Research Approach
As a research-driven grant-maker, the Eleanor Foundation invests our resources in studies that inform our investments, as well as in others' efforts to advance working women and their families.
Malcolm Bush, Ph.D.
Malcolm Bush is a Senior Research Fellow at The University of Chicago's Chapin Hall. A highly respected economic development expert, he previously led the Woodstock Institute and its research and policy projects that informed community reinvestment strategies nationwide. His policy and research writings include Families in Distress: Public, Private, and Civic Responses, published by the University of California Press.
Gary Orfield, Ph.D.
Gary Orfield is a nationally renowned civil rights scholar whose work has helped facilitate a sea change in U.S. education policy. Currently, he is Director of the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles, a multidisciplinary research and policy think tank, at the University of California, Los Angeles. Gary's work has been quoted in leading national media including the Chicago Tribune, National Public Radio, New York Times, The Economist and The Washington Post.
New Light on Working Mothers
Policy Forum at Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
July 14, 2009
The Eleanor Foundation commissions research to inform our grant-making work and the work of our partners. We also leverage our research to make the case for additional investments and policy initiatives to help working women of modest means.
On May 13, nearly 200 policy experts, business, philanthropic and other leaders gathered at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago for Valuing Working Mothers: The Future of Our Communities. This meeting's purpose was to present research finding from Gary Orfield of UCLA, and Malcolm Bush of the University of Chicago. Their work drew a fresh and often surprising picture of the trends and issues around working single mothers and other female heads-of-households in the headed households in Detroit and Washington D.C., more than 50% are black; in Boston, more than 50% of these mothers are white.
Where these women live has a significant, measurable impact on their economic well-being. Across all ten of the largest metropolitan areas in the US, most poor white single mothers live in communities with low poverty rates - that is, with fewer than ten largest metropolitan areas in the US, including a detailed focus on the Chicago region. Their presentations were followed by a Q&A session moderated by Consuella L. Brown of the Woods Fund.
A panel discussion followed, featuring policy experts, an employer offering innovative programming to its female-dominated workforce, and a woman, Kamilyn Baskerville, who has been assisted through Eleanor-funded programs. The other panelists were Anne Ladky, Executive Director of Women Employed, Maria C. Lin, Program Director, Human Resources at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and Sylvia Puente, Executive Director of the Latino Policy Forum.
We received written feedback from nearly 50% of those who attended. The response was uniformly positive, including much interest from organizations who want to use the Eleanor Foundation's research to advance their own advocacy and programming efforts, from businesses wanting to learn more about employer-based initiatives, and from other grant-makers seeking details about the citywide network of services offering innovative programs launched through our grants.
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