Blog

Last week I walked into my job at a local sandwich shop to find all my coworkers gathered in the kitchen, passing around somebody’s phone and talking excitedly amongst themselves. Two of our coworkers had been expecting a baby together, and the child had finally been born that morning. Of course, everybody wanted to see the pictures they had sent. When I finally got hold of the phone, I couldn’t help but smile. The new parents seemed so overjoyed (albeit exhausted) to be holding their son after
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Fifty-five years ago, Sirivamo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka became the first woman elected president in the world. It’s a startling fact – one that is younger than my own grandparents. It wasn’t until they were my age that a woman was ever elected president. But even in their seventies, they have never seen a woman elected president in their own country. That is, unless Hillary Clinton surprises us all and wins the 2016 presidential election. It’s hard for me to come to terms with the
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“Is there going to be a place for me to pump?!” After receiving multiple emails along these lines from Lady Project Summit participants, I was determined to find a way to provide accommodations for nursing and expecting mothers at this year’s conference,held this past weekend (April 18) in downtown Providence. This year’s conference sold out quickly, drawing more than 270 diverse young women from across the nation for a full day of speakers, workshops, and networking. Many of our participants
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"Girls Coding" is a great rallying cry as we push to prepare more tech-savvy women to fully engage the opportunities and challenges of the digital frontier. But let's not lose sight of the talent team we actually need to be mentoring as we collectively face this revolutionary moment of global technological change. The campaign to educate more female coders might still be a less effective generational return on investment (ROI) than thinking innovatively about how to create more effective teams
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I’m driving behind an SUV when I notice three stickers plastered to its bumper. The first reads “NRA: STAND AND FIGHT;” the second is the Gadsden flag screaming “DON’T TREAD ON ME.” And the third? The Human Rights Campaign equal sign. I laugh because of how absurdly incongruous they seem together. Then I think, well, maybe he’s the well-meaning, gun-loving, Fox News-watching kind who probably believes marriage is between a man and a woman except when it comes to his gay nephew. Seemingly
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2014 was a milestone year for the women of Rhode Island. In November, state voters made history when they elected Gina Raimondo governor. While the election of the Ocean State’s first female governor is notable, other inequities women wish were just bad April Fool’s jokes remain ingrained in our political system. While we’ve seen small but steady gains in women’s national political representation, progress among state leadership is meager. Prior to Raimondo’s election, only 35 women had ever
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During my sophomore year of college, I pledged a sorority. My friends and family were surprised by my decision - I was never the “sorority type.” But this sorority prided itself on its no-hazing policy. This meant I would not have to deal with the excessive hazing rituals implemented by other Greek letter organizations: like the sorority that forced pledges to stand naked while fraternity boys circled their “impaired” body parts with sharpie markers, or the one that made pledges do
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My name is Jenn Steinfeld and I am the Executive Director of the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island. The Women's Fund works every day to end gender bias and inequality in our state. We advocate for policy changes that create an equitable Rhode Island and promote women’s economic security. A critical aspect of leveling the playing field for women in the workforce is increased access to paid leave. In 2013, the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island and our Women’s Policy Institute fellows were instrumental in
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In her acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress at this year’s Academy Awards, Patricia Arquette championed women’s rights. “It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America,” the Boyhood actress proclaimed. The crowd roared and feminists everywhere looked a lot like Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez, pumping our fists and nodding vigorously. It was an instant iconic feminist moment, the kind of moment that could reinvigorate the
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I had a conversation with someone recently in which I was told I invested too much in language. We were talking about racism. My companion argued that white people can experience racism, while I argued that, by definition, racism is inapplicable to white people. I said white people can experience discrimination, but not racism. She pooh-poohed me and said, “That’s semantics. It’s all hatred.” In the moment, I didn’t know how to respond. How do you come back when your sparring partner invalidates
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