Womens Employment Committee

September 28, 2020: 9:30 AM
Frances Perkins Rm, 45 Commerce Dr., Augusta, ME

Women's Employment Committee AGENDA 9/28/20 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. Via Zoom 9:30 9:45 Brief Introductions 9:45 10:00 DOL Update-State Workforce Board and WIOA State Plan 10:00 10:45 Child carethe status in Maine now and plans for the future with guest Stephanie Eglinton, Executive Director, Maine Childrens Alliance 10:45 11:15 Updates and fall activities from WEC members 11:15 11:30 Approval of minutes and next meeting 2020 Meetings (9:30 Noon in Frances Perkins Room at MDOL, unless otherwise determined) Monday, 11/2

WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES 09/28/2020 ZOOM CONFERENCE 9:30 - 11:30AM

Present: Gilda Nardone (Chair), Kim Foskett, Kelly Samson-Rickert, Joni Boissonneault, Auta Main, Karen Keim, Erin Benson, Destie Hohman-Sprague, Laurie Glidden, Danielle Despin, Darylen Cote, Jean Dempster, Peaches Bass, Ann Danforth, Amy Hughes, Andrea Mancuso

Guest: Stephanie Eglinton

SWB Staff: Chris Quint, Josh Howe, Cheryl Davis

Brief Introductions Gilda Nardone opened the meeting at 9:31am and asked everyone to provide a brief introduction. She pointed out how childcare and transportation are the 2 major issues and if you have passion around childcare as an issue, please let Stephanie know.

DOL Update State Workforce Board and WIOA State Plan Chris Quint/Josh Howe Prior to COVID 19, the plan was to integrate the sub-committees into the State Workforce Board (SWB). Update: Cheryl will be pulling together from WIOA and the Governors 10-year economic plan important pieces related to the sub-committees. Specific focus: work with the sub-committees on the work plan/strategies. Look for information over the coming weeks/months. Address specific strategies/goals to SWB. A quorum was not met at the past couple of SWB meetings because we did not have the required 50% of businesses. Because of that issue, we were not able to take a vote on changing the Bylaws. The next SWB meeting will be held via ZOOM on Friday, October 23. At that meeting, there will be a proposal to establish a new committee of the SWB the Immigrant Committee. Josh Howe stated they are working with providers to expand training such as Micro- Credentials. He stated they also are working closely with the DECD. Gilda asked if anyone had any questions? No questions.

Childcare the status in Maine now and plans for the future with guest Stephanie Eglinton, Executive Director, Maine Childrens Alliance Highlights: Females are targeted this time. During this pandemic, they are 3 times more likely to not work. Wage gap will likely increase during this pandemic. Schools provide childcare. Picked up and brought home by bus. Not much Maine money goes to childcare. Childcare system is predominantly made up of women. Nationally, women of color. 90% of Providers have come back but operating in lower capacity. Received federal support but has not made a tremendous difference yet. COVID 19 transmission from adult to child is not great but does not mean it cannot happen. The workplace now sees that flexibility and working at home seem to work. Right to Start Coalition is today at 1pm. Anyone interested, contact Stephanie. Childrens Cabinet Commissioner Laura Fortman from DOL is on the panel. Q & A or reflections? Erin Benson Comment: Expensive childcare. Erin stated this would be the last business she would open because not making a sustainable wage. Gilda Nardone stated Stephanie has framed issues very well and the impact COVID 19 has had on gender.

Updates and fall activities from WEC members Kim Foskett
Goodwill Industries start COVID 19 response team in Cumberland County. Good Friends gathering this Wednesday, September 30 at 8am. Kim will forward the flyer. WIOA has transitioned to virtual workshops for people looking for employment. Darylen Cote
The Permanent Commission on the Status of Women Darylen stated she will let us know the final date for the presentation that Representative Rachel Talbot Ross will moderate or Ambassador Maulian Dana. On the Board of Maine Resilient Commission. Involved in Center for Advance of Rural Living. Also involved with the Van Buren Resiliency Program, teaming with Americore and Aroostook County Coalition. Destie Hohman-Sprague
Had 10-11 regional conversations to improve gender equity. Will share before our next meeting. Jean Dempster
Totally Trades will not be held this Fall instead we will do a virtual career week starting October 19th. All classes are on-line this semester. More people are interested in saving. There will be 8 virtual workshops called Business Success this Fall. Erin Benson
It has been great working with WIOA title 1 across the state. Everyone is really trying to make this a seamless system across the state. Enrolled 15 people in Recovery House. Called all the people in training asking what do you need due to lack of Internet. Karen Keim
Worked with 4,000 students across the state. Due to COVID 19, students dropped out due to lack of a computer/Internet. This was devastating. She stated she is trying to capture this. Grant writing this year how do we work with each other as one of the highlights. Looking for some data on low-income and disabled students on how they are doing in Maine. Also, looking for data on how the Pandemic is affecting access to education. Auta Main
Announced she will be retiring December 31st. In April, 15 18% were unemployed; 6 9% in August. Disproportionately impacted women. Veteran reps were re-assigned to assist UI. The hospitality industry was hit the hardest. Employees at DOL are still working remotely. For women a plus, working from home virtually. Autas position will be open in January. Positions open at DOL in Augusta; Program Manager to assist with training and a Veterans Representative. Update on Hire-A-Vet Campaign Virtual: 259 job seekers, 50 were women, some non-veterans. 220 employers, some of the employers reached out to everyone on the list. Conducting virtual education workshops. Virtual participation: job seekers participated in every county of Maine and 15 other states including Cuba. Ann Danforth
UI insurance, make sure people know they are eligible for it. Working with DOL on disaster relief effort. Issued a report that highlighted disparities (Permanent Commission on Racial, Indigenous, and Maine Tribal Populations). Tracking temporary changes in response to COVID 19 that DHHS has. Federal stimulus payments deadline October 15th. Trying to get the word out. Following the work of the Governors economic committee. Voting and civic engagement. Amy Hughes
DOT, carrying on and trying to adjust to COVID 19. Still adjusting to the virtual world. Our public involvement has changed a lot. Andrea Mancuso
Most of their programs are now providing services in person except for York County due to the increase in cases. Moved sheltering to hotel/motel stay. Housing is not there. Working with women voters. Court access has been a real problem since April. Joni Boissonneault
Doing a report for United Way. Asked Empower Maine to do a bus tour. Getting information out on UI. Conducting a resident community survey for another grant. This should be done mid to the end of October. Foster Youth Independence new voucher program for staffing. They received funding to work with this group. Kelly Samson-Rickert
Accepted a new job at Pack Edge as Senior Executive in Manufacturing. Working with the Womens Transportation Center. Ended up hiring one person. Participated in Hire-A-Vet Campaign for the first time. Provided loans for employees that were having a hardship. Have childcare issues as well.

Approval of minutes and next meeting Gilda called motion for the approval of the 02/03/2020 and 03/23/2020 meeting minutes. Erin Benson motioned. Auta Main seconded. Both minutes approved unanimously.

Topics: will continue following the economic recovery planning as well as the SWB. Cheryl and I will be working on mapping out the schedule of meetings for 2021.

Meeting adjourned at 11:30am.

Next Meeting: Monday, November 2, 2020 9:30 11:30 Via ZOOM

Respectfully submitted by Cheryl Davis

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