Comeback Career Boston

FlexProfessionals shared the statistic that there are 35,000 women in Greater Boston and 2,500,000 in the United States between the ages of 25-55 not in the paid workforce.  These numbers tell a very powerful story.

I started the group Comeback Career Boston to better understand those numbers because I am one of those digits.

My personal story - I was working in a public school system at the top of the union pay scale when my son was hospitalized with a rare disease at eight months old. He was on breathing and feeding tubes for a month at Mass General Hospital. Luckily, he survived. That experience complied with sticker and quality shock of daycare sealed the deal on becoming a stay-at-home mom which I truly valued and appreciated.   In 2011, I enrolled my (now) two kids in school and hit brick wall after brick wall while searching for a position commensurate with experience and would keep up with the cost of living in Massachusetts. After attending numerous networking events dominated by individuals who did not “get” my situation, I started a Boston meetup group that evolved into a weekly speaker series attended by a highly accomplished group of men and women proactively mapping a path back into the professional arena.  Most in the group are now working so I maintain the Facebook group which provides research, advocacy, and resources to blueprint a path back to paid work.  My dream goal is a political action committee that advocates for this demographic, specifically policy that will improve the lives of caregivers, make caregivers a group under the Work Opportunity Tax Credit as well as subsidize child care.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/667588420356513/