Holidays

Foster Care Reimagined: How Two Sisters Are Changing the Lives of L.A. Youth

Having Coco, 2, join their family inspired sisters Layla, 16, and Delara, 17, to start Coco’s Angels. The organization helps kids in foster care across L.A., through tutoring services, education funding and donation drives.

Layla and Delara began their first fundraiser with GoFundMe in 2020 raising over $60,000 and allowing them to order over 600 personalized holiday gifts for foster care kids. Since December 2020, the girls have raised over $125,000.

It’s Time to Launch ‘Dads Demand Action to Raise Healthy Boys’

There’ll be time enough for backyard barbeques once fathers take the lead in establishing “Dads Demand Action to Raise Healthy Boys,” following in the footsteps—a decade late—after “Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense,” launched the day following the mass murders at Sandy Hook.

Think about what it could mean to transform Father’s Day from a commercial holiday to a call to action centered on raising boys. To date, fathers and mentors, uncles and coaches have rarely been organized as a group; we’re an untapped force for good that could also become a new voting bloc. Call us say, soccer dads.

How to ‘Intention’ a Feminist World: Ringing in the New Year with Leadership Icon Gloria Feldt

Gloria Feldt

For years, Gloria Feldt has focused on women’s leadership—and as we flip the calendar to 2022, her resolve is stronger than ever. I decided to find out more about her insights into women and power.

“One of the hardest things is to shift our focus from battling negative power reactively to embracing our positive power to implement change proactively and set our own agenda in a disciplined way.”

In an Era of Unrealistic Expectations on Moms, Product Safety Is a Feminist Issue

In an Era of Unrealistic Expectations on Moms, Product Safety Is a Feminist Issue

In the midst of the holiday season, the pressure on parents to select the perfect gift for every member of their family can feel overwhelming. What’s harder is when companies have developed a tendency of blaming accidents of shocking children’s deaths on parents, even if their unsafe products are the real culprits.

This is a feminist issue. The more the government encourages industry self-monitoring and consumer educational campaigns over regulation and federal oversight, the more the management of risk is transferred to individual families, and the gendered labor of mothers in particular.

Build Back Better Is in Peril. Low-income Families Can’t Afford To Lose It

As families hope Democratic leadership will find a different path to pass Build Back Better policies like childcare or paid leave, another revolutionary policy is just beginning to enter mainstream awareness: guaranteed income.

Guaranteed income involves regular payments directed to specific marginalized groups, as a way to address economic inequities caused by systemic racism and sexism. Economic justice organizations like the Magnolia Mother’s Trust argue that a federal guaranteed income program would not just help low-income families pay their bills, but also reduce financial stress and set their families up for long-term success. 

Empty Home for the Holidays: Mothers Who Can’t See Their Children Blame Broken Family Court System

Empty Home for the Holidays: Mothers Who Can’t See Their Children Blame Broken Family Court System

More than 58,000 children are ordered into unsupervised contact with physically or sexually abusive parents after divorce every year.

The double whammy? Domestic abuse survivors, unlike accused criminals, don’t get a free attorney and there’s no organization to fund women to level the legal playing field in high conflict divorce cases. So, some men clearly use the courts as a weapon to drain women of resources, causing them to lose savings, jobs and in some cases their children. 

“I didn’t want to leave but I couldn’t afford to stay after spending my last cent on my court battle. I hope to reduce my expenses, pay off legal debts and continue to fight for my children.”