May 12th is National Childcare Provider Appreciation day. To show our appreciation for the workers who take care of our kids, Leadership Next is bringing you an episode of Where's My Village? Fortune's podcast about America's childcare crisis and the people who are trying to fix it. You can listen and subscribe to the entire series here.
In this episode of Where's My Village?, Fortune senior writer Megan Leonhardt digs deeper into the opportunity for and pros and cons of private investment in childcare.
Private investment in childcare companies doubled between 2020 and 2021, and the range of apps, software, products and services investors can put their money into is growing. Many think private dollars have the potential to transform the childcare industry, others think involving private investors is a risky endeavor.
Shruthi Jayaram of Dalberg Advisors and Jess Lee of Sequoia Capital talk through why investors have been skeptical of investing in care in the past and what's changed in the past few years.
Chris Bennett, the CEO of Wonderschool. discusses his decision to focus on in home providers, how many providers on the Wonderschool platform earn almost triple the national average and his vision for the company's future. Wonderschool is a childcare management platform that works with home-based providers to streamline and grow their businesses.
We also hear from home-based providers about the realities of their professions and experts in the field on their concerns about private investment in childcare.