IGP’s Women’s Initiative Hosts Convening on Paid Leave

On February 26, the Institute of Global Politics (IGP) Women’s Initiative, in partnership with Moms First and McKinsey & Company, hosted a convening on the future of paid leave featuring leading voices across the fields of government, research, policy, tech, and academia. 

 SIPA Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo introduced Moms First founder and CEO Reshma Saujani, an IGP Distinguished Carnegie Fellow, who gave opening remarks. McKinsey partner Ramya Parthasrathy introduced key findings from a new Moms First and McKinsey report, titled “Solving the Paradox of Paid Leave,” which found that families in New York, New Jersey, and California are almost twice as likely to be satisfied with state paid leave compared to other state benefits but are less likely to use it than other comparable benefits due to low awareness.

IGP Women’s Initiative Director and Professor of Professional Practice Jennifer Klein moderated a discussion on paid leave research and policy change with Sharita Gruberg, Vice President for Economic Justice at the National Partnership for Women & Families, Jane Waldfogel, Compton Foundation Centennial Professor for the Prevention of Children's and Youth Problems at the Columbia School of Social Work and IGP affiliated faculty member, and Jesse Workman, senior staff attorney at A Better Balance. 

Saujani then spoke with New York Governor Kathy Hochul in a fireside chat on her leadership supporting working families in New York, including through a nation-leading paid prenatal leave policy.

Finally, Camille François, Assistant Professor of Professional Practice and IGP affiliated faculty member, moderated a conversation about how tech innovation can help make government work for families with Craig Newmark, founder of Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Moms First Chief Marketing Officer Deborah Singer, and Loris Toribio, director of economic & fiscal policy at Robin Hood.