Audrey Treptow x‘25 has always had a passion for public service. After her experience with Co-Create, a community-led research, evaluation and facilitation initiative, she has a clear path to a rewarding career.
Treptow began her time at UW–Madison as an elementary education major primarily because of her love for working with children. But as she moved through the program, she realized it wasn’t quite the right fit.
“I still feel deeply called to help kids, but now I see that there are different, equally profound ways to make a difference. I wanted to reach higher, to influence the broader systems at play,” Treptow says. “Through that journey, I found that community work and nonprofits were offering opportunities to create meaningful change on a larger scale.”
She switched her major to Community & Organizational Development (COD) as a sophomore. Soon after, she began receiving email communications about the various opportunities within the School of Human Ecology. One of those emails introduced Treptow to Co-Create, and she quickly applied.
Treptow has now spent more than two years as an undergraduate research assistant for Co-Create, an initiative housed by the School of Human Ecology’s Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies, or the CommNS. The CommNS conducts teaching, research and outreach on civil society, community and nonprofit topics, and supports faculty, staff and students with professional development opportunities and a community of learning and practice, as well as a series of undergraduate and graduate courses.
Treptow says she’s been able to choose projects that fit her interest areas — specifically early childhood. Soon after joining the team, she quickly began work on a project for the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. She contributed to a report for the agency that outlined promising strategies for helping young children transition from early child care settings to the school system.
The idea for Co-Create came after the CommNS noticed a need among nonprofit organizations and community groups for research-oriented activities, says Mary Beth Collins, executive director of the CommNS. These groups often lack the internal capacity to do things like evaluate the effectiveness of programs or conduct community-based research that could inform and advance efforts.
“We have staff and students within the CommNS with a wealth of experience and knowledge and university-trained skills, and we knew that, by doing some matchmaking between those skills and organizations, we could fulfill a need,” Collins says.
Co-Create launched in 2017 under the leadership of the CommNS Associate Director of Engaged Research Amy Washbush ‘02, MS’08, PhD’11. Washbush was able to leverage her expertise in thoughtful approaches to community-engaged work and evaluation science to shape Co-Create’s unique and cutting-edge model.
Since its inception, Washbush has led Co-Create in completing more than 70 projects, working with nearly 50 nonprofit organizations, community groups, funders and public agencies. Of the 45 undergraduate and graduate students who have worked with Co-Create, nearly all have been Human Ecology students.
“Co-Create is an opportunity for us to realize the spirit of the Wisconsin Idea by bringing the assets of the university and the students, faculty and staff together for the benefit of the community,” Washbush says. “We work collaboratively and in a customized way with each partner. The unique skills, backgrounds and interests our student team members each bring make that customization possible.”
After an organization reaches out with a request, a Co-Create team meets with members of that organization to find out more.
“Usually it’s iterative — they ask us questions about what they need, and we ask them questions. That’s why we call it Co-Create,” Collins says. “Then we figure out what we would suggest based on different methodologies that the Co-Create team has in its back pocket after dozens of projects.”
In 2024, Co-Create partnered with the Madison Public Schools Foundation to identify needs and opportunities for its Teacher Support Network (TSN), formed to lessen the need for educators to spend money out of their own pockets on classroom necessities.
Using interviews, surveys and other qualitative methods, Treptow worked under the guidance of Co-Create Program Coordinator Alex Wells to determine TSN’s current needs, outline opportunities for it to expand and become more effective and highlight complementary work happening in the Madison community.
Treptow says she’s found the Co-Create process “very collaborative.”
“I think they do a really good job of making community partners feel heard,” she says. “The TSN project allowed teachers who aren’t always included in the conversation to have an outlet for their opinions and their ideas. Those in positions of power who read our report will have the opportunity to hear directly from the people they’re meant to serve.”
Because she was already doing work for community organizations through Co-Create, Treptow says she learned what types of work she did and didn’t like even before applying for internships. She’d also learned and put into practice many tangible skills before some of her peers, giving her an advantage in applying for national opportunities.
Most recently, Treptow worked as a government affairs intern for the National Children’s Alliance (NCA), based in Washington, D.C. The nonprofit organization serves as the national association and accrediting body for Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs), which provide a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach to the investigation, treatment and prevention of child abuse. The NCA supports and advocates for CACs, offering training, resources and guidance to improve the response to child abuse cases.
“Being involved with Co-Create allows students to apply their skills and be trained in a different way than what they get out of their classes,” Collins says. “They then come away from the experience having added these projects to their portfolios and learned skills that translate well to many other industries.”
Treptow says she’s been very intentional about the knowledge she’s sought out as a research assistant for Co-Create and while pursuing her COD major because she wants to make sure she has the practical skills to be successful in the nonprofit world.
In addition to learning these practical skills, students are paid to work with Co-Create.
The existence of Co-Create also helps CommNS staff stay in the know about trends in the nonprofit sector, ensuring that courses and programs can stay current and give students the most up-to-date education possible. And organizations that work with Co-Create have provided feedback saying that Co-Create support and projects make a big difference in helping them to advance their work.
“It’s really an ‘everybody benefits’ situation,” Collins says.
Treptow plans to pursue a career in public policy and advocacy with a focus on lobbying for mental health parity, particularly for children who have experienced trauma. Her long-term goal is to work with a nonprofit organization that advocates for improved mental health services and policies for these vulnerable populations. In the short term, she hopes to gain hands-on experience of the legislative process by working in the state legislature or a congressional office in Washington, D.C.
“Co-Create helped lay a solid foundation for me,” Treptow says. “It provided the tools, support and guidance I needed to build something meaningful in my work and personal growth. It wasn’t just about getting started — it gave me the clarity and confidence to envision what was possible and gave me a framework to pursue it.”