Showing posts with label Employment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Employment. Show all posts

January 1, 2024

The Benefits of Certified Scrum Master Online Course for Women of Color

The Certified Scrum Master (CSM) online course is a transformative approach for individuals seeking to enhance their project management skills. For women of color, this course offers benefits that can contribute to their career growth and foster leadership empowerment in the workplace. This blog post explores the specific advantages the CSM online course provides women of color, emphasizing the potential for skill acquisition, network expansion, and leadership development.

Accessibility and Flexibility - One of the primary benefits of a CSM online course for women of color is the accessibility and flexibility they offer. Many women face unique challenges, like balancing self-care, work, and family; however, online courses allow women to tailor their educational journey to fit their schedules to pursue professional development without sacrificing other essential aspects of their lives.

Inclusive Learning Environment - Online CSM courses foster an inclusive learning environment where diversity is welcomed and celebrated. Women of Color often find themselves in underrepresented positions, and the online format of these courses provides a platform where individuals from diverse backgrounds can contribute, share experiences, and collaborate. This inclusivity creates an enriched learning experience by empowering women of color to bring their unique perspectives to the forefront.

Networking Opportunities - Building a professional network is vital for career advancement for Women of Color, and they can engage in networking opportunities by connecting with a global community of professionals, mentors, and fellow learners, expanding their support system, and gaining insights from diverse perspectives that transcend geographical boundaries. This interconnectedness becomes a valuable resource for career guidance, job opportunities, and collaborative ventures.

Skill Development and Empowerment - The CSM online course equips Women of Color with essential skills in Agile project management, leadership, and collaboration. These skills are instrumental in empowering Women of Color to take leadership roles confidently as they enhance their proficiency in Scrum principles, break through barriers, and contribute meaningfully to their organizations while challenging stereotypes and assumptions about their ability to lead.

Career Advancement and Recognition - Achieving CSM certification through an online course will enhance the professional credibility of Women of Color. They will stand out as capable leaders with a proven ability to navigate complex projects to lead to increased career opportunities, promotions, and a more prominent presence in leadership roles - ultimately contributing to a more diverse and inclusive professional landscape.

In conclusion, the CSM online course provides flexible learning opportunities to foster an inclusive learning environment by empowering women through skill development and paving the way for enhanced career trajectories. Women of Color who embrace the CSM journey can position themselves as influential leaders who can drive positive, lasting change in the workplace that contributes to a more equitable and diverse future.

August 3, 2021

Black Women's Equal Pay Day

According to Fortune Magazine, the average Black woman will have finally earned the same amount the average non-Hispanic white man earned a year earlier—eight months later. That’s a problem, not just for Black women who lose out on $900,000 in lifetime earnings, but for everyone.

Black women who normally are the heads of their households (i.e., primary breadwinners) earn 63 cents of every dollar a white man makes. Shannon Williams, director of Equal Pay Today - a project of Equal Rights Advocates stated, "The issue of equal pay is not just a woman’s issue because it trickles down into our families, communities, and the overall economy."

The Black Women’s Wage Gap is a problem for everyone, but everyone isn’t working to address it! One way to close the wage gap is to close the skill gap. The SOFEI Group is working to decrease pay inequity among women of color through free professional, technical, and certification training for women who want to upgrade their skills to elevate their earnings! Please visit our website to view and purchase our NOMORE64 merchandise to empower women to take control of their skills and earning potential!

July 20, 2021

Entrepreneurship and Small Business Certification

The Entrepreneurship and Small Business (ESB) certification program prepares small business owners and leaders to succeed in today's competitive business landscape. An ESB certification will validate the skills and knowledge for individuals to work in a middle-skill trade profession, as an entrepreneur, or to pursue small business career aspirations with an understanding of core business principles and essentials to launch and sustain a successful business.

Candidates of the ESB Certification will need to have a conceptual knowledge of entrepreneurial and small business principles with a minimum of 150 instruction hours. However, students are not required to have real-world business experience to take and successfully pass the ESB exam. The ESB core concepts are:
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Recognizing and evaluating opportunities
  • Planning, starting, and operating a business
  • Marketing and sales
  • Business financials and funding
Exam criteria: ESB certification engages and prepares students to further their postsecondary training to enter the small business sector immediately after high school graduation. The entrepreneurial concepts validated by this certification will ensure these students are college and career-ready.

July 15, 2021

Don't Shoot The Messenger

Doctors write medical prescriptions to help patients heal. Training providers design or deliver training modules to meet the learning needs of their trainees. Patients must take their prescribed medicine according to their doctor's instructions. If they don't, the healing process may not reach its full potential. Trainees that participate in training and place their training material on a shelf will abort their potential to apply what they've learned in their training session.

Doctors and training providers are not perfect, but they are skilled in their craft. If patients and trainees do not use or apply the information given to them to heal or perform better at work or in business, the outcome does not rest in the hands of the physician or trainer. It solely rests in the hands of the patients and trainees.

June 24, 2021

Getting Unstuck

Where are you? Where do you want to go? How are you going to get there? These are the questions a technical instructor asked to help trainees learn how to change directories using DOS (i.e., Disk Operating System).

Post-DOS days, the technical instructor realized these questions apply to our everyday lives, and we believe these questions can help individuals get unstuck in their careers, relationships, or finances. If you feel stuck, click here and download our guide that can help you get unstuck.

April 4, 2019

Choose Yourself

Industrialized jobs have depleted in America, and if you want to stay afloat in today’s economy, you need skills that people want and what they’re willing to pay for. Essentially, your work will be based on your key strengths, accomplishments, self-marketing, connections and your performance. And that’s authentic connections, not pretentious ones to simply make a sale or to gain a client.

Social media is falsifying some efforts to connect. Some people think they’re gaining connections based on their followers. If followers aren’t being acknowledged or valued, there’s no connection. But information sharing to an audience that can relate to their content.

The realities of today’s workforce have changed. Job security no longer exists, and safe careers are simply a myth. To achieve a successful career, entrepreneurial (i.e., always exploring opportunities) skills are a must. You have to rely on your inner resources to be self-managing to plan and execute your own career. No one can do this for you; the only security you can depend on is your ability to market yourself through the ups and downs of this work climate.

Be a careerist! Learn how to navigate through the changing landscape of work, know what you have to sell, know how to live with uncertainty, and have optimism and belief in yourself.

March 13, 2019

Character Assassination

”And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set amoung our members, that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the curse of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.” (James 3:6)

”But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessings and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.” (James 3:8-10)

The danger of the tongue. James compares the tongue with fire because it cannot be controlled and the damage it causes cannot be reversed. And, sometimes when water is added, it spreads the fire instead of putting it out!

When I worked in the corporate world, a manager attempted to assassinate my “working” characteristics with lies about my inability to perform tasks in a male-dominated career. The manager also stated, “I was not a team player and did not like to be critized.” I confronted my manager about the accusations and he denied them. In spite of his denial, the rumor had already spread.

One of my favorite scriptures that has helped me in my career is, “whatever I so doeth, do it heartily as unto the Lord and not unto man” (Colossians 3:17). After working with this manager, I realized the importance to work as unto the Lord and not man.

I was provided an opportunity to travel to Florida to assist with deploying and upgrading a system. I believe the manager thought he was setting me up for failure, not knowing he had already been defeated.

My travel time was scheduled for three days, but was extended because of my work performance. And, one of the site managers in Florida was sending email messages to my manager’s supervisor, advising him of my good work. As a result, my assasinated character was brought back to life!

Many of us do not get an opportunity to experience life after a character assassination. Some of us only experience death because we continue to eat its fruit or bring back to life the fruit of “death”. Damaging words can leave deep wounds and scars, but it does not mean we cannot receive healing.

We live in a world where people are vicious like roaring lions that thrive on bringing others down. We do not have control of what people will say or think. However, we have control over our response.

The devil is like a thief. He comes to steal, kill, and destroy our character, but he can never destroy our spirit. Satan uses the tongue to divide relationships. John 4:4 tells us, “greater is He (God) that is within us, than he (Satan) that’s in the world.”

Proverbs gives four types of tongues:
  1. The Controlled
  2. The Caring
  3. The Conniving
  4. The Careless
The first two, should be practiced diligently to bring forth life and unity in our homes, work, and church. The Conniving and Careless tongues should be avoided at all times because they’re poisonous, and do not bring glory and honor to God.

Deborah M. Avens

November 10, 2014

Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID)

In 1980, Mary Catherine Swanson (an English teacher) created AVID - a program designed to help underrepresented students succeed in high school and college. The program's philosophy is: "Hold students accountable to the highest standards, provide academic and social support, and they will rise to the challenge."

A group of AVID middle school students completed their assignments fifteen minutes early and wanted to watch YouTube videos which were unrelated to AVID. When asked to turn off their videos, a student responded with: "My mom watches YouTube videos all the time at work, so why can't we watch them at school?"

What legacy are we leaving our children in reference to work, finances, or service? Students need role models to coincide with their lessons to advance academically, socially, or economically. And their parents should be their first point of reference.

The industrialized workforce is depleting and individuals that choose to watch YouTube videos instead of seeking opportunities to serve will be challenged to advance via individual determination.

March 12, 2014

Hate your job, what are you doing about it?

If you’re not happy with your job, whose fault is it? Is it your manager’s, co-worker, the economy, your bills, or you? What impact does your hatred have on the people you serve through your job? To show up every day to a job you hate doesn’t benefit anyone but your creditors. Hatred is difficult to hide. It will resonate through your attitude and your work.

Staying at a job you hate may seem logical with the high percentage of unemployed and underemployed people. But if you choose to stay, why hate it? Why waste your time and your employer's? It’s challenging to have a servant attitude through hatred. If you’re not willing to serve, you’re not willing to work at your best capacity.

Work isn’t solely about us! It’s about service. If we’re filled with hatred about our work, does it mean we’re too full of ourselves? Sure, people can be difficult and challenging, but their actions should not contribute to our hatred. Every day we show up for work, we should know our purpose and the contribution we will make on our employer's bottom line and their clients.

Don’t allow finances and fear hold you hostage to a job you hate. You have the power to transform your job into a career you enjoy and love. If you're ready, you can start here.

September 5, 2013

Self-Servants Not Wanted

A prospective partner contacted The SOFEI Group to offer their services to build their brand. This person was turned down because their main purpose to join wasn’t about helping us achieve our mission – it was self-serving.

If your ultimate reason to secure employment or start a business is to make money, you’re off to a bumpy start. Many MLM (Multi-level Marketing) business owners plummet because they see an opportunity to make money, instead of an opportunity to improve the lives of others with their product or service. And, many businesses are not experiencing exponential growth because it’s replete with self-serving people who choose not to use their skills, experience, or education to serve.

In this knowledge-based workforce, employers and business owners want to connect with believers, leaders, or servants. People who believe in the organization’s mission, goals, and objectives; leaders who can influence people to achieve greatness, and people who do not mind serving their internal and external clients.

Anyone willing to believe, lead, and serve can strengthen their opportunity to achieve long-term success. But, if your willingness to work is to reap and not sow, you may be characterized as a self-server. Have you ever seen a want ad or business opportunity for self-servants?

August 21, 2012

The Least Factor

At least I have a job – but it’s not rewarding, fulfilling, or impactful.
At least I have a man – even though he’s married with children.
At least I know dynamic, elitist people - but don’t have authentic connections.
At least I go to church – but don’t have a spiritual connection to God.
At least I’m liked – but you yearn for unconditional love and encouragement.
At least I have a GED – but was born with potential beyond a general education.

Energy exhausted striving for the least is a fast race to the bottom. If you’re going to run, strive for the top (i.e., your best). No one spends time practicing to enter a race with the intention to lose or end at the bottom.

September 30, 2011

Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

Emotional Intelligence is linked to an ability to identify, assess, and control emotions. Depending on a woman’s estrogen level or her season of life, controlling her emotions can be a challenge – even in the workplace. Here are some tips to strengthen your intelligence:
  • Get Real With Yourself - Identify and deal with the source of negative emotions because nothing positive derives from them. Suppressing or camouflaging these emotions with shopping, smoking, or eating are temporary coping mechanisms that can lead to other challenges.
  • Know Your Role – Be clear on your purpose for working; the benefits and impact your contributions have on your employer’s bottom-line, and how your role coincides with their mission and core values.
  • Don’t React, Get the Facts – There are many women reacting to events based on their emotions instead of facts. Feelings should never be used as a deciding factor in the workplace because they aren’t tangible and cannot be validated.
  • Define Your Outcome – For every task you perform, you should have a desired outcome that links to your personal mission and your employer's. Working without a personal mission is like accomplishing empty victories because there isn't a connection to your uniqueness.
  • Begin with the End in Mind – Start your day with a clear vision of its direction and destination. What you envision in your mind (direction) will lead to your destination. This is achievable when your emotions are under control.

Want more help to chart your course to emotional intelligence, visit SOFEI Online.

September 23, 2011

The Number Nine Can Have Power

After spending nine relentless months looking for work at a local one-stop career center, an unemployed single mother regained hope to find employment when she learned how to build a career in customer-service from the results of a complimentary MAPP assessment provided by The SOFEI Group, Inc.

Filled with passion to provide great customer-service to her next prospective employer, this single mother landed nine interviews within nine weeks of attending The SOFEI Group's Microsoft Office Specialist certification training program. Her hope was restored and momentum to find employment soared, but something was preventing her from getting hired - her forgiveness for being unemployed!

This breakthrough came when a career development facilitator of The SOFEI Group looked her square in the eyes and said, “Your smile isn’t in harmony with the way you really feel about yourself, and maybe this spirit is resonating during your interviews - preventing you from getting hired.” Tears streamed down her face, because she had not taken time to confront her feelings of shame and guilt for being unemployed.

The single mother found employment after her nine months bout with the one-stop career center and nine weeks with The SOFEI Group, Inc. She had everything she needed to get employed, but her negative emotions were blocking her path to successful employment.

Our belief about ourselves will create the pathway to our destiny. Is your belief system blocking your path to your next career?

September 15, 2011

What's the Secret to Success?

Discovering and crafting your gift and sharing it passionately with greatness! In our How to Create a Great Career workshop, we teach people how to build great careers from their innate qualities; not from skills they’ve learned to make a living, but from their God-given gifts to make a life.

During the workshop, we demonstrate how people like Serena and Venus Williams, Tiger Woods, and Michael Jordan were able to get corporate sponsorships because of their ‘greatness’ in their respective sports, not because they had good marketing skills to promote Nike, Hanes, or Buick.

God created us to succeed so others can experience Him through our work. And, He cannot accomplish this through people that know how to wear or drive success; but through people that are willing and spiritually fit to do the work He has called us to do.

Success is a divine right. Don’t allow the definitions or opinions of others hold yours hostage.

September 14, 2011

Need to Redirect Your Career?

Working hard but your career is going nowhere fast? Are you unemployed and on the fence to find familiar work to pay bills or need to start new because your old job is obsolete? If you answered yes to either question, you can redirect your efforts and move your career in the right direction. Here’s how:

Evaluate the underlying cause of being stuck in your career.

  • Do you believe this is the only work you're qualified to do?
  • Jobs are scarce so you're thankful for what you have and you've decided to stay where you are.
  • You've worked in this field and don't know what else to do.
  • You believe you're too old to start a new career.

Get in the driver seat; take your career off ‘auto cruise’ and determine where you want to take it

  • Resolve negative emotions associated with unemployment
  • Assess your skills and determine who can benefit from them.
  • List your contributions and the impacts.
  • Create a career plan (inclusive of a personal mission statement and goals) to make it all happen.

Breathe life to your plan everyday

  • Work on an activity everyday to achieve your career goals
  • Envision yourself making a contribution in your place of work and the outcome.
  • Share your vision with a person that will hold you accountable.

Your career is your responsibility and only you can decide where you want to take it! Don't let the woes of the economy or fear to stop you from making a contribution with your skills and your life.

March 9, 2011

What Do Employers Want?

Contributors! Yes, employers are looking for people to join their business as a contributor, a problem solver, not a leech. Employers are not hiring to simply increase their payroll. They’re more likely hiring to address business needs or challenges.

What about you? Are you selling your skills to get a job to pay the bills? Or, are you selling your skills to make a business contribution? If your job search strategy is simply to get a job to pay bills, you need to change your job search approach. Here’s how:
  • Find your niche (everyone is great at something)
  • Change your self- talk (there aren’t any jobs, nobody’s hiring)
  • Change your Circle of Influence (surround yourself around problem-solvers)
  • Conduct research to learn about your prospective employer's business trend(s) and industry (e.g., find out how they make money, the dynamics and demographics of their customers)
  • Discover and decide your contributions and benefits you want to make for your prospective employer and create a “Contribution Statement
  • Update your resume and change your career objective to your “Contribution Statement” and change your tasks to impact statements (i.e., the end result of your performed tasks)
  • Secure references that can effectively speak about the impact of your contributions
  • When you land an interview, share how you can contribute to the business more so, than selling your skills to simply get a job
Employer/Employee relationships should always be mutually beneficial. When you think and act based on these terms, your employment opportunities will increase.

October 22, 2010

Change Your Fashion or Lose Your Job?

“Who you talking to” was the response of an employee who was requested to remove her large earrings and neon colored nail polish prior to returning to work from her break. Her manager responded with a threat to fire her if she didn’t respect his request and the company's dress code.

Fashion is a great way to express our identity, but it should not cause us to lose our job. Here are some suggestions to keep your fashion and your job:

  • Learn and stick to your employer’s dress code - Fashion should coincide with your employer’s business image. If your employer is conservative, then your attire (i.e., hair, nails, and clothes) should follow suit.

  • Don’t let your fashion overshadow your skills – First impression is a lasting impression. What’s the first impression your attire gives? Does it scream at prospective or recurring customers? If so, tone it down.

  • Go Neutral - Trim your nails and wear neutral nail colors. And, limit nail art in a conservative work environment.

  • Save your fashion sense for the weekend or your day(s) off – This is a great time to express yourself through fashion without feeling confined. But don’t go too far because you never know when you may run into one of your employer’s customers.

  • Change jobs or become an entrepreneur - Find a company that will embrace your fashion or start your own company to express yourself freely.

May 12, 2010

Ask, Seek, and Knock - Luke 9:10 - 11 NKJV

Have you ever spoken to a person that knows everything they don’t want, but can’t articulate what they do want? If we don’t know what we want to do with our lives, others or life circumstances will mold our lives for us. And, the same can apply to our careers.

As a result of today's economy, many people are not seeking a career; they’re looking for a JOB - (JUST OVER BROKE). A JOB can help you get by, a career will help you live! Here are a few suggestions to jump start your career.
  • Pray and Ask for Divine Guidance – Everything we do should bring glory and honor to God. And, this also applies to our career choices. God does not want us to work to simply meet our financial needs and wants. Ultimately, our vocation should be our ministry (i.e., what we’ve been gifted to do).

  • Redefine Your Identity – Many people have defined their self-worth based on what they do and not who they really are. Take time to learn your true self and take this authenticity to your new career. Self-assessments are a great tool to learn more about your inner being. Please visit Assessment.com to find your true motivations and value for work.

  • Divorce Your Old Career Mentality – If you’re passing by opportunities because you’re looking for a job with security, it’s time to kick this mentality to the curb. Today’s labor force is primarily comprised of a contingent workforce. Visit Sologig.com to land your new 'contingent' gig.

  • Assess Your Resources – Do you have the resources to land your new career? For example, a positive attitude, references that can solidify your work ethics and habits, reliable transportation, the right skills, a support system if you’re a working mother or a lap top computer.

  • Volunteer – Volunteering is a creative way to network and to create employment pipelines. Many career opportunities are opened due to individuals giving their time and energy to help others in spite of their circumstances. Try Volunteer Match to explore virtual and tangible volunteer opportunities.

  • Get out of the House – You will not find a job sitting behind a computer. Most jobs are found through relationships. Check out www.meetup.com and join a group that’s suitable to your career desires.

  • Live Each Day Intentionally – Decide the night before, what you want to accomplish the next day to lead you to the career of your dreams. For example, I want to make ten cold calls to conduct informational interviews to learn about the products and/or services of a company to determine my eligibility to join this team.

January 15, 2010

I Deserve a Peace of Mind

Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on me. (Isaiah 26:3)

One of our clients has been without bipolar medication for months and has missed counseling sessions designed to help stabilize her mind and life because her monthly disability income exceeds her eligibility to receive medical and counseling assistance. Her inability to receive bipolar treatment is an impediment to her health, family, and prospective employers.

Several studies show, African-American and Latino women experience a higher rate of depressive symptoms and psychological distress compared to white women due to a convergence of societal, biological, and socioeconomical factors. Some of the risk factors are: stress due to racial discrimination; health problems (e.g., hypertension and cardiovascular disease); educational attainment, single marital status, and being a working mother.

Depression screening and prevention programs must take into account these and additional factors in order to be successful, according to Annelle Primm, M.D., M.P.H., who spoke at the APA Institute on Psychiatric Services in San Diego in October.

Primm pointed out that development of depression is affected by chronic stress and the “subsequent immuno-regulatory effects associated with living as a member of a marginalized racial and gender group.”

Social forces such as racism and sexism “impose continuous psychological stress and increase the likelihood of developing physical and mental illnesses,” she noted.

Obesity may also contribute to an increased risk for developing depression in African-American women, Primm pointed out. “There is a negative association between obesity and mental well-being,” she said.

African-American women have a greater prevalence of obesity (37.7 percent) when compared with white women (23.5 percent), she said, and overeating may begin as a strategy to cope with sexual abuse, racism, classism, and poverty in African-American women.

Primm cited the 2001 report of former Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity, which brought to light the problems many minority groups have in accessing mental health services.

“On top of that,” she said, “we know that people of color who are able to access services are less likely to receive quality mental health care,” which can be partially attributed to a lack of culturally and linguistically competent mental health care clinicians.

On a broad level, policies that target poverty reduction would“ greatly benefit mental health outcomes” for African-American women.

More specifically, successful depression-prevention campaigns should incorporate “resiliency factors” employed by many African-American women, such as spirituality, which may help some to cope with depressive symptoms.

Preventive strategies should also incorporate nutrition and exercise, Primm noted.

She also recommended that depression screening be implemented to a greater extent at prenatal clinics located in public health facilities, welfare programs, and vocational-assistance programs.

In addition, it is crucial that screening programs link women who show depression symptoms to culturally competent treatment services in their community.

“What is good for African-American women in terms of preventing depression is good for all women in general and for the whole country,” Primm declared.

VEINC provides spiritual, personal, and career enrichment services to help our clients 'holistically'; however, when our clients cannot afford medical treatment, we cannot not prepare them for gainful and successful employment.

It's quite challenging for women to live in peace and harmony when faced with choosing to pay rent, feed their children, or purchase medicine. But, if women begin to focus on what they have and want, instead of their lack, this could possibly be an antidote to their financial and/or mental woes.

There's a saying, What you put your attention on, grows stronger in your life. When we place our attention on fear and lack, this will manifest in our lives and create anxiety which will immobilize us to create a life of harmony and balance. If you're a woman that's experiencing depression seek help from God and lay your concerns at His feet because He cares for you (I Peter 5:7).

Try New Life Ministries for resources and guidance to help you deal with depression. And, try God by accepting Him into your life, reading, studying, and mediating on His Word daily to gain the peace He has promised when your mind is on stayed on Him!

November 30, 2009

What's the Big Deal About Single Mothers?

What's the big deal about single mothers, I was raised by one and I turned out okay! Were the words of a business leader running for a Prince George's County Council position.

There are many successful leaders and great people that were raised by single parents. VEINC is not presenting single mothers as damsels in distress or victims of society. However, due to the increased percentage of households being led by single mothers not only in Prince George's County, Maryland, but within our Nation, it's a big deal when single women-headed households have in some regard become the normal family structure.

According to Sociology for Families, single-parent families are normally female-headed and single women typically do not earn the same income as a single man; thus, there is a consequent economic struggle and burden not experienced in a single-father household. Single mothers often must work overtime shifts to compensate for the low salaries, thus taking time away from their children and other domestic chores. This results in a child that is home alone, without adult supervision, or placed in a daycare service for up to 8-10 hours per day. Government subsidized daycare is not yet a realized dream, and many single mothers pay large fees for this service.

The big deal about single parenting especially for Prince George's County, Maryland is, it has the highest concentration of low-income families headed by women in the Washington metro region. And, low-income families headed by women are vulnerable to the cycle of poverty. The impact of poverty puts a strain on the local, state, and the government by investing money in reactive services and programs to support low-income families (e.g., emergency housing, food stamp assistance, or crime and gang prevention) instead of proactive services and programs (e.g., workforce training and development, entrepreneurship programs; affordable housing, childcare, and health care, and accessible transportation).

There's an old saying, If you keep doing what you've always done, you will keep getting what you've always gotten. And, we can no longer afford to allow politics as usual if we want to experience a significant change in Prince George's County.

The Status of Women and Girls of Prince George's County needs to be a top priority on the platform for all politicians running for local and state government. Make your vote count to ensure Prince George's County, Maryland will live up to it's motto, A Livable Community for all Prince Georgians, especially for low-income women-led families where the weight of economic instability rides on their shoulders.

Following is VEINC's wish list to strengthen the economic status of women and girls of Prince George's County:
  • Bring more livable wage careers to Prince George's County that offer benefits in health and work-life balance. Prince George's County main career industries are retail and hospitality
  • Work harder to ensure funding for Individual Training Accounts under the Workforce Investment Act is adequately funneled from the State to Prince George's County to increase participation in local education and training programs
  • Change childcare voucher systems to ensure vouchers are honored in a timely manner
  • Make public transportation more accessible to transit around all localities of Prince George's County, Maryland
  • Add more women politicians that will advocate on behalf of the issues relating to women and girls
  • Increase local funding to proactively address barriers that prevent women and girls from achieving economic independence and stability.

Ladies, make your vote count! Don't sit on the sideline and assume your challenges will automatically be taken care of, or your vote won't count. All votes count and you have the power to make a change for yourself and other women like you in your community. Make your voice known. Make your voice heard. And, hold your local and state representatives accountable to making positive changes and impacts on behalf of underserved women and girls of Prince George's County, Maryland.