Ms. Foundation Steps Out of Take Kids to Work Day

April 26, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - After launching Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day more than a decade ago, the Ms. Foundation is ending its participation in the program.

The foundation began the program in 1993 after a HarvardUniversity study showed that girls’ self-esteem began to plummet by the time they turned 12. In its initial vision, the pilot program was supposed to focus on companies in New York City. But after a mention in Parade magazine, the Ms. Foundation was deluged with calls urging the group to launch Take Your Daughters nationwide – and it did, according to NewsDay.

In 2003, the Ms. Foundation amended the program’s name and scope to include boys. The group estimates that 16.2 million people participated in Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day in 2005.

Now, the Ms. Foundation said it will shift its priorities to such things as working to pass the federal Healthy Families Act, which would provide workers with paid sick leave. According to the NewsDay report, the group believes it has accomplished the mission of integrating the program into the workplace.

After the Ms. Foundation officially ends its role as organizer, one of its partners, Human Resource Development in North Carolina, will maintain a Web site to provide resources for companies interested in continuing the program on their own.

More information can be found at http://www.daughtersandsonstowork.org/

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