March is Women’s History Month and as a 100% female run and operated organization, we are proud of all of the womanpower it takes to keep our wheels churning in the right direction. Our entire leadership staff is female, our entire teaching staff (we sometimes have male teachers, but none at present) and the majority of our board of directors with the exception of a few brave members whom we treasure. We are open to more men! Men in leadership, men on the board and men as teachers or chefs. If you know a man who is interested, please let us know. We are all about equity in the workplace.
We are also all about empowering women to be the best they can be. I like to believe we are a nurturing group, but also a shoot from the hip, no nonsense group. It is not unlike what you would see in a classroom. We call it firm, but kind when addressing our students, with a lot of hugs thrown in because that is who we are and who doesn’t love a hug every now and then to get us through the day?
Being surrounded by this powerful group of female fabulousness is an honor and a privilege. When we recently gathered at the Statehouse to once again encourage our legislators to support early care and education I was struck by our power. The power we felt in numbers, in our voices, in our signs we proudly carried and in our demeanor knowing we were collectively elevating a very important topic.
- Without us, other people cannot work and every business is affected by that.
- Without us, our economy comes to a grinding halt.
- Without us, children do not enter kindergarten ready.
- Without us, especially fellow women are not able to return to the workplace.
- Without us, the world is a harsher place for families who cannot experience financial upward mobility because child care is either unavailable or too expensive.
We hope you will take a moment to let lawmakers, especially those establishing the budget in JFAC (Joint Finance Appropriations Committee) to return the Child Care Business grants back into the Health and Welfare Budget. This Action Tool only takes about 3-4 minutes to fill out and your letter goes to multiple people on JFAC who are responsible for the removal of the funds. Thank you for supporting women TODAY in this impactful way.
Here is a shoutout to the incredible women who stand up for children and other women every day. The women who make Giraffe Laugh a success story and that of so many children and families in our community.
To learn more about Giraffe Laugh, visit https://www.giraffelaugh.org/about/.