WE Paid Internship Opportunity

Encourage your students to apply for Women Employed's paid summer internships through The Pattis Family Foundation Summer Leadership Program! The virtual program will introduce students and recent graduates to nonprofit work and expand their awareness of gender equity in the workplace and the barriers that women face in low-paid jobs. Deadline to apply is March 29!


VICTORY IN SPRINGFIELD!
Last month, Illinois lawmakers put racial equity at the top of their agenda and passed an education omnibus bill that includes:
  • Requirements that community colleges assess a student's college readiness in a more holistic manner, for example, by considering GPA rather than relying on placement testing, which often disadvantages students of color
  • Requirements that institutions report on their plans to improve developmental education every two years
  • Support for IBHE’s strategic planning process and efforts to close equity gaps in higher education
  • Increases in the maximum scholarship award for the Minority Teachers of Illinois program
  • Reduction of AIM HIGH scholarship matching requirements for some institutions
  • A directive to the IWIB to conduct a feasibility study about consolidating workforce development programs
 
For more information about the education omnibus bill, contact Sarah Labadie at slabadie@womenemployed.org


ASPIRE TO JOIN THE WE TEAM
WE is seeking a Senior Program Manager and a Program Specialist to lead a new project called Accelerating Student Progress and Increasing Racial Equity (ASPIRE). The ASPIRE Project will support 10 Illinois community colleges to adopt accelerated models of remediation. Please share these job postings with friends or colleagues interested in joining our team.

Free Student Workshop: Advocate for Success
Who better to speak to students about persuading legislators to support their issues than U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth and Illinois Rep. LaShawn Ford? Both are featured in Women Employed and Young Invincibles’ online student advocacy workshops via Google Classroom. The workshop provides tools for students to prepare and lead conversations with legislators and policymakers. 

Students can take the free, self-paced workshop by using either of these classroom codes at classroom.google.com: fjyqsyk or wcpyceeT

For questions email Lauren Wheeler at lwheeler@womenemployed.org

(Note: Using emails ending in .edu domains may cause access issues, log in using general Gmail accounts. Workshops appropriate for high school students but most suited for ages 18 and above. )

Thank You, Senator McGuire!
Join us in celebrating Senator Pat McGuire who retired from the Illinois Senate in January. Senator McGuire chaired the Higher Education Committee for the last several years and spent his time in office working to eliminate inequities in higher education and to support programs and services to help Illinois college students access, persist, and complete college.
 
Senator McGuire will be missed in the halls of the Capitol not just for his leadership around higher education, but also for his good spirits, engaging stories, and book recommendations!


Good Coffee with a Good Cause!
WE are excited to kick off 2021 as one of Good Cause Coffee's featured nonprofits! Join our coffee club! $5 from every bag sold will support our mission to improve the economic status of women. Make sure to choose Women Employed at check out!

P.S. If you want to start AND end your day with goodies that support WE, be sure to check out Boozy Bites, a woman-owned business that makes boozy filled snacks. They have created special gift baskets for “Galentines Day” and 10 percent of proceeds between now and February 14th get kicked back to Women Employed!
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