Oh, Hello, 2022!

When we launched &Mother in the early days of the pandemic, we had no idea that a global event would push millions of women out of the workforce or that nearly two years of pandemic parenting would bring into public consciousness all the invisible barriers that caregivers (predominantly mothers!) face when it comes to navigating family and career. But here we are, in the middle of the fray, barreling towards year two, during yet another winter of work + parenting + COVID. 

Through your experiences and our own, we see those barriers and the systemic and structural failures that brought working motherhood to the breaking point. We also see the opportunities to mend and re-build, to help rearrange the blended nature of aspiration and work and parenting and health. We know that patchwork is not sufficient – we need to fully reimagine the working world to center respect for human value, female leadership, and maternal experience. Women deserve this. And EVERYONE benefits. 

We are here for this challenge. 

As you may know, our first initiative focuses on aligning the systems and structures within the sports industry to support the choices that athletes make around career and motherhood. We are starting here because we know that this career path – and the maternal wall that women face – stands in as a microcosm for what women experience across professions. The pandemic effects on working mothers have only further highlighted this comparison.

As one advisor reminded us: “Providing a structural framework that supports, rather than derails, a woman’s athletic career to and through motherhood, sends a critical message to the rest of the working world -- if you can do this in sport, you can do it anywhere."

Our sights are set on this challenge as we kick-off 2022. While we continue our work to change the narrative around the value of motherhood and set new best practices for supporting the family journey + choices around athletic career and motherhood, we will also be initiating work towards establishing and standardizing these supportive structures and systems. 

We know that the last couple of years has only fed the beast of gender inequity and the fight ahead is a fierce one. We also know that we are not fighting this beast alone. We will continue amplifying the good work of those in this fight with us while we collaborate and chip away at our own corner of the issue – our vision set firmly on a working culture where motherhood is not a limiting factor in how women succeed professionally or personally.

We appreciate your support as we continue down the road ahead! Thank you, all and happy new year!