U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau

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U.S. Department of LaborWomen's Bureau

• Promoting 21st Century solutions to improve the
  status of working women and their families

Fiscal Year 2008 Outlook
8/12/08
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Strengthening the Family

• The Women's Bureau was created by Congressional
  mandate in 1920. It is the only federal agency
  charged to advocate on behalf of women in the
  workforce.
• The Bureaus mission is to improve the status of
  wage-earning women, improve their working
  conditions, increase their efficiency, and
  advance their opportunities for profitable
  employment.
• The Bureau designs and implements demonstration
  projects that employ high tech (Web sites,
  virtual conferences, and e-mentoring) and high
  touch (workshops, seminars, and one-on-one
  counseling) elements.
• All Womens Bureau projects follow a strategic
  plan, achieve measurable results, and can be
  replicated by other organizations.

Better Jobs! Better Earnings! Better Living!
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Strategic Goals
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Working Women in Transition (WWIT)

• Project Goal To connect women who are making a
  transition in their work lives with mentors,
  resources, and learning opportunities to enable
  them to
• receive an increase in wages/salary or a
  promotion
• find employment or start a business
• enter into post-secondary or graduate degree
  education or a certification or licensing
  program.
• WWIT provides access to face-to-face and online
  mentors (e-mentoring), skill set analysis, job
  training, job search assistance, childcare,
  transportation, counseling, and work clothing.
• Participants may remain enrolled in WWIT for two
  years.

www.workingwomenintransition.org
University of Kentucky manages the Web site
This program has opened up so many doors
for me that I didnt think existed. WWIT
project participant, Texas
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New WWIT Project!
Native Trail The Womens Bureau is working with
Native American women in northern Arizona,
preserving their traditions and showcasing their
beautiful art and handicrafts so that they will
be economically self-sufficient.
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WieUp

• Project Goal To provide financial education to
  Generations X and Y women so they will reduce
  their debt and increase their savings and/or
  investments
• An online and classroom-based curriculum covers
  saving, credit, debt, insurance, investing, and
  retirement planning.
• Over 80 financial experts answer questions via
  e-mail. The Ask the Experts archive is
  available online.
• Speakers provide financial guidance on bi-monthly
  WieUp Teleconference Calls. Transcripts and
  audio recordings are available online.
• Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Business and
  Professional Women/USA, the American Institute of
  Certified Public Accountants, and the Financial
  Planning Association collaborate with the Womens
  Bureau to implement WieUp.

www.wiseupwomen.org
Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas AM
University System manages the Web site

Women often have unique long-term financial
concerns. They generally receive lower pension
benefits than men due to their relatively lower
earnings, are more likely to work in part-time
jobs that dont qualify for a retirement plan,
and are also more likely to interrupt their
careers to take care of family members.
Why WieUp?
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WieUp Replications

• Collaborative relationships with community
  organizations such as a shelter for survivors of
  domestic violence and a program for girls aging
  out of foster care in Charleston, SC
• Brown bag lunch series for university students in
  Illinois

• Pre-release incarcerated women in Kansas City,
  MO Topeka, KS Gig Harbor WA and Dublin, CA
• Employees receive Continuing Education Credits
  from their e-learning site in Texas

• Organizations Offering WieUp
• Job Corps centers career centers
• Womens business centers
• Adult education providers
• Employers
• Universities
• Correctional facilities
• Womens centers
• Faith-based centers

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Additional Financial Literacy Projects

• WieUp for Native Women
• The Womens Bureau collaborated with Native
  Public Media (NPM) to encourage Native women to
  learn about finances and saving for the future.
  NPM created five public service announcements
  using voices of Native women who participated in
  a WieUp class.
• Building upon the NPM financial literacy outreach
  efforts, the Womens Bureau is offering WieUp
  classroom activities in career centers and tribal
  and community organizations within the NPM
  broadcast area. Financial information is shared
  using an approach that is culturally appropriate
  to the Native community.

WieUp on Wall Street In July 2008, the
Womens Bureau and the Financial Planning
Association hosted WieUp The Benefits of
Creating a Financially Savvy Employee, a
conference to outreach to companies headquartered
in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
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Flex-Options

• Project Goal To encourage business owners to
  develop workplace flexibility policies and
  procedures, such as telecommuting, job sharing,
  and compressed work-weeks.
• Corporate executives and workplace flexibility
  experts establish one-on-one mentoring
  relationships with business owners to teach them
  how to develop flexible work policies.
• Best practices are shared online and via
  teleconference calls featuring experienced
  professionals and leaders in the flexible
  workplace field.

www.we-inc.org/flex.html
Women Entrepreneurs Inc. manages Web site
Flex in the City Conference On May 13, 2008,
the Womens Bureau and the City of Houston
Mayors Office hosted a conference to share
workplace flexibility practices and learn how to
promote flexible work options.
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Women in Nanotechnology
www.womeninnanotechnology.org
Project Goal To help existing
college/university science programs increase the
number of women interested in the study of
nanotechnology
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National Outreach

• Womens Bureau Electronic Newsletter
• Launched in 2002, e-News informs the public
  about the Bureaus projects and activities.
• Leadership Forums
• From 2004 to 2007, the Womens Bureau held
  leadership forums in all 50 states, the District
  of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The forums brought
  together women leaders from faith-based
  organizations, chambers of commerce, corporate
  America, local industry, and state and local
  governments. Attendees learned how to replicate
  Womens Bureau demonstration projects. The Bureau
  has expanded outreach activities to promote
  replication.

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Building on the Past, Envisioning the Future
The Art of Womens Lives

• On March 4-6, 2008, the Womens Bureau and Women
  Entrepreneurs Inc. hosted an event in Washington,
  DC in honor of Womens History Month.
• Workshops
• Women and Americas Changing Work Culture
• The Workforce Dimension
• Building a Stronger STEM Pipeline for Women
• Women in Nanotechnology (WIN) Community
  Collaboration to Expand the Workforce Pipeline
• Wising Up Financially A Multi-Generational
  Perspective
• Workplace Flexibility Innovations Across Sectors

• Evening Panel Reception featuring
• Marin Alsop, Music Director of the Baltimore
  Symphony Orchestra
• Ruth DeGolia, Executive Director of Mercado Global

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International Outreach

• Council of Women World Leaders Ministerial
  Fellows Exchange Program, 2006 - Womens Bureau
  Director Shinae Chun shared the Womens Bureaus
  expertise and best practices with women members
  of Parliament, ministers, the Tanzania Media
  Womens Association, and the Tanzania Gender
  Networking Program. She also visited the Maasai
  Women Development Organization (right).
• International Visitors Briefings - Briefings for
  international dignitaries and women leaders are
  coordinated with the Department of State and the
  DOL Bureau of International Labor Affairs. From
  FY 2002-2007, the Womens Bureau briefed 800
  visitors from over 100 countries.

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Past Projects

• Better Jobs!
• Employer-Driven Older Women Workers
• Group E-Mentoring in Nursing (GEM-Nursing)
• Girls E-Mentoring in Science, Engineering, and
  Technology (GEM-SET)
• Ground Zero Initiative Building a Pipeline of
  Women for the Skilled Trades in Metropolitan New
  York (Construction Trades Prep)
• Online Learning for Single Mothers
• Women with Disabilities Entrepreneurship
• Women's Museum - Women in Technology Project
• Better Earnings!
• Las Mujeres y el Dinero (Women and Money)
• Neighborhood Networks
• Women Managing Those Dollar

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National Office Shinae Chun, Director Womens
Bureau U.S. Department of Labor 200 Constitution
Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20210 202.693.6710
Womens Bureau
1.800.827.5335
www.dol.gov/wb
Region VI Dallas Beverly Lyle, RA 972.850.4700
AR, LA, NM, OK, and TX Region VII Kansas
City Dorothy Witherspoon, RA 816.285.7233 IA, KS,
MO, and NE Region VIII Denver Frances
Jefferson, RA 303.844.1286 CO, MT, ND, SD, UT,
and WY Region IX San Francisco Jenny Erwin,
RA 415.625.2638 AZ, CA, Guam, HI, and NV Region
X Seattle Betty Lock, RA 206.553.1534 AK, ID,
OR, and WA
Region I Boston Jacqueline Cooke,
RA 617.565.1988 CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, and VT
Region II New York Grace Protos,
RA 212.337.2389 NJ, NY, Puerto Rico, and Virgin
Islands Region III Philadelphia Lucia Bruce,
RA 215.861.4860 DE, DC, MD, PA, VA, and WV
Region IV Atlanta Paulette Lewis,
RA 404.562.2336 AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, and
TN Region V Chicago Nancy Chen,
RA 312.353.6985 IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, and WI