April 25, 2019

A Reflection on Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day by Former Ms. Foundation President and CEO

A Reflection on Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day by

Former Ms. Foundation President and CEO

NEW YORK (April 25, 2019) – As the Ms. Foundation for Women celebrates its 45th Anniversary year, the nation’s first women’s foundation is looking back on their past and reflecting on their decades-long fight for gender equity. Part of this fight included the creation of the first Take Our Daughters to Work Day, a national event to show young girls what a future in the workplace could look like for them.

To honor the day, Former Ms. Foundation for Women President and CEO and Take Our Daughters to Work Day Founder, Marie C. Wilson, released the following statement on Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day:

“It is hard to believe that more than 25 years have passed since the Ms. Foundation for Women held the first Take Our Daughters to Work Day. It was a joyous occasion that has become almost a national holiday in celebration of girls’ resilience and potential.

“It is even harder to believe that after all this time, that single day is as necessary now as it was then. Many of the girls from that first year are today’s women in the workplace, facing the same glass ceilings, the same lower pay, the same harassment.

“We owe it to today’s girls to do better for them, and that includes showing them the full range of possibilities for their life’s work, and working hard ourselves to change that environment. We need to let them challenge us as they see what we do in our day (and night) jobs, to question the status quo and to open our grownup eyes to what we too often simply accept.

“As our motto back then said, “A girl is watching. What is she learning?” She is not only learning the truth of our lives, she is teaching us how they might be lived. I salute all the participants in the program — yesterday, today and beyond — for their commitment to a more equal tomorrow.”

Ms. Foundation spokespeople are available for interviews by phone or in-person from NYC. To schedule, please contact Sunshine Sachs at [email protected].

###

For 45 years, the Ms. Foundation for Women has worked to build women’s collective power in the U.S. to advance equity and justice for all. The Ms. Foundation invests in, and strengthens the capacity of women led movements to advance meaningful social, cultural, and economic change in the lives of women. With equity and inclusion as the cornerstones of true democracy, the Ms. Foundation works to create a world in which the worth and dignity of every person are valued, and power and possibility are not limited by gender, race, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or age.