CHICAGO - Amanda Sousa from the women’s nonprofit, Women Employed, shares with The Real Chi the purpose behind a women’s movement and how it can be influential in a pandemic.
As a manager of engagement for Women Employed, Sousa informs and empowers people as she engages with supporters both online and offline to help them understand issues of gender inequity that Women Employed is working to address. She contacts legislators and educates those lawmakers networks in their communities. After organizing for over five years, she said she loves her job and it feels great to be a part of the change that Women Employed is making.
“It's important for everyone and especially young people to be involved with politics and advocacy because we have the power to shape our world," she said.
Women Employed's goal is to influence the systems that have a tremendous impact on women's economic equity, especially for women of color and women in low paid occupations.
Sousa recalled one of her proudest moments working at Women Employed was in 2016 when the organization led the fight to win paid sick time for half a million workers in the city of Chicago and Cook County. The laws went into effect in 2017 and made it possible for workers to take time off when their loved ones are sick or when they are experiencing sickness themselves without worrying about missing a day's worth of pay. They advocated because people were in fear of their position being terminated, getting their hours cut for taking time off to take care of family or even their own well-being. Looking back on her work from that time, Sousa said, "That was a really proud moment to get to see all those years of advocacy come to fruition with that law passed in Chicago and Cook County."
There was motivation behind creating an organization such as Women Employed. Sousa said, "Women Employed was founded in the '70s by young women experiencing gender discrimination and harassment in their workplaces in downtown Chicago. They decided that they weren't going to stand for it anymore." In the women activist’s opinion, women often get the message that they should be nice and play by the rules and not make noise, but women's voices are powerful, especially when they join together.
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August 12, 2020 at 03:11AM
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An advocate shares her motivation behind being apart of women's movement - The Real Chi
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