Putting Families First

Mawrters are spearheading initiatives aimed at providing better support for mothers and families

As an 18-year-old high school senior at a Main Line private school, Marianne A. Fray 鈥82 became pregnant and was forced to leave her North Philadelphia home and live with friends. Then, at the five-month checkup, she was given the devastating news that the baby no longer had a heartbeat. Fray had to undergo a stillbirth, she says, and worse, wasn鈥檛 allowed to have anyone with her for support as she pushed out the fetus.

鈥淚t was the most horrible experience,鈥 Fray, of Mount Laurel, N.J., says nearly five decades later. The trauma of that time, she says, ultimately led her to the work she has done since 2018 as president and CEO of Maternity Care Coalition (MCC). 鈥淚鈥檓 committed to not having any person go through what I went through.鈥

Marianne Fray at work at the Maternity Care Coalition
Marianne Fray at work at Maternity Care Coalition. Photo by Paola Nogueras.

Since 1980, the nonprofit has supported pregnant women and families, with a focus on children from birth to age 3, through direct family and community services. It provides everything from diapers to postpartum depression therapy and childcare, as well as advocacy for equitable maternal and child health policies. (MCC鈥檚 first full-time executive director was JoAnne Fischer, M.S.S. 鈥73.)

鈥淭he government doesn鈥檛 fulfill all its responsibility as it relates to taking care of those who are marginalized,鈥 says Fray, sitting in the large, light-filled conference room of MCC鈥檚 headquarters in Kensington, Philadelphia. 鈥淭here isn鈥檛 an overall commitment to families. It鈥檚 very patchwork.鈥

Since its founding, MCC has assisted more than 155,000 families and expanded outreach, conducted in-house research on best practices, and advanced region-wide policies. Under Fray鈥檚 tenure, MCC鈥檚 budget has nearly doubled from $11 million in 2018 to more than $21 million today.

鈥淪erving families that have not been properly supported by our safety network,鈥 she says, 鈥渇eels like my life鈥檚 work.鈥

Katrina Magdol
Katrina Magdol 鈥04

Other Mawrters are also taking on the lack of support mothers often face. Katrina Magdol 鈥04 helps workplaces develop and implement family-friendly policies as co-founder of the Boston-based startup Listen to Your Mothers (LYM) and as a human resources consultant for nonprofits. Elyse Shaw 鈥05, a policy analyst for the Women鈥檚 Bureau at the U.S. Department of Labor, researches wages and working conditions for women, particularly women of color. She coauthors reports that advance ways to disrupt occupational segregation and pay inequity and promote the importance of a more robust national family leave policy.

鈥淭here鈥檚 this care ecosystem failure,鈥 says Shaw, who lives in Arlington, Va. 鈥淲e鈥檝e known for ages that working mothers have a lower labor force participation out of all groups, especially those with young kids.鈥

The Cost of Doing Nothing report from the Women's Bureau found that, among countries with the largest GDP per capita, the United States ranks last for percentage of women in the workforce (76 percent). Put another way, if U.S. women worked at the same rate as German (83 percent) and Canadian (85 percent) women鈥攚here national policies support paid leave and childcare鈥攔oughly 5 million more women would be in the labor force. According to the report, that would translate into more than $775 billion in additional economic activity per year.

鈥淚 think we鈥檙e seeing the conversation shift,鈥 Shaw says.

鈥淧eople are trying to reframe childcare not as a private need, where I figure it out on my own, but as a public good, like roads and bridges and internet for all.鈥

Shaw鈥檚 interest in the role gender plays in societal issues was honed at the College, where a patriarchal society and the hurdles posed for women are studied and discussed. 鈥淚t鈥檚 part of the fabric of the 草榴成人社区 environment to question these longstanding structures,鈥 she says, 鈥渢o look at it in a way that鈥檚 critical and say, how is this shaping our world for good or ill?鈥 She adds that the Self-Government Association and courses such as "Introduction to Feminist and Gender Studies," one of her favorites, help shape strong, confident women ready to tackle the world.

Shaw鈥檚 research is helping to advance the Biden-Harris administration鈥檚 goals related to childcare needs for women working in advanced manufacturing, construction, and other nontraditional careers as a result of projects funded under major legislation (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act). Shaw also has coauthored reports on ways to improve women鈥檚 earnings and job options, as well as family poverty.

鈥淚n every single conversation,鈥 she says, 鈥渃hildcare comes up time and time again.鈥 A national paid parental leave policy would prove a game changer, she says. But for now, 鈥渋t鈥檚 a very local game. It takes organizations and companies coming together to figure out how to fill gaps for the workforce.鈥

Listen to Your Mothers is looking to lead the way in Massachusetts. Formed in 2023 by Magdol鈥攚ho is raising 5- and 8-year-old daughters in Boston with her wife鈥攁nd three other working mothers, the business aims to offer in-depth assessments of policies and benefits along with guidance on making family-friendly changes.

鈥淚 fully believe employers can do this,鈥 Magdol says. 鈥淭hey need support. It鈥檚 not just writing a policy. It鈥檚 how you implement a policy and roll it out.鈥

So far, LYM has done one-off trainings as it builds its business. Earlier this year, it published a 17-page report, Working Mothers Speak, that captures the diverse experiences and voices of working mothers and the obstacles they face, to serve as a call to action for employers.

Ninety-two percent of 288 survey respondents said they stepped back at work (working fewer hours or turning down promotions, for example) once they became mothers, including a disproportionate number of Black women. One in four respondents left their jobs altogether. By one estimate, the economy loses $55 billion in lost productivity each year from conflicts between school and work schedules alone. Mothers felt most supported in workplaces with comprehensive benefits (paid leave, childcare benefits) and flexible workplace policies, but too few organizations offered such programs, the report found. 鈥淲e want employers to think more creatively,鈥 Magdol says. Flexibility can mean remote work or schedules outside the typical 9 to 5, but it also can include job sharing at senior levels or alternate career paths that don鈥檛 necessarily include supervisory responsibilities, she says.

鈥淔rom an HR, workforce-planning perspective, you can鈥檛 plan for all the one-offs,鈥 Magdol says. 鈥淏ut you can plan for a culture where there鈥檚 coverage when someone is on leave.鈥

Marianne Fray
Marianne Fray 鈥82

At MCC, Fray wants to ensure that underserved women can 鈥渂irth with dignity, parent with autonomy, and raise babies that are healthy, growing, and thriving,鈥 she says.

To that end, Fray has made a strong commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, evidenced in part by the adoption of a 鈥渢heory of change,鈥 a description that reflects the organization鈥檚 approach to services and its goals and provides a foundation for the strategic plan underway. She pushed for MCC to explicitly state that it serves Black and Brown families, who face higher maternal and infant mortality rates. Black women, the website states, die at three times the rate of white women from complications of childbirth, and the babies of mothers of color face higher rates of low birth weight and preterm births, with those in southeastern Pennsylvania particularly hard hit.

Fray also has worked to diversify the organization鈥檚 executive ranks, intent on families seeing themselves reflected throughout the organization. MCC continues to center its programs around the voices of mothers, down to the way it conducts research and develops programs.

Marjie Mogul, Ph.D. 鈥04, the organization鈥檚 senior director of research and evaluation, uses her 草榴成人社区 doctorate in social welfare, policy, and research to study the communities MCC serves, often going on home visits. Her team measures program outcomes and identifies best practices while furthering thought leadership in maternal and child health.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very much an equity framework,鈥 says Mogul, of Audubon, Pa. 鈥淲e find out from staff and clients what they think is important to inform our evaluation.鈥 Recent projects include measuring parental efficacy and evaluating new behavioral health initiatives.

For Fray, that culture of collaboration鈥攂oth within and without the organization鈥攊s key to MCC鈥檚 success. In many ways, her model is grounded, perhaps subconsciously, in her experiences at 草榴成人社区. 鈥淚t was a place to find myself, safely, in community with others who were like-minded,鈥 she says.

鈥淲e would sit in Pembroke East and talk about who we want to be and what impact we want to have in the world.鈥

A class on African American literature taught by poet and activist Sonia Sanchez was a pivotal moment for the Literatures in English major. 鈥淪he helped me find my voice,鈥 Fray says. 鈥淚 felt shame for so many choices I made, and Sonia was powerful and affirming. It was the first time being Black didn't feel like a bad thing.鈥

In other words, Fray found dignity at 草榴成人社区. Now she advocates for the dignity of mothers.

鈥淥rganizations like MCC,鈥 she says, 鈥渕ust do this because every family matters. That is our raison d鈥櫭猼re.鈥

Published on: 10/24/2024