September marks the transition from summer to autumn. The scent of comfort food fills our homes, sweater weather returns, and the trees begin their slow transformation into vibrant shades of fall. This month also brought a few meaningful changes and milestones. Chicago made history as they appointed a new — and first-ever Latina — Madame Chair of the city’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Council, Women Employed’s Career Foundations celebrated its 10-year anniversary, and the Chicago premiere […]

This month Women Employed celebrated 10 years of Career Foundations! This groundbreaking career exploration course helps students explore their career options while making a concrete plan to move into post-secondary or workforce programs where they can earn the credentials and degrees they need to move into careers with family-supporting wages. During those 10 years, over 10,000 students — 80 percent of whom are Black or Brown women — have been served by this course, learning what […]

Women Employed mourns the passing of groundbreaking feminist, journalist, organizer, and trailblazing figure in the women’s liberation movement, Gloria Steinem. For over 60 years, Gloria Steinem’s work helped redefine what was possible for women and shined a light on what women should expect from their workplaces, their economy, and their society. Her activism challenged barriers keeping women from equal opportunity, economic independence, and was a meaningful voice in the decisions shaping […]

The summer may be coming to close, but our work is not. We ended July with convenings for entrepreneurship, families, and higher education, and celebrated the conclusion of another cohort of The Pattis Family Foundation Summer Leadership Program. And in August we witnessed the signing of two very important pieces of legislation.Want to know more about what we’ve been up to? Check out this month’s edition of Where in the World is Women Employed.RLD Entrepreneurship & Strong Family […]

For more than two decades, Molly Baltman-Leonard has worked to address systemic inequities and expand opportunities for communities and families. Throughout her career in philanthropy, nonprofit leadership, and community-focused work, she has approached that work with a deep belief in the power of listening, asking questions and understanding the systems that shape people’s lives.That perspective is rooted in her upbringing in Detroit, where she saw firsthand how access to resources and […]