Some new reading

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120939/maternity-leave-policies-america-hurt-working-moms

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/opinion/sunday/sheryl-sandberg-and-adam-grant-on-women-doing-office-housework.html?_r=0

Capital - Funding for Women-Owned-Businesses

http://women2.com/2013/12/04/funding-loans-target-women-owned-businesses/

Quick google search for "seed money for women based business" = this link.

A Few More Resources

Upward - Uniting Professional Women Accelerating Relationships & Development – a community of like-minded professional women.   Founding chapter in San Francisco, new chapters for 2015 starting in India, the UK, Austin, TX, and Portland, OR.

http://upwardwomen.org/

iRelaunch - iRelaunch is the leading and most comprehensive career reentry resource. A strong advocate for the unique value that returning professionals bring to the workforce, and for the employers that hire them, iRelaunch has connected with a national network of over 13,000 people through more than 185 return to work programs and presentations.  iRelaunch works with three major constituencies:  professionals who want to return to work after a career break, employers interested in this talent pool, and university alumni and professional associations looking to provide career reentry programming and resources for their members. 

http://www.irelaunch.com/

Portland Montly Magazine has many articles on working women this month (March 2015)

http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/news-and-profiles/people-and-profiles/articles/10-amazing-women-who-are-changing-oregon-march-2015

A Must Read

http://fortune.com/2015/03/03/female-company-president-im-sorry-to-all-the-mothers-i-used-to-work-with/

Additional Resource

Mothers on the Fast Track: How a New Generation Can Balance Family and Careers Paperback – December 24, 2008

by Mary Ann Mason  (Author), Eve Mason Ekman (Author)

This book was well researched, if somewhat disheartening.  It provided many statistics of women falling out of the workforce in those "make or break" years of ages 30-40, and why that was so devastating to both the women themselves and society at large.  While I agree with this in principle, it seemed so dire that even though a few career tracks were highlighted as plausible for avoiding this pitfall (family practice doctors, possibly professors in a supporting academic institution), for the most part I closed this book with a sense of helplessness.  The final chapter, which was supposed to offer some suggestions and means for redressing these inequalities, did nothing to assuage my feelings and provide any useful tips for how to move forward if one did not find one's self in these lucky career tracks.  Oh well, good stats and definitely makes you feel indignant about how mothers are treated and behave of their own will in the workplace, but I'd say keep looking if you want inspiration.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195373693/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Resources and Research

I have been conducting a LOT of research in the idea of writing a book for moms who want to work in a flexible manner.  There are many books already out there (though not one with a compilation of real stories of what women/mothers are actually doing - how they started, what challenges they face, etc).  There are also may groups, websites, resources, etc.  I am going to start this post and either update it or repeat it as I find new information as a reference for both my ongoing initiative and for the sake of others - a one-stop-location for information.

Books:

• Lean In; Sheryl Sandberg

• Work Women Want: Work at Home or Go Part-Time; Jennifer Forest

• Torn: True Stories of Kids, Career & the Conflict of Modern Motherhood; Samantha Parent Walravens
• The End of Work as We Know It; Nadine Mockler and Laurie Young
• Back on the Career Track; Carol Fishman Cohen and Vivian Steir Rabin

Websites:

• http://www.irelaunch.com/
• http://www.customfitworkplace.org/
• http://www.workingmother.com/
• https://www.momcorps.com/
• http://www.flexjobs.com/
•  

More to come!