Advocating for Successful Workplaces for Women & their Employers Business and Professional Women’s Foundation works with women, employers and policymakers to create successful workplaces that practice and embrace diversity, equity and work-life balance. Through our groundbreaking research, our network of national supporters and our unique role as a convener of employers and employees, BPW Foundation leads the way in developing and advocating for polices and programs that “work” for both women and businesses.

BPW Foundation policy focus areas:

• Equal Pay for Women — Forty-seven years after passage of the Equal Pay Act, the average woman working full time still earns 22 cents less than the average man. Women of color fair even worse. BPW Foundation supports the Paycheck Fairness Act which will update and strengthen the Equal Pay Act, closing loop holes and improving the law's effectiveness. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, signed into law on January 23, 2009, ensured fair access to the courts, but the Paycheck Fairness Act will prohibit employer retaliation against workers who disclose their wages, increase financial penalties and increases funding for training, research and education to close the persistent gap between men’s and women’ s wages.
• Work-Life Balance — Fully 90 percent of American mothers and 95 percent of American fathers report work-family conflict. BPW Foundation recognizes that this is a family issue and proposes a multi-prong approach: advocating for workplace standards legislation, developing employer tools and empowering all employees to request and use flexible policies. BPW supports the Healthy Families Act (paid sick days), the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (paid parental leave) and the Auto IRA Act (automatic retirement savings). Paid sick leave, paid parental leave, workplace flexibility, affordable child care and health care and retirement security are all necessary tools in the quest for work-life balance, financial security and successful workplaces.
• Working Women in the Green Economy — BPW Foundation strives to increase the number of women in better-paying, non-traditional fields and ensure that careers of the future are pursued equally by all genders. Through our Moving from Red to Green: Working Women in the Green Economy initiative we are exploring women's demand for green jobs and how to ensure that they are recruited trained and retained in the sustainable jobs of the future. BPW Foundation supports the Women & Workforce Investment for Nontraditional Jobs (Women WIN Jobs) Act that will invest in a new federal grant program to help recruit, prepare, place and retain women in high-demand, high-wage nontraditional jobs.
• Women Veterans in Transition — BPW Foundation is the first organization to research women veterans transitioning from active duty to the civilian workforce. BPW Foundation’s extensive research on the needs of women veterans and how to ensure their successful re-entry and advancement in the workplace is especially critical as veterans become an increasing percentage of the workforce. BPW Foundation supports the recent expansion of FMLA benefits to families of both wounded veterans and active service members and further expansion to nonqualified FMLA employees.
• Young Careerists — For the first time in history, there are four generations in the workforce at the same time. This multi-generational workplace presents new challenges and opportunities for both employees and employers. How do we mobilize, motivate, and mentor young women and men (Generations X and Y) and provide them with the tools for success in the workplace? As a neutral convener of employers and employees, BPW Foundation is in a unique position to support research and programs to tackle this emerging issue. Workers under 30 have experienced high unemployment in this recession and that is why BPW Foundation supports job creation efforts such as the temporary tax incentives for businesses and nonprofits to hire new employees.
   

Advocacy Center
Empowering Women to Be Great Advocates
BPW Foundation provides tools and resources so working women can get involved in public policy development and activities in their own workplaces and government. 

• Talking points and background information on working women's issues 
• Draft letters to legislators
• Links to voting records
• “Legislator Look-Up” for Congress and state legislators
• Committee assignments and biographical information on federal legislators

Policy & Action Day
Working women from across the nation converge on Washington, D.C. to learn about the issues, network with other women advocates and lobby their Members of Congress.

Equal Pay Day
Equal Pay Day symbolizes the point in the year at which women's wages catch up to men's wages from the previous year. Working women recognize Equal Pay Day by lobbying their legislators, holding press conferences and hosting "Unhappy Hours."

For more information contact Director of Public Policy Rachel Lyons at rlyons@bpwfoundation.org or 202.777.8920.