REFRESH, INSPIRE, SUPPORT, EMPOWER
Last month, YWCA hosted its first-ever Women RISE (Refresh, Inspire, Support, Empower) Career Training Workshop for local women at all stages of their careers. RISE showed how community partners can come together to empower women and girls and build a more equitable workforce in our region. Visit My Edmonds News to see photos from the event.
Services at RISE included on-site interview coaching, resume reviews, and professional headshots. It was inspiring to see so many community members help break down the barriers that can prevent women from finding success in the workplace. A huge thank you to our event volunteers, as well as our sponsors: Hunni Company, My Edmonds News, The Refinery Salon, Rogue, and Walnut Street Coffee.
"Addressing inequities in career advancement for women means addressing stereotypes, discrimination, unfair policies and practices, and other barriers," says YWCA Board Member Yvonne Terrell-Powell in her recent Everett Herald op-ed.
WOMEN WHO DARE
Earlier this month, we partnered with Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) for two events, the first of which coincided with their monthly Free First Thursday. YWCA Women Who Dared featured an exhibit of profiles shining light on a diverse set of prolific Washington women and their stories, historic achievements, and how they helped make our communities more just and equitable for all.
Along with the photo display, we brought our traveling community art installation that we’ve featured at all our YW125 events this year, where guests can add their personal tribute to inspiring women in their lives. Visitors also used our selfie station, where they talked about a women who inspires them, as well as contributed to our time capsule, sharing what their experience is as women in the year 2019, as well as their hopes for women in the future.
BLACK WOMEN'S WORKFORCE LEGACY
Our second MOHAI event this month was a collaboration on their History Café series, with the focus of ours being Black Women’s Legacy in the Washington Workforce. Throughout our nation’s history, Black women have faced significant disparities in wages and employment outcomes despite consistently having the highest levels of participation among all women in the workforce.
Moderated by Michelle Merriweather, CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, the discussion featured our panelists Pamela Phillips, Black Heritage Society and National Council of Negro Women, professor of history at Edmonds Community College, and Rev. Dr. Phyllis Beaumonte from Mount Zion Baptist Church. Professor Phillips discussed the history of Black pioneer women, complimented by a photo display at the event and Rev. Dr. Beaumonte offered perspective on Black women’s history here in Seattle.
The first two thirds of the event focused on the history of black women’s contributions to the workforce, with the last third devoted to the event speakers addressing how race and gender has impacted their own experiences. Like the previous MOHAI event, we brought back our collaborative community art installation so that guests could add their own personal tribute to inspiring women in their lives.
PRESERVE YWCA'S HEADQUARTERS FOR FUTURE LEADERS
For more about our 125th anniversary All In for Washington Women campaign, check out our YW125 page. Additionally, from September 24 – October 29, you can vote online to help YWCA win the funding needed to renovate the lobby of our Seneca location, YWCA’s Seattle headquarters since 1914. You can cast five votes a day, every day throughout that period, so please vote often!
Annalee Schafranek is the Marketing & Editorial Director at YWCA. She contributes agency news, press releases, and media coverage to the website. Annalee’s educational and professional experience has always focused on the place where gender equity and media meet.
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