We just returned from a quick trip to the West Coast a panel discussion for our Bay Area members and friends. In case you missed the live stream (tried and failed to save the video) we pulled together a few of our favorite takeaways and quotes from the inspiring panel discussion. Our guests included:
Amy Henderson of Tendlab– a consultancy providing advice and workshops for Fortune 500 companies and their parents’ groups.
Dr Alexandra Sacks– a reproductive psychiatrist who says women who have children go through a poorly understood biological evolution called Matrescence.
Vanessa Loder– a mindfulness career coach and founder of the Parents in Tech Alliance– a group of parents in the tech industry advocating for change from within company cultures.
Shadiah Sigala– Co-Founder and Head of People at HoneyBook, a payment and vendor management platform for freelance event consultants.
Vanessa Loder: “How can we standardize parents work experiences– you shouldn’t have to win the boss lottery to have a good work experience. The Parents in Tech Alliance is creating a one-page document for parents to advocate for change internally and come armed with statistics and tools.”
Dr. Sacks: “We understand adolescence and the changes that come for kids and a similar transition happens when you become a mother. It’s a profound change and it makes mothers better workers.”
Amy Henderson: “we live in a nation where 1 in 5 women are back at work after 10 days and even in the tech industry, which is so progressive and has perks and policies set up, but they are not backing up what they offer. A policy is not the same as changing the culture and supporting parents from the inside.”
Shadiah Sigala: “I had to experience motherhood to really get it. When I was pregnant the first time we created a maternity leave policy for the company. Even as a progressive company that prides itself on being values-driven and putting its people first –sometimes it takes going through something to know it first hand and make the changes necessary.”
We were so excited to see so many of our Bay Area members and friends come to the event. Please spread the word about The Second Shift to women who should be in our member community and companies looking for a tool to retain and recruit top female talent.