie didn’t start as the childcare and education marketplace you know today. The initial Winnie tried to do a little bit of everything in search of the best ways to help parents. It was through this exploration that we discovered that childcare was the biggest way we could help and we pivoted Winnie to focus on just that. That decision changed everything. We saw an opportunity to use technology to serve this highly fragmented, offline industry.
Over the years, Winnie grew alongside the families who used it. What began as a way to help parents find daycare evolved into a comprehensive platform supporting the full stack of care and education families rely on, including infant care, preschool, drop-in care, after-school programs, summer camps, and even K-12 schools. Today, Winnie is used by millions of parents across all 50 states. We have spent years methodically building the most complete marketplace of childcare and education providers in the country, from large centers to in-home daycares, from national brands to independent programs, so that no family’s search ends in frustration.
We also know that Winnie exists because of providers and educators. Over the past decade, we have worked closely with childcare and education businesses to help them reach families, fill open spots, and operate more efficiently in an increasingly competitive environment. As the industry has changed, with rising costs, staffing challenges, and shifting family needs, Winnie has become not just a discovery tool, but a critical bridge between families and the programs that serve them.
We have never lost sight of why we started Winnie in the first place. Childcare and education is foundational infrastructure. When it works, the next generation thrives and parents are able to participate fully in the workforce. When it does not, families are forced to make impossible tradeoffs, and the ripple effects are felt across the economy.
We are proud of what we’ve built over the last ten years. But even more, we are committed to continuing this work in the years ahead.
