Meet our Partner – Ashley Connell, CEO and Founder of the Prowess Project

Posted on October 21, 2020October 21, 2020 by

Prowess Project CEO and Founder, Ashley Connell is big on the “F word” — in fact I don’t think I’ve had a conversion with her in which she does not bring and keep Flexibility front and center. She, having built the Prowess Project from the ground up, has been long focused on best practices for elevating and empowering women in an ever-evolving workplace. The punch line — Flexibility, the essential trait that is redefining the workplace in the days of Covid was where prowess began.

Understanding that one size simply does not fit all (again, big news to those making sense of Covid-19 but a core, long-standing belief of the Prowess Project) has allowed Ashley not only to build intimate cohorts of up to five women to elevate skills and insights, she then feeds graduates of each cohort into robust communities – connecting members in ways that empower and build confidence.

Sounds good, no? It is. And then there is the role she plays with employers. Ashley is in just the right place at the right time. Prowess Project is able to bring employers up to full speed in their recruitment and even more key at the moment, in their retention process. This by identifying both need and cultural fit. New and nothing short of a much needed game changer, women find their best fit while employers grow to be more adept and yes, flexible. And as the Pandemic continues on – Prowess Project’s services have expanded to help fortify private sector efforts.

Ashley considers herself part conductor (so many moving parts in her orchestra) and part innovator (offering a new, ever-evolving approach that nimbly meets needs on all sides of the table). She loves how she spends her days and the impact she is able to make on an on-going basis. And she should.

When I think of her, I think of a dedicated, motivated woman with the determination to connect in new ways and the smarts to be in the right place at the right time. She is, as her website shares a driving force :

At Prowess Project, we drive progress. In companies, by providing flexible talent and in women’s lives, by providing more options so they can have it all – fulfilling work and time for family.

By the time this is published, more days of the Pandemic will have passed. And the further down this uncertain road we go, the more Ashely’s driving and vision make obvious sense. Workplaces are newly redefining and open to finding ways to remain both productive and populated by just the right employees – altering workplace function, expectations and definitions well into the future. This involves employees being able to describe what they need and define how it is not a risk. And this, well this is the “F-word”! Thank you Ashley!

Why Do We Do What We Do and Will You Do it Too?

Posted on October 14, 2020October 14, 2020 by

These are head spinning days. With each day come new complexities and challenges. We are up to the task. Still, the It’s Working Project cannot help but wonder, what toll is getting through another day taking on men, women, children, employers, businesses and our ability to feel connected to our best selves?

So we continue to ask you to share your stories with us. And now (drumroll) – we have expanded our queries to include the myriad of impacts of Covid-19. Please join us, share your story and help make the Portrait Project much more personal.

Why?

Care.com’s recent survey summary reminds us of the realities of our world, and it is not pretty.

Almost 70% of mothers are in the labor force, and about 42% of mothers are the sole or primary breadwinners in their homes3. In 2018, the labor force participation rate for all women with children under age 18 was 71.5% (for men, it was 93.3%4). That’s to say nothing of the 17.7 million individuals in the United States who are caregivers for an older adult with a health or functional limitation.

And now we know how quickly and dramatically the composition of our American workforce is changing as a result of the Pandemic. According to Women in the Workplace, Mercer & LeanIn’s most recent and rattling report, Covid-19 is impacting the lives of employees, causing struggles without an obvious elixir.

The Covid-19 crisis has been extremely difficult for employees. Several challenges loom large, including childcare and homeschooling responsibilities, mental health, and burnout. Many employees feel like they need to be “always on”—available for work at all hours of the day. And a significant number of employees are worried about layoffs, furloughs, and financial insecurity.

Taken together, these challenges paint a picture of a workforce that is dealing with unsustainable pressure and anxiety. Almost half of employees say they have consistently felt stressed at work over the past few months, and about a third report feeling exhausted or burned out. For working parents—and working mothers in particular—those burdens are even heavier.

Join Us, Please!

And here we are, The It’s Working Project — playing our part, doing our very best to ask and listen to the new realities of the American work and campus place. Our goal, as always, is to bring life to the data. To gather and share stories in compelling, personal ways — to move from data to experience – bringing life to the harsh realities and family-centric experiences to life.

Student Parents and the Pandemic

Posted on September 30, 2020 by

We are so thrilled that we’ve expanded the It’s Working Project to include a broader range of parents including their specific needs and challenges. We are quickly gathering insights from student parents. These stories must be shared. The Washington Post did an outstanding job of introducing readers to some of these families, and the broad range of issues impacting student parents now, under the cloud of Covid-19.

4 Strengths of Family-Friendly Work Cultures

Posted on September 22, 2020September 24, 2020 by

In the media: Harvard Business Review

Date: September 14, 2020

As Covid-19 grew into a pandemic, Michael Schaffer, a father of three in a dual-working household, worried a lot: about his parents in Delaware; about his highly creative, curious, and social kids, who’d had to switch to remote learning; and even about his dog, who was now sharing the home with everyone 24/7. But what Mike did not worry about was his role at Edelman, where he was Senior Vice President, Digital + Corporate. While friends, family, and colleagues all around him had to suddenly adjust to remote work, he’d already been doing it for close to 18 months. That’s how long it had been since he and his family had moved from Washington, DC, to Los Angeles for his wife’s career. Edelman was committed to supporting the shifting needs of its employees and their families, even if they had to relocate, and to that end the company had put in place a set of technologies, protocols, tools designed to help enable remote work — which had made it possible for Mike to move to Los Angeles with his family but still stay on the DC team that he loved. He felt lucky.

The It’s Working Project, where I make sense of the challenging and ever-evolving intersection between work and caregiving, has interviewed employees and HR departments about how their workplace dynamics are shifting during Covid. It’s important that workplaces get this right, because although one-third of the US workforce is considered essential and has been on the job through the Covid-19 pandemic, most of the rest of American workers have shifted to remote work, some of them probably permanently. It’s been a bumpy experience for many employers and workers, especially parents, but in recent conversations with Mike and others I’ve noticed a compelling pattern: The workplaces that are thriving today are those that had already invested in family-centric policies and are building on what they’d learned.

As late as February, when companies committed themselves to family-friendly benefits by offering flexible work days, back-up-care reimbursement, and remote working options, and by prohibiting end-of-day meetings, they typically did so in the name of recruitment, retention, and brand culture. But no longer. Some of these programs grew out of the economic realities of a formerly low unemployment rate, they’ve left organizations well positioned for the quickly shifting workplace dynamics of Covid-19. To understand how — and why — I’ve begun collecting the stories of workers.

Let’s consider a few here.

Click here to read the full article.

Labor Day is Looking Well, Laborious

Posted on September 8, 2020 by

It is the start of a long, Labor Day weekend. I’ve got a good book and some yoga on my mind. Here in Maryland, crabs may be in order as well. There are glimpses of what kept us good and giddy in the past. And really, this is a feeling that is hard to come by as we enter into the early days of September 2020.

There is much to say about our summer that was not quite recognizable. The hill we need to scale is now many miles higher as most schools are starting the year in remote learning mode. The logistics, the weight of it all is just a set-up for frustration and exhaustion. So let’s say you’ve come up with some masterful way to keep your world working…that would be remarkable really. And if so, please share!

As our dear friend Melaine Fodder Kay shares…this is tricky business. Sending love and patience to all of you. And a reminder, we want to hear your story – please share!