1970s
In 1973, a group of Chicago women founded Women Employed to stand up to injustice in the workplace. Throughout the 1970s, WE won major advances for working women—from helping make sexual harassment illegal, to pressing companies to employ women in professional roles and the federal government to enforce equal opportunity laws.
WE launched major campaigns to promote fair employment practices in banking, insurance, and retail industries.
WE testified at our first Congressional hearing and undertook our first national effort to win improvements in enforcement of equal opportunity laws.
WE quickly became recognized as the leading national expert on utilizing federal affirmative action requirements to address sex discrimination.
WE participated in drafting new federal rules defining sexual harassment as illegal sex discrimination.
As a national expert on the performance of federal EEO agencies, WE were frequently called on by Congress to evaluate their policies and effectiveness.
WE rallied national women’s and civil rights groups to reverse planned policy changes that would drastically weaken enforcement—and WE won.
WE developed an array of services to help women negotiate salaries, seek promotions, and plan their careers.
Women Employed was founded in 1973