What does real change for working families look like to you?
We know that life as a parent is an amazing juggling act. It requires support. And creativity. And patience.
We know small changes go a long way. Our partner, Change.org, knows it too.
We have joined together to create positive changes for parents. Our new Movement page #ParentsChangeTheGame allows parents to petition their way toward better outcomes and drive much-needed attention to the issues of our day. Change.org is an amazing leader – uniquely positioned to help make these changes happen in real time with their online petition system.
At the It’s Working Project, we gather stories from moms and dads about their experiences of going back to work after starting or expanding their families. The stories in our Portrait Project are powerful — the details of financial angst, children with medical conditions compromised by day care, the pumping in janitors’ closets and bathrooms. They are powerful alone, as compellingly honest first-person narratives that strike a chord. And together, as a mosaic of the biggest picture of back-to-work after baby in the US, they are undeniably poignant. When you read the shared experiences of the nurse, the teacher, the corporate executive, the professor, the bar worker, you see the unique people in unique situations with the unified call for a way to get back to work with ease, as a matter of course, and with a sense of pride.
That is why we’ve been sharing the details of our Portrait Project with HR departments across the country, offering our view as a roadmap toward helping parents give their best at work and at home. That is also why Change.org has been so important to us as a way to give our parents a clear, audible voice to change the things that matter most to them at work and now at play.
These issues aren’t limited to work. New parents also travel, go to sporting events, conferences, the mall, the movies and more — places where they need better solutions for pumping, breastfeeding, and changing diapers in a way that gives them privacy without shutting them out from the action.
We’re proud of the Portrait Project moms and dads who have lent their voices to the It’s Working Project, and who have worked with our Change.org partner to change the game at our nation’s football stadiums and national ball parks by starting and supporting petitions calling for powerful, positive change in stadiums across the country. These changes are a call to action to create new policies that support the needs of all parents who want to attend the games with their families.
Every petition brings about a small change that can make a big difference. Please check out our Portrait Project to share your back-to-work after baby story, and visit our Change.org page to see how you can join the #ParentsChangeTheGame movement to make it work better for new parents at work and at play.