In addition to her role as the Founder/CEO of Bridges to Prosperity Rockford Region, Mary Cacioppi is a national consultant on poverty reduction and its impact on community and economic development. Mary has over 22 years of combined experience in community development, economic development, and poverty reduction. Her past experience includes working for and running chambers of commerce and economic development organizations, as well as experience leading economic development for a municipality and working in commercial development. This vast experience equips Mary with a diverse view of how poverty reduction plays a role in community and economic development.

Aha! Process
As a National Consultant with the Aha! Process, Mary works with communities across the nation to assist them with their poverty reduction goals. In this capacity Mary has created a workshop, “Poverty Reduction as an Economic Development Strategy” that the Aha! Process is offering at the national level. Additionally, Mary is also in the process of writing a book on the same topic that will be published in the Fall of 2024.

She is a certified Bridges Out of Poverty Trainer and provides the following Workshops through the Aha! Process: 
Bridges Out of Poverty: Individual Lens
Bridges Out of Poverty: Institutional Lens
Bridges Out of Poverty: Community/Policy Lens

Mary has also earned certification as a Facilitator for the following Bridges Out of Poverty curriculum: 
Getting Ahead in a Just-Getting-By World (for under resourced adults)
Getting Ahead in the Workplace (for under resourced workers)
R Rules (for Middle School/High School students) 

Click here to view Mary's Aha! Process Bio
Click here to learn more about the Aha! Process