Women's Employment Committee Meeting

September 25, 2017: 9:30 AM
Frances Perkins Room, 45 Commerce Drive Augusta

Women?s Employment Committee AGENDA 9/25/17 9:30 ? Noon Frances Perkins Room, MDOL 9:30 Introductions Conversation with immigrant women/New Mainers and advocates about experiences with education, employment, and business development in Maine: Empower the Immigrant Woman?Parivash Rohani and Persila Carle Capital Area New Mainers Project Maine Women?s Lobby/Policy Center?Kathy Kilrain delRio CEI?Carla Dickstein Maine Women?s Fund?Megan Hannah 10:45 Break 11:00 Approval of 4/24/27 Minutes Update on state and federal policy Highlights (or lows) from the Legislative session, what?s being carried over? Update on federal policy issues Status of WIOA funding/MDOL Other federal policy issues 11:45 Member updates/focus of next meeting Final 2017 Meeting: Monday, November 6, 9:30 - noon

WOMEN?S EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE MEETING 09/25/2017 Present: Gilda Nardone (Chair), Peaches Bass, Darylen Cote, Karen Keim, Tammy Rabideau, Kelly Samson-Rickert, Kristen McLaren, Eloise Vitelli, Danielle Despins, Jody Harris, Christy Cross, Valerie Carter, Kathy Kilrain del Rio, Sarah Shed , Marcela Peres (phone)

Guest: Parivash Rohani, Persila Carle, Carla Dickstein, Megan Hannah

Staff: Cheryl Moran, Joshua Howe

Introductions Gilda Nardone opened the meeting with welcomes and introductions asked if everyone could speak briefly about what they do. Gilda asked for an approval of the 04/24/2017 meeting minutes. Darylen Cote motioned. Tammy Rabideau seconded. Minutes approved unanimously as written.

Empower the Immigrant Woman ? Parivash Rohani and Persila Carle Parivash opened her conversation by stating we all need to think about number one, Refugees are not Refugees anymore because this creates a barrier. We need to realize that they came to America to find a safe home. The problem is Refugees are no different than people who live in Maine. We all have the same issues such as childcare, transportation and employment. The difference is that Refugees come from countries that are not allowed to have freedom. They come with that kind of trauma. She pointed out that language is a unifying factor ? the ability to communicate. Most Refugees come being highly educated. Parivash stated she is originally from Iran. She left Iran in 1979 because people were heavily prosecuted because of their religious belief. She stated that she was going to study law but was expelled from the University because of her religious belief. She stressed that it was very dangerous to live there because of her faith. She had no desire to leave but she had to. Also, her parents lost everything and she wanted to give them peace of mind.
Both she and her family left for India however they returned to Iran within 6 months and her dream was shattered. The Iranian Embassy ordered her to recant her religion in order to renew her passport. She stated that she could not recant her faith so she decided to stay in India as a Refugee. She stated that she has traveled everywhere and although American is not perfect, it is the best place to live. She ended by stating, you need to study something that at the end, you will have a job. She stated that she worked part-time and became a Registered Nurse which provided her with a much better opportunity. Also, she strongly encourages mentoring. Lacking gap ? Refugees perceive to pursue a University instead of a Technical college.

Persila Carle opened her conversation by stating she is originally from Kenya. She came to the United States five months ago to join her husband. She has a BS in Chemistry and a minor in Biochemistry. She stated although she had an education, it took many months before she left the house due to lack of family. She finally was able to get out by attending conferences; sharing stories. This opened her eyes. The challenge was finding employment. She had all the education she needed but her education was not transferrable from her country to ours. For example, when she was interviewed, she was told she had everything as far as education and the only thing missing was U.S. work experience. English was never a barrier for her because English is the primary language in Kenya. Persila stated there are certain areas of concerns that affect Refugees such as: tax return (very complicated), Health Care System ? Healthcare professionals and Social Workers need to know the barrier, credit card ? how to obtain, education ? transfer of credits from another country, and student loans ? eliminate credit scores. As far as business, networking is where Empower the Immigrant Women came in as one of the resources about getting a job and how to meet people. The challenge is trying to make Immigrants aware of these resources. Persila also stated that mentoring has really helped. Q & A Karen Keim asked if we are not to call you a Refugee, what is the proper term? Parivash answered we should not be separating them from our communities. They are now Americans. This will avoid the isolation. Both Refugees and Americans have responsibility. Kathy Kilrain del Rio stated that the language issue is an important piece. Carla Dickstein stated how individual acts of kindness really struck her. She stressed that we need much more of this. We need to elevate the issue that Maine needs you at the economic level. We need to try to make this point in the Legislature. Kristen pointed out that many are not as educated that she advocates ? barriers are phenomenal. Kathy Kilrain del Rio stated that the DHHS system needs to understand the barriers. Carla Dickstein stated that race also needs to be put on the table. We need a whole lot more education and trainings. Megan Hannah stated that employers need to be more educated especially since there is a hiring shortage. Employers are always stating that they are not able to find skilled workers. Parivash stated if we do better, we all do better. Karen Keim stated that we should look at the Veteran to Classroom model to solve our teaching shortage. She suggested this to Danielle Destin, Department of Education. Valerie Carter stated that there are available resources for example, the Islamic Mosque in Orono ? faith linked in action has been successful in helping to build linkages. There has been a growing receptiveness. Joshua Howe ? Licensing for foreign nationals ? Veterans passed but for immigrants, it did not ? that has been a challenge. Kelly Samson-Rickert ? The system is broken. Being said, there tends to be a tendency to work around the system. The I-9 form is a challenge. Kelly was then asked what is the I-9 form. The I-9 allows employers to hire legally without a sponsor. The question is how much of a barrier is it? Parivash stated that she came to America as a Refugee which enabled her to work so she did not really have a barrier. She pointed out that not only in America does this problem exist but also in other countries because people can forge the document. Gilda Nardone stated that she will get the information out so we can communicate with our guests. She asked the committee members to think about bringing issues to the State Workforce Board and the Legislature. Kathy Kilrain delRio stated that there are not enough immigrants in Maine to change these issues with the Legislature.

Capital Area New Mainers Project Gilda Nardone ? Who is being progressive in the area of credentialing? She stated this is a good thing to look at.
Gilda suggested inviting Sally Sutton to talk specifically about certification. Kathy Kilrain delRio stated the ACLU is going to have a report come out next week on racism. She also announced on October 11 will be the Maine Women?s Summit. Peaches Bass stated there are challenges in Maine to recruit women in the Women & Non Traditional Apprenticeship Grant.
Karen Keim stated maybe that is another pathway for immigrant women (apprenticeship).
Peaches Bass stated that Unions have lost a lot of their clout in Maine. There have been a lot of employers or trade associations for trade sponsorships. She stated if anyone would like more information on apprenticeship, she can assist. Joshua Howe stated Cianbro does not apprentice on the outside only the inside. That is a challenge. With apprenticeship, they are looking to expand and even have the support at the federal level. Gilda Nardone ? Outreach ? How do we reach the people we are planning on reaching. She stated that she would love to explore ideas about this.
Kelly Samson-Ricker suggested a small 2 hour session and invite Legislatures to hear success stories from minority groups. Therefore, our committee would be doing some value of outreach in our community. Outreach is the key! Gilda Nardone stated she wants the committee to think about 1) we want to be sensitive of what the women themselves want to be usable. 2) Who do we want to try to influence ? be the vehicle? Where could we have the most impact?

Maine Women?s Lobby/Policy Center ? Kathy Kilrain delRio reported that they released a report ?Investing into Our Future? covering affordable child care. She stated she will send to the committee.

Maine?s Women?s Fund ? Megan Hannah Swift Social Justice Grants (Handout) ? The program was created to stand with women and girls from communities disproportionately impacted by the current political and cultural landscape as they address immediate threats or take advantage of opportune moments. Megan stated that she wants to get the money out.

Update on state and federal policy Highlights (or lows) from the Legislative session, what?s being carried over? Paid Family Leave ? (another big issue) will be carried over. Representative Herbig, who sponsored the Bill thinks they have a shot of passing but might be overridden by the Governor?s veto. A few bills have been carried over ? but not much change in 2018. As far as Paid Family Leave, America is the only industrialized country in the world that does not have Paid Family Leave. Members were asked to watch a documentary ?Zero Weeks?.

Status of WIOA funding/MDOL ? Joshua Howe Josh stated to committee members that the Governor sent a request (letter) to the Federal partners to remove the administrative layer. The request was denied by the Federal Government but the Governor is still having conversations trying to find a way to remove administrative cost. Presently, we still have no answers. He did point out that a lot of information you hear in the media is not all accurate. Josh stated that they will send an update when information is known.

Member updates: Karen Keim reported that the TRIO grant has been zeroed out in the President?s Budget. Darylen Cote provided an update on the Upward Bound grant stating 2000 letters went to USDOE and were allowed to be read ? outcome, they received a perfect score. Originally, they were rejected due to a technical error. She announced that a bill was proposed that will not allow USDOE to reject due to technical errors.

Focus of the next meeting: Continue outreach and certification conversation.

Gilda asked members to think about meeting times for 2018.

Meeting adjourned

Next meeting will be held on November 6 from 9:30 ? Noon in the Frances Perkins room, CMCC Augusta

Respectfully submitted by Cheryl Moran

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