As we all know, June represents the official start of summer, better weather, and increased opportunities for fun, sun, and laughter. But the temperatures aren’t the only thing that’s ramping up. Here at Women Employed (WE), there’s been no shortage of invitations to present at conferences, facilitate trainings, attend networking events, and show off our Pride. We even found time to support a fellow staff member at their modeling debut, introduce a brand-new event series, and have an […]

For six weeks out of every summer, the Women Employed team grows as we welcome an impressive group of interns as part The Pattis Family Foundation Summer Leadership Program. The Summer Leadership Program provides college students with the opportunity to learn professional skills by exposing them to leadership training, front-line research, and awareness of the barriers low-paid workers experience. They also get a chance to learn the ins and outs of nonprofit work through workshops, guest […]

Menopause is having a moment. Celebrities from Jennifer Aniston to Michelle Obama are talking publicly and frequently about this reality of women’s lives as they age, challenging the notion of menopause as a taboo subject. Halle Berry has been testifying on Capitol Hill and making public appearances alongside First Lady Jill Biden (including in Chicago) to lobby Congress for additional funding for menopause research, which is severely underfunded. At Women Employed, we are noticing that for […]

On Monday a federal court of appeals panel suspended a grant program for Black women business owners, ruling that a conservative group is likely to prevail in its lawsuit claiming that the program is discriminatory. The Fearless Fund, the nation’s first venture-capital (VC) firm run by Women of Color that invests exclusively in tech and consumer-goods companies owned by Women of Color, runs the grant program.Women Employed is alarmed by this latest salvo in the escalating assault on DEI and […]

May is always a big month for Women Employed — it’s the month we host our signature fundraising event, The Working Lunch. But while making sure that our annual celebration was a great success (and it was!), we still found time to step away from our day-to-day responsibilities to join our partners for rallies, brunches, speaking engagements, and trainings―even trips to Washington, D.C. for two different conferences!From advocating in Springfield for funding for higher education and […]