Tag Archives: women
Win the Day: Volume 10 (The Day After)
Posted November 7, 2018
When we started Win The Day, we knew we’d need to play some defense. (See our recent post after the anti-Semitic violence in Pittsburgh.) But we also knew we’d need to go on the offense. And while there is much celebrate after last night’s elections, there is even more work to do. How we do that, who we talk with, who we center, what language we use -- that’s what our narrative work is focused on.Duluth ESST Council Final Vote
Posted May 23, 2018
Please join us for what we hope will be the Duluth city council’s final vote on the earned sick & safe time ordinance.
We are asking folks to join us at 6:30pm, on the steps of city hall.
We launched our Vision Duluth campaign for earned sick & safe time in the spring of 2016, it is fitting that it is spring again in Duluth and we are inching closer to seeing thousands of Duluthians get access to this essential worker protection.
This is a moment you won’t want to miss!
Please reach out to any of our staff in Duluth with questions.… Continue reading »
Bold & Visionary change in Duluth
Posted September 16, 2015
This year we had the awesome opportunity to talk with thousands of Duluthians about their vision for Duluth’s future. We collaborated with many organizations representing the diverse people of our communities to develop a shared vision for our city – AICHO, CHUM, PAVSA, SOAR Career Solutions, YWCA, Northeast Area Labor Council, Community Action Duluth and Education Minnesota.
What came of this is resounding shared interest in jobs that pay living wages with benefits like earned sick and safe time so people aren’t forced to choose between caring for a loved one and earning a paycheck. Residents wanting resources and consideration of needs to be spread across the city, increased green space, free youth activities & racial justice.
We have the unique ability at TakeAction to talk about these issues and more as we engage with voters in our community. We want to see bold and visionary change! The kind of change that happens when people – like our endorsed candidates who share our vision and the vision of so many Duluthians – are elected to office. Our endorsed candidates for November are: Gary Anderson (District 2); Em Westerlund (District 3); Joel Sipress (District 4); Janet Kennedy (District 5); Elissa Hansen & Noah Hobbs (At-Large); and Emily Larson for Mayor!… Continue reading »
The Power of Women
Posted July 13, 2015
If someone were to ask you what leadership is, I’m sure your responses would be as varied as the responses I have heard when people are asked to define racial justice. As is true of most things in our lives, our lived experience supersedes dictionary definitions.
Leadership per the Merriam Webster online dictionary is: 1) a position as a leader of a group, organization, etc; 2) the time when a person holds the position of leader; 3) the power or ability to lead other people. Though I do not argue the definition as it appears, what leadership means to me is more convoluted.
As a child I dreamed of being president. I wish I had a quarter for how many times I heard I was insane to think this was possible. It is regrettably not the only situation in my life where I was informed my pursuit of leadership was ambiguously linked and limited due to my gender identity. So my experience and definition of leadership inevitably became linked to how unattainable I felt it was for me to achieve because I am a woman.
I have been blessed in my life to have incredibly brave, intelligent and resilient women mentor me in my pursuit of leadership. … Continue reading »
Welcome Shawnu!
Posted March 18, 2015
I come to TakeAction as the Women and the Economy Organizer in Duluth from the YWCA of Duluth where I actively worked to eliminate racism and empower women. Although not an organizer in title until now, social justice has been a proponent of my life since I was young.
I grew up in a small town and discrimination toward Native Americans was present everywhere, especially in the school system. Coming from a predominantly Native family I felt first-hand how awful oppression is and how public systems work to perpetuate that oppression. As a woman I know all too well the struggles faced in the workplace and educational systems. I’m passionate about energizing and engaging the community in work that fuels change and creates equity for everyone.
For me the most exciting part of my work at TakeAction is being part of creating a vision for Duluth through connecting with organizational partners & cohorts, community members & leaders, public officials and local businesses. Growing and building a sense of true community in our towns and cities will help us address social justice issues.
Though my focus in organizing is around issues for working women and their families, I think that you cannot truly address anything in solidarity. … Continue reading »
Onward in 2015!
Posted January 21, 2015
The New Year has me thinking a lot about our great state.
Minnesota is home to 5.3 million people and 852 cities. We have four different ecosystems. We are vast, different and unique.
But we are also so much alike. We are Minnesotans.
I have lived in six of our state’s cities. From a tiny little farming town on the border of South Dakota to the heart of our largest city. Each place has shaped my experience of what it means to be a Minnesotan. One thing is clear to me: we all want a good life for our family, friends and neighbors. And the things that get in the way of someone thriving in north Minneapolis are the same as the barriers to living the life you choose in Duluth. 
Whether we are talking about a failed criminal justice system or the antiquated workplace that holds women back, the only way we are going to move on a path toward a Minnesota that leaves no one behind is if we move together.
The city I live in now (and love so much!) also affords me the privilege to work for an organization grappling with what it is going to take to win real change in people’s lives. … Continue reading »
Women Across Minnesota
Posted October 21, 2014
Minnesota is a pretty big state. Stretching hundreds of miles from the rocky shores of Lake Superior to the vast prairie spanning along the Iowa border. But last Thursday night the state got a whole lot smaller.
We had over sixty people, mostly all women, calling from the far reaches of the state, from Northfield to the North Shore. Not to mention all the people making calls from our Duluth, St. Paul and Grand Rapids offices. Although the women callers may all see a different slice of Minnesota when they look out the window, all sixty volunteers shared a common story that night- we need a Minnesota that works for 
women and families. Several women shared their own stories of going to work too soon after a child was born or not having paid time off to care for a sick family member. Unfortunately these stories are too common in all corners of our state.
That’s why our work is so important. We can actually change this story for all Minnesota’s women and families. Seriously, this can be changed. On Thursday night we made 3,000 calls. Meaning we called households all over Minnesota to talk about these issues and why our elections are so important.… Continue reading »
Building economic security across Minnesota
Posted May 23, 2014
At the end of February, we laid out for you a vision to expand economic equity in the 2014 legislative session.
Three months (and 2,000+ emails to legislators, almost 30,000 doors knocked on, 8,000 petition signatures, 1,500 conversations on the phone, and one very (very) cold march with single moms later) much of that vision has been realized.
More than 300,000 Minnesotans will get a raise come August 1. Soon grandmothers will be able to stay home from work to take care of their grandchildren, and employers won’t be able to fire women simply because they’re a mom. More Minnesotans will get a second chance, and Minnesota will continue to lead the nation in health care through MinnesotaCare.
None of this would have been possible without Minnesotans like standing hand in hand with bold champions at the Capitol fighting for progress every day – while under immense pressure from corporate interests to back down.
We know that there’s more work to do. We’re still fighting to make sure that no mom worries about getting fired for staying home with sick kids. To make sure that all our neighbors can participate in our democracy. And to make sure that all Minnesotans have access to the affordable health care they need.… Continue reading »
Lots to Love about Duluth
Posted March 13, 2014
You know what I love about Duluth? The big lake iced over in the winter, my West Duluth neighborhood, walking the trail at the end of Park Point, the great music and beer made locally, the Farmer’s Market in the summer, and the hearty people that call Duluth home.
Even with so many good things about Duluth we still have major issues confronting our community. Problems so daunting that they seem impossible to solve. We have a city whose residents’ life expectancy varies by zipcode, we have some of the worst income disparities between people of color and white people, and we have many who are without affordable housing. Our minimum wage leaves people in poverty.
And as a woman, I’m keenly aware that women in particular are being left behind in this economy. Two out of three Minnesotans working minimum wage jobs are women, and families headed by women are more likely to live in poverty than families that aren’t.
These are big problems. Problems that need solving.
But that brings me right back to what I love about Duluth. The people. We have so many committed, caring people, leaders, and organizations working together to tackle these problems. We can’t do it alone.… Continue reading »
Marching with single moms
Posted February 27, 2014
Earlier today, 100+ Minnesotans braved the cold to march with single moms and ask Wal-Mart to support policies that will lift Minnesota women out of poverty. We heard from women who were fired for being sick and who struggle to make ends meet working low-wage jobs.
They’re not an anomaly. Two out of three low-wage workers are women. Female headed families are four times more likely to be in poverty. And on and on.
So although I couldn’t feel my fingers or my toes, it felt worth it marching behind this single mom and her son.
Our kids’ moms deserve to be paid a living wage. Minnesota kids deserve to have their parents home with them when they’re sick without fear of losing their jobs. And Minnesota women deserve to equal pay for equal work.
Representative Carly Melin and Senator Sandy Pappas have put forward a bill that would tackle all these issues at once. Elizabeth in our office started a petition on CREDO Mobilize to back them up — will you add your name?
