Working Mothers Collective: Highlights from our key events & partnerships in 2023 and our goals for 2024
Key Highlights & Events
International Women’s Day 2023
Co-hosted by our Working Mothers Collective (WMC) and Women at Vaco Empowerment (WAVE) employee resource groups, all Vaco Holdings and collective of brands employees were invited to hear from some of our most inspiring women leaders in a panel exploring the role of mentorship, the importance of allies and sponsors for women in the workplace and the panelists’ own personal journeys to success. Panelists included Vaco SVP & Executive Partner Leslie Hector, Vaco Managing Partner Frances Moreno and Vaco Holdings Vice President of Human Resources Michele Rau and MorganFranklin Consulting Managing Director Jordan Scheiderer.
Mother’s Day 2023 Celebration Event
WMC hosted a celebration of Mother's Day that included a discussion on sharing love with the mothers in our lives, gift-giving ideas, resources for supporting working mothers and tools for building allyship with working mothers!
WMC & GILD Collective: 3-part series 2023 Mastering Burnout & Overwhelm for Working Mothers
Session One: Solution Mapping: Identifying Needs, Priorities, and Solutions
- Defining personal causes of burnout related to work and mothering and the needs that align with each cause.
- Reviewing and discussing tools to work toward solutions that help mothers navigate burnout and overwhelm.
- Prioritizing focus areas for action to take immediately after the session to reduce overwhelm.
Session Two: Invisible Work and the Power of “No”
- Demonstrating confidence and ownership in individual “north star” goals for both work and home.
- Identifying the invisible work that adds stress to daily lives, taking away our ability to be fully present at home or at work.
- Prioritizing personal and professional needs to support those goals, and eliminating guilt over saying “no” to unnecessary clutter – in our schedules, our brains, and emotional lives.
Session Three: Building and Maintaining Accountability for Change
- Identifying key themes for ongoing work and forming small groups/partnerships based on each individual’s area of focus.
- Drafting specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound goals, within small groups, that support success strategies within the group’s focus area.
- Creating a six-month roadmap for holding small group members accountable and providing one another impactful support.
Learn more about the GILD Collective here.
Back to School 2023
WMC partnered with Calm to host an event for employees and family members to share ways to stress less during the back-to-school season. Afterwards, they enjoyed a delicious recipe for a Fall cocktail to discuss best tips to prepare for a stress-less season.
End of Year Surviving & Thriving Guide 2023
WMC hosted an enterprise-wide event in Q4 to discuss holiday season survival, setting healthy boundaries, healthy bodies to reduce stress, and planning for success.
International Women’s Day 2024
Co-hosted by the Working Mothers Collective (WMC) and Women at Vaco Empowerment (WAVE) employee resource groups, all Vaco Holdings and collective of brands employees were invited to hear from a panel of inspiring women leaders across industries who explored how we inspire others to understand and value women's inclusion to forge a better world.
Key Initiatives for 2024
Partner with executive leadership to bring awareness and impact meaningful change in the issues of working mothers across Vaco Holdings and its collective of brands (including retention, engagement and equity).
Continue to provide thoughtful and useful programming for working mothers and allies with the goal of empowerment, encouragement and support.
Facilitate conversations both internally within WMC and externally to address issues, bring forth useful resources, build allyship and grow overall well-being for working mothers across Vaco Holdings and its collective of brands.
Member Spotlights
Some of the members and allies of Working Mothers Collective discuss: "Name a major life lesson you hope to instill in your children that will influence them throughout their future careers"
Check out some of their responses below.
Brittany Scroggin
Encouraging my son to embrace courage and kindness as guiding principles in life is important to me.
This lesson instills in him the courage to confront obstacles head-on, coupled with the empathy and compassion to treat others with respect and understanding. This simple philosophy can guide him through life, helping him build meaningful relationships and navigate his future career with integrity and resilience.
Niona Rich
My babies are only 3 months old and I always tell them that we may have had a hard road but there’s always someone who has had it worse, so always look on the bright side of your life.
Kelly Maxwell
Find balance and find your people.
Do something you love, work hard and take pride in it every day (even the days you forget why you love it).
There will always be more work, but there won’t always be more time.
I wish life was easy, it isn’t, surround yourself with those you love, who give you appreciation and support, and it will absolutely be worth it.
Most importantly, make each little section of your world just a little bit better than how you found it.
Taryn Dicken
Life Lesson: There’s no such thing as failures.
Even at a young age, I’m trying to instill in my children to learn from their mistakes and setbacks.
I want them to know that failures are not “failures”, but rather opportunities to learn and grow.
When my toddlers get frustrated, I consistently try to ask them “Would you like to try this again?” or “What can we do differently this time?”.
I’m hoping this will help them to foster acceptance and resiliency, and that they can carry these skills throughout their personal and professional lives when things get challenging.
Vaco understands the significance of drawing the circle wider to broaden our perspective, to connect on a deeper level, and to be a force for positive change in our world. With thousands of Vaconians and clients around the globe, our vision is creating a company – and a world – that places diversity and inclusion at the heart of its culture.