Week Three: Reimagining Work and Philanthropy
What We Will Do

At the Women and the New American Dream summit in March, we want to address the economic inequities and professional challenges that confront women who work, but we are also interested in imagining new opportunities for higher education to help women and girls secure meaningful employment and, when possible, imagine themselves as philanthropists to other women in need.

Toward that end:

We will host a number of important sessions on Women & Work. These sessions will focus on the gendered landscapes of work, including the fields of law, public relations, entrepreneurship, and academe. Innovative pecha kucha sessions will address earning gaps between men and women, the work-life balancing act, professional ethics, negotiation skills, and leadership development. A unique session facilitated by staff members of Career Centers at different regional institutions will help us strategize ways to help college women sort and navigate their career choices.

We will offer a day-long Philanthropy Track to examine how today’s philanthropic dollars might be better directed to serve the needs of women and girls. Leadership from the Women’s Fund of Central Ohio will be on hand to help us understand why only 7% of philanthropic funds are reaching women and girls, and how we can address this gap in giving. A special session, "Fundraising: From Bake Sales to Boardrooms," will explore the diversity of fundraising efforts, and share small-scale strategies, grant-writing tips, and the insight into corporate initiatives. The Ohio Campus Compact will also be at the summit, sponsoring a "Pay it Forward" session that will discuss the ways in which higher education can educate a new generation to leverage funds for social causes and change.

We will holistically explore the relationship between women and money. The Slade Financial Group will present a Keyholder workshop designed to help women “Unlock the Excitement, Power, and Emotion of Money.”

We will host a Network Gallery in Otterbein’s Courtright Library. This Gallery will showcase local women-serving and community-based organizations as well as women-owned businesses.

Why We Will Do It

The current economic crisis is hitting women especially hard. Recent state budget crises across the country have led to job losses that disproportionately affect women, especially in the public workforce. In fact, women lost 83.8% of public jobs between July 2009 and January 2011 (National Women’s Law Center). This, however, is only part of why higher education is a critical factor for women in the emerging and evolving labor market. According to the US Department of Labor, women with no high school diploma had the highest unemployment rate (14.6%), while women with at least a bachelor’s degree had an unemployment rate three times less (4.7%). Obviously, we need to do better and think more strategically about preparing women for both higher education and the workplace. And we also need to make sure that we have a network of women mentors and philanthropists in place, so that women who need additional resources and support can readily find it when the stakes are the greatest.