Moms First Summit Makes History: Thousands of Moms Come Together to Finish the Fight for Gender Equality
NEW YORK, NY (May 17, 2024) – Moms First, the national nonprofit organization advocating for moms, hosted its inaugural Moms First Summit on Tuesday, May 14th, 2024, in partnership with Share Our Strength. The event marked a significant milestone in the movement for mothers’ rights, reimagined the narrative around motherhood in America, and garnered unprecedented support and enthusiasm from attendees both in-person and via livestream.
The Moms First Summit brought together over 350 influential mothers and changemakers from across the country at The Times Center in New York City, and the livestream was viewed 12,000 times throughout the event from supporters in 49 states and multiple countries across the globe. The gathering served as a platform for open dialogue, impassioned discussions, hopeful solutions, and groundbreaking announcements aimed at addressing the pressing challenges facing mothers in America today.
“Motherhood is the unfinished business of gender equality, and at the Moms First Summit we mobilized thousands of moms to join together to finish the job once and for all,” said Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Moms First. “There’s room for all of us in this fight: moms of color, single moms, moms who work and moms who don’t, people who want to be moms, and people who don’t. And when we come together, we are a force.”
For the first time, we brought together the most powerful moms, women, and allies who are calling for the structural changes moms need to thrive to reshape the national conversation about motherhood. Hillary Clinton, Sam Altman, Dr. Becky Kennedy, Tarana Burke, Geena Davis, Elaine Welteroth, Emily Oster, Secretary Gina Raimondo, Alexis McGill Johnson, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Moira Forbes, Governor Kathy Hochul, Ashley Judd, Astronaut Christina Koch, Katie Couric, Olivia Walton, Craig Newmark, and many others who are at the forefront of these fights spoke to why it is hard to be a mom in our country. They laid out real solutions to how we win the fights for paid leave, affordable child care, and equal pay — the structural supports moms need to thrive.
Among the key highlights of the Moms First Summit was the announcement of a transformative seven-figure contribution from Capital One and Craig Newmark Philanthropies to support the expansion of PaidLeave.ai, a groundbreaking generative AI tool aimed at revolutionizing access to paid family leave benefits for working families across the country. Additionally, Moms First unveiled the next chapter of its grassroots movement, The Motherhood, which seeks to mobilize its community of 1.1 million moms and supporters to change the story on the American experience of motherhood and reshape society to deliver what modern mothers deserve in our communities, our workplaces, and our culture. Moms and supporters were invited to join The Motherhood in the closing session of the Summit by visiting momsfirst.us/motherhood.
Saujani: “After decades of this work, I know as well as anyone that progress isn’t always linear.
But I’m hopeful. I know we can win paid leave and affordable child care. I know we can build a better world for moms.”
Business leaders, philanthropists, working moms, stay at home moms, social media influencers, advocates, and allies joined together to share their stories of motherhood both on and off the stage. Attendees left with “mom” temporary tattoos from fashion designer Maya Hogan, who graduated from Pratt Institute the next morning.
The Moms First Summit, in partnership with Share Our Strength, was made possible by financial support from the Walton Family Foundation, Rebecca and Cal Henderson, Kate Spade New York, PwC, Bobbie, and HireTalent, and in-kind support from Charriol, Lyft, and Smart Sitting. Moms First is grateful for Forbes’ media partnership and InStyle’s editorial collaboration on the Summit.
To replay the entire Moms First Summit, visit momsfirstsummit.us.
About Moms First:
Moms First is a national, nonprofit organization transforming our workplaces, communities, and culture to enable moms to thrive. Our grassroots movement of more than one million moms and supporters is dedicated to advancing women’s economic freedom, uplifting the vital work of moms in our society, and building the power to win the public and private sector investments moms need and deserve, including child care, paid leave, and equal pay. Learn more at momsfirst.us.
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