In July, we celebrated Women Employed’s 2023 class of The Pattis Family Foundation Summer Leadership Program on National Intern day. Hear from them in their own words! We marked Black Women’s Equal Pay Day and National Disability Independence Day, and shared news on two disappointing Supreme Court rulings, and two new proposed ordinances in the City of Chicago. We then featured Wind Creek Chicago Southland as they presented Women Employed with a check for $70,000. Be sure to check the latest installment of out our ASPIRE Racial Equity and Inclusion Speaker Series featuring Dr. Royel Johnson, and all of the incredible work Women Employed is doing outside the office in our “Where in the World is Women Employed?” column.

In June, we celebrated Pride, and participated in LGBTQIA+ Equal Pay Awareness Day. We also celebrated Father’s Day this month, as the dads of Women Employed shared their paid leave stories and why not just moms, but dads need paid leave too, in our special edition of “He Says.” Also our 50th Anniversary The Working Lunch recap video is here! Be sure to check out our ASPIRE Racial Equity and Inclusion Speaker Series which continued with a workshop led by Dr. Sara Furr, the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at The Field Museum. Not to mention all of the incredible work Women Employed is doing outside the office in our “Where in the World is Women Employed?” column.

In May, we celebrated 50 years of smashing the status quo at The Working Lunch!  Your participation, either in-person or virtual, and your support whether in the form of sponsorship, participating in our raffle, or donating to WE, made it one to remember. We then featured Taylor Leven, Headspace Barber owner in “She Says,” who also shared her story at The Working Lunch and celebrated victories when the IL General Assembly passed the Salary Transparency bill and then the State Budget increasing $100M in Monetary Award Program (MAP) funding! Not to mention all of the incredible work Women Employed is doing outside the office in our “Where in the World is Women Employed?” column.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and more than 5 years after the hashtag #MeToo took social media and the public consciousness by storm, we are still deeply conscious of the need for more progress on sexual harassment and violence in our workplaces and our society. This month’s “She Says,” features WE’s Director of Business Development, Ibie Hart, as she shares her experience with sexual harassment at a prior job and finding safety at Women Employed. April is also National Volunteer Month and we’re looking for a robust group staff The Working Lunch, right around the corner! Not to mention all of the incredible work Women Employed is doing outside the office in our “Where in the World is Women Employed?” column.

In March, we celebrated Women’s History Month in a major way. Starting off with announcing the honorees for our 50th anniversary celebration, The Working Lunch, we then shared that Women Employed has received not one, but two proclamations. The first from the City of Chicago, declaring that March 8th, which is International Women’s Day, would be recognized as Women Employed Day in the city and the second from the state, recognizing WE’s work during the month of March. We then featured, Barb Yong, founder of of the Equal Pay Day Chicago Coalition in “She Says,” encouraged supporters to vote for Women Employed to receive a grant from Old National Bank, recapped our most recent ASPIRE Speaker Series with guest speaker, Angell Howard, and all of the incredible work Women Employed is doing outside the office in our “Where in the World is Women Employed?” column.

This month, we began our 50th anniversary celebration, with an opening letter from our President & CEO, Cherita Ellens, opened up registration for The Working Lunch, celebrated 30 years of FMLA with an invitation to the White House for the celebratory event and held a virtual press conference discussing the need for paid family and medical leave for all Illinois workers, highlighted Black History Month, shared our Equal Pay tip sheet, featured our Program and Research Coordinator, Efrata Sasahulih, in “She Says.” We also launched two new columns. The first, “Where in the World is Women Employed?” provides a recap of all the events we have attended, hosted, or participated in, and our ASPIRE Speaker Series.

This month, we celebrated a decades-long victory in passing the Paid Leave for All Workers Act, previewed our 50th anniversary celebration, opened up applications for our Summer Leadership Program, began accepting honorees for our annual luncheon, The Working Lunch, welcomed our new staff members, and featured Michelle Foik, co-owner of ERIS Brewery and Cider House in our “She Says” column.

This issue was a year-in-review, highlighting some of our major accomplishments. In the past year, we published our Intersecting Barriers research report that discussed the challenges to economic empowerment for domestic violence survivors, we won an additional $122 million for the Monetary Award Program (MAP) in Illinois, hosted a conversation with Congresswoman Cheri Bustos on the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act which was signed into law in March, launched our Women’s Entrepreneurship Hub and WE Consulting, helped launch the Illinois Full and Fair Wage Coalition, and we joined The Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) as a lead partner on the Illinois FARE Grant project, which raises awareness of pay equity and pay transparency standards among women workers, particularly low-paid Women of Color. This issue also featured long-time WE supporter, Kate Everson, in our “She Says” column.

In this issue, we acknowledge the pay disparity between Native Women and their white, male counterparts, celebrate Board of Directors Chair, Board Chair Lynn Watkins-Asiyanbi on being recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of their 2022 Notable Nonprofit Board Leaders, highlight our Women’s Entrepreneurship Hub, as November is National Entrepreneurship Month, share what Women Employed is thankful for in a special edition of “She Says,” and promote some of our upcoming events.

October was Domestic Violence Awareness Month and in this issue we discussed the next stages of our work to support economic independence of domestic violence survivors in Chicago. Plus, check out our 2022 Impact Report where we highlighted our accomplishments over the past year and visit our Student Debt Resources page for up-to-date information for student borrowers and answers to their frequently asked questions. Learn about WE Consulting, our suite of consulting services to help companies build a culture of inclusion and belonging, read the latest installment of our “She Says” series, featuring Kathleen Flynn-Barnett, and join our next advocacy council meeting.

In this issue, learn about the brand new Women’s Entrepreneurship Hub (WE Hub) that Women Employed just launched, and how business ownership is a pathway to closing wealth gaps and ensuring economic freedom for women. Plus, learn your rights related to equal pay and pay transparency, help us celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, join us for our Silenced No More event on October 6th, and more!

Learn about the Biden Administration’s announcement of federal student debt cancellation and find out if it could apply to you! Plus, make sure you know about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, learn about our new and improved Career Foundations curriculum, read about the far-reaching impacts of Title IX, and join us in thanking the Girls Up Club at Lake Park High School for making a gift to Women Employed!

Meet the 2022 class of the Pattis Family Foundation Summer Leadership Program! Plus, help us welcome a new slate of Board Directors, congratulate Women Employed staff who earned recent promotions, learn how entrepreneurship can mean economic freedom for women, join our team, and more!

Read Women Employed President and CEO, Cherita Ellens’ feelings about the overturning of Roe and Casey, learn about LGBTQIA Equal Pay Awareness Day, Register for the 2022 College Changes Everything Conference, take action and tell the Senate to pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, complete the women workers and student survey for a chance to win a gift card, share your story about being forced to come back to work too soon after welcoming a child, read Sarah Labadie, Associate Director of Policy’s blog post on how Illinois can lead on paid leave in the Midwest, and register for a virtual event featuring WE President & CEO, Cherita Ellens.

Read Women Employed President and CEO, Cherita Ellens’ letter imploring all of us to be part of the solution to what’s going on in the world, watch our recap video from this year’s The Working Lunch-Hybrid Edition, check out the preview for our Entrepreneurship Hub and sign up, learn how you can take action by urging President Biden to cancel student debt, join us in celebrating the approval of the Illinois proposal for an Ability to Benefit process, meet our new staff members, and up for our June Advocacy Council meeting.

Take a behind the scenes look at the magic that is Women Employed, read feedback from our sexual harassment training and learn how to hire Women Employed to facilitate a training for your staff, apply for Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot and receive $500 a month in cash assistance for 12 months, celebrate our legislative victories, purchase both virtual and raffle tickets for The Working Lunch–Hybrid Edition, urge your senators to pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act in time for Mothers’ Day, join us in congratulating Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on becoming the first Black Woman confirmed to the Supreme Court, and check out the replay from our Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program webinar.

Read a letter from our President and CEO, Cherita Ellens on her reflections from Women’s History Month, learn details and purchase tickets for our signature luncheon, The Working Lunch–Hybrid Edition, take action for MAP funding, check out our interview with WE Board member and Vice President of Large Customer Operations at ComEd, Diana Sharpe, register for an upcoming events, apply for the Pattis Family Foundation Summer Leadership Program, and take our WE-Zine Subscriber Survey.

Learn why we’re excited about Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, read about our new research on the economic barriers facing survivors of domestic violence, and see how we’re celebrating Black History Month! Plus, take action for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, get a sneak peak of our new billboard and read about us in the news, and find out how WE is practicing self-love this month.

Read a letter from our President and CEO Cherita Ellens reflecting on the start of a new year, get a glimpse of our year-end campaign success―thanks to YOU, take action for paid leave, register for our upcoming webinar where we’ll release new research, and tell us what YOU think of WE-Zine by taking our subscriber survey!

Happy holidays from Women Employed! In this issue, we take a moment to thank you for your support of WE, and your ongoing commitment to making the world a better place for working women. Plus, hear from one of our former summer interns, Reyna Moreno; read a tribute to bell hooks from President and CEO Cherita Ellens, see a recap of a recent Chicago Foundation for Women event that featured Cherita, and more!

During this time of gratitude, we are so thankful for supporters like YOU who make our work possible. And we acknowledge that the history of Thanksgiving is also a painful reminder of the brutality against Indigenous peoples and the inequities that are deeply rooted in American history. We will continue to work, alongside you, to dismantle that legacy of inequity to ensure women can emerge from the “shecession” stronger and more economically empowered than before.

Learn about our Domestic Violence and Economic Empowerment (DVEE) project and how it seeks to ensure Chicagoland survivors are connected with services attaching them to meaningful employment, join us for a Latina Equal Pay Day event with the Equal Pay Day Chicago coalition, meet our new Board members, and take action to support paid leave, child care, and the PUMP Act.

In this issue, our President & CEO Cherita Ellens reflects on the Texas abortion ban, threats to our reproductive rights, and the importance of voting. We also highlight the need for pay equity, featuring a guest piece written by Advocacy Council member Lauren Miller for Native Women’s Equal Pay Day, as well as an upcoming Latina Equal Pay Day event, and a recap of a recent conversation we had on International Equal Pay Day. We also provide an update on our newly-launched ASPIRE Project, which aims to improve developmental education in Illinois.

This month we marked Black Women’s Equal Day, and Women Employed seized the opportunity to shine a light on the greater disparities faced by Black women and many other women of color due to the ongoing impacts of racial and gender bias. Plus, learn about our fall wellness break, our survey for survivors of domestic violence, and current job openings at WE.

In this issue, our President and CEO, Cherita Ellens, reflects on the changes in our society as we begin to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and shares updates and goals related to our new fiscal year and strategic plan. We also announce an upcoming WE-hosted event featuring White House Correspondent, Political Analyst, and author, April Ryan, taking place on August 3rd, Black Women’s Equal Pay day—the approximate day a Black woman must work into the new year to make what white non-Hispanic man made at the end of the previous year. And so much more!