Join us for An Evening with Jodi Kantor on Feb. 6th!

Jan 15, 2018 | Media, Political, Vermont, Work

Tickets are going fast! Buy them here! $20 general admission | $10 students
All proceeds go to the Vermont Women’s Fund to support women and girls in Vermont.

Jodi Kantor is one of the New York Times investigative journalists who broke the Harvey Weinstein story last October, sparking a national conversation about gender and sexual harassment - and she’s coming back to Vermont! The Vermont Women’s Fund (VWF) - Change The Story’s partner and funder - is hosting A Conversation with Jodi Kantor on February 6 at the Davis Center at UVM.

Download the invite PDF.

About Jodi Kantor:

Jodi Kantor is an award-winning journalist and best-selling author who writes about gender, politics, and workplace issues among other topics.

Ms. Kantor’s story on the class gap in breastfeeding in 2006 inspired the launch of Burlington’s Mamava, a company that designs and manufactures freestanding lactation suites. More recently, she has reported on the treatment of women at Harvard Business School, on Wall Street, and in the Mormon Church. She was lead reporter on the August 2015 article, “Inside Amazon,” which received national attention.

She covered the world of Barack and Michelle Obama starting in 2007, also writing about Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Elizabeth Warren, Mitt Romney, and Sonia Sotomayor among many others. She is the author of The Obamas, which centers on the First Couple’s time in the White House. It was published by Little, Brown in January 2012.

On October 5, 2017, Kantor and fellow New York Times reporter, Megan Twohey published an article describing film producer mogul Harvey Weinstein’s three decades of sexual harassment and paying settlements to several women. The story sent shock waves throughout the entertainment industry as more women began coming forward with additional accusations of sexual harassment and assault by Weinstein. Weinstein was subsequently fired by the board of his production company, and his membership of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was revoked.

The discussion quickly spread beyond the entertainment world with women using the social media hashtag #metoo to describe their common experiences of sexual harassment in and out of the workplace. Her reporting has opened up a national debate on the subject of sexual harassment as wave after wave of reported violations of sexual harassment have resulted in the firings and resignations of many high profile men in politics, journalism, and Silicon Valley.

Kantor and Twohey are co-authoring a book on the Weinstein scandal that will be published in the spring of 2019.

Jodi Kantor was the keynote speaker at the Vermont Women’s Fund in May of 2016, speaking on the impact that journalism has on culture and workplace issues.

JOIN US for Coffee and Confidence 2017

JOIN US for Coffee and Confidence 2017

Oct 6, 2017 | Vermont, Work, Workplace Diversity

As part of the Vermont Tech Jam, Change The Story VT is hosting a special (free) event for women and nonbinary individuals of all ages on Friday, October 20, 2017 from 10-11:30am at Champlain Valley Expo.

Participants will get tools and takeaways to help them pursue the tech field, interview for that next job, find a career that fits and negotiate salaries.

Following a brief panel discussion, attendees may choose two mini sessions.


Panel Moderator: Lindsey Lathrop, FromWithin Coaching and Change The Story VT

Panelists:
- Sara Mellinger: Marketing Manager, Logic Supply
- Rachel Kauppila: Job Developer, VT Works for Women
- Jessica Nordhaus: Strategy & Partnerships, Change The Story VT and
Co-Founder of the Greater Burlington Women’s Forum
- Amy Kakalec: Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition, Cox Enterprises (Dealer.com)

Mini Sessions (20 minutes long, attendees may attend two):
1. The Art of Salary Negotiation with Lindsey Lathrop
2. Prepping for An Interview with Amy Kakalec
3. Pursuing the Tech Field with Olivia Bartelheim, Inbound/Technical Sales and Gaby Ransom, Account Manager, Logic Supply
4. Finding A Career That Fits with Rachel Kauppila

Preregistration is required and space is limited.

Closing the Women’s Wealth Gap

Jun 28, 2017 | Economic Security, Retirement, Salary & Compensation, State Initiatives, Wage Gap, Women of Color/Visible Minorities, Work

“The Closing the Women’s Wealth Gap Initiative is a national forum where advocates, organizers, researchers, practitioners, and funders are coming together to close the gap by building wealth for low-income women and women of color.”

[x_button shape=”square” size=”regular” float=”none” href=”http://womenswealthgap.org/” title=”Learn about Women’s Wealth Gap.org” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Learn about Women’s Wealth Gap.org[/x_button]

2017 Status Report: Vermont Women and Leadership

2017 Status Report: Vermont Women and Leadership

Apr 4, 2017 | Corporate, Economic Security, Leadership, State Initiatives, Talent Management, Vermont, Wage Gap, Work, Workplace Diversity

This is the fourth in a series of reports published by Change The Story on topics related to women’s economic status. This report focuses specifically on women’s leadership in political, civic, and professional spheres, and the way in which leadership is related to economic security. We focused on leadership roles that can be identified and counted, including elected or appointed public servants at the state and municipal levels, leaders of critical community institutions, and leaders of organizations in the private and non-profit sectors. That said, it is important that we acknowledge the myriad other ways in which Vermont women and men serve as leaders, many of them unrecognized by traditional measures but nonetheless critically important. Most of the data in this report is either new or not regularly collected or published. All of it is specific to Vermont and is vitally important – not just in terms of what it reflects about women, but because of its implications for the state as a whole.

Download the full report.

Download the companion slide deck.

Among our findings:

  • By some measures Vermont is a national pacesetter in its share of women in public leadership.
    • Women are 39.4% of those serving in Vermont’s General Assembly, 60% of the state’s Supreme Court Justices, 43% of Executive Cabinet members and 50% of its public university and college presidents.
  • However, Vermont’s progress in achieving gender parity in leadership arenas has been uneven, slow-going or in some cases nonexistent.
    • Just one of Vermont’s six statewide officials is a woman, trailing the national average by 7 percentage points. Indeed, of the 296 individuals ever elected to statewide office, only 11 have been women.
    • Vermont and Mississippi are the only two states that have never sent a woman to Congress.
    • While women’s participation in Vermont’s General Assembly is the second highest in the country, the pace of change has essentially leveled off since 1993; in 24 years, women’s share of legislative seats has increased by just four percentage points.
  • When only 8% of Vermont’s highest grossing companies and 3 of its 15 hospitals are led by women, we can be certain that we are not making full use of all our state’s talent.

Additional Resources for VT Female Entrepreneurs

Oct 25, 2016 | Economic Security, Entrepreneurs, State Initiatives, Vermont, Work

[x_button shape=”square” size=”regular” float=”none” href=”http://changethestoryvt.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/CTS-2016-Status-Report_Womens-Business-Ownership-and-the-VT-Economy.pdf” title=”2016 Status Report: Women’s Business Ownership and the Vermont Economy” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Read “Women’s BusinessOwnership and the Vermont Economy [/x_button]

Mercy Connections, Women’s Small Business Program

Director: Carmen Tall

Offering a variety of classes and discussion groups like:

  • Getting Serious: Intro to Self-Employment
  • Start Up: Comprehensive Business Planning
  • Personal Financial Empowerment Programs
  • Personal Financial Resource Groups: Money-Management Discussions

Learn more.

Women Business Owners Network, Vermont

Women Business Owners Network (WBON) is the membership choice for women entrepreneurs seeking connections, resources and tools to scale into greater economic, social and political arenas in Vermont and beyond.

Learn more. Join as a member.

Center for Women & Enterprise, Vermont

Director: Gwen Pokalo

CWE provides opportunities for women entrepreneurs and women in business to increase professional success, personal growth, and financial independence. They offer:

  • Education
  • Training
  • Technical assistance
  • Women’s business enterprise certification

Learn more.

Small Business Development Center, Vermont

Director: Linda Rossi

The VT SBDC works as a team to positively impact sustainable, economic development in Vermont by strengthening both established businesses and start-up entrepreneurs. They offer certified professionals who specialize in high quality, innovative advising and training to be responsive and serve the market.

Find an Advisor near you.

Vermont Commission on Women’s Business & Entrepreneurship Resources

Executive Director: Cary Brown

Vermont Commission on Women is an independent non-partisan state government commission dedicated to advancing rights and opportunities for women in Vermont since 1964. They have a list of great resources for women’s business and entrepreneurship on their website.

Learn more here.

2016 Status Report: Women’s Business Ownership and the Vermont Economy

2016 Status Report: Women’s Business Ownership and the Vermont Economy

Oct 17, 2016 | Corporate, Economic Security, Entrepreneurs, Occupational Segregation, State Initiatives, Talent Management, Vermont, Wage Gap, Work, Workplace Diversity

This is the third in a series of briefs published by Change The Story on topics related to women’s economic status. This report focuses specifically on business ownership by women and its potential to bolster and invigorate Vermont’s economy. Like the majority of national and regional reports on businesses, this report relies heavily on data from the 2012 U.S. Census Survey of Business Owners. Unless otherwise noted, all statistics are specific to Vermont. To date, we have had to rely on national reports to define the health of Vermont’s women-owned businesses. But their conclusions paint conflicting pictures: one analysis of 2014 data ranked Vermont first among states for entrepreneurs, while another ranked Vermont 50th. The difference between these rankings begs the question: What is the real story for Vermont women and business ownership?

Download the full report.

Download the companion slide deck.

Among the findings:

  • Women-owned businesses are vital to Vermont’s economy.
    • Women own 23,417 businesses in Vermont, which employ 36,326 people, and generate annual revenues of approximately $2.2 billion.

  • Although growing at a faster rate than businesses owned by men, women-owned firms in Vermont are fewer in number, smaller in size, and lower in annual revenues.
    • Between 2007-2011, the number of female-owned businesses grew 15%; during the same period male-owned businesses grew by only 6%.
    • Women-owned businesses generate 9% of gross revenues and employ 12% of workers in privately-held Vermont firms.
    • Women business owners are significantly underrepresented in 9 of the 10 highest grossing sectors. This limits financial opportunities for individual women and their potential contributions to Vermont’s economy.

  • Women-owned businesses have the potential to play a much bigger role in Vermont’s economic development.
    • If the percent of women-owned businesses that are employers matched that of male-owned businesses, and those firms had the same average receipts, it would add $3.8 billion to Vermont’s economy.
    • If Vermont women chose business ownership at the same rate as men, it would result in more than 10,500 new businesses.
    • If just 1 in 4 of the existing 20,786 women-owned businesses without employees hired just one worker, it would result in an additional 5,200 new jobs.

  • Maximizing the potential of women-owned businesses - and indeed all of VT businesses - requires new and better data.
    • While existing business-related data sources can provide reliable top-line statistics, they are less useful in revealing nuanced information about the motivations, challenges or opportunities experienced by Vermont business owners. Focusing on the finer points of what makes a business successful is critical to Vermont’s economic future.