When Allison Robinson welcomed her son in 2015, she notes, “my market value seemingly plummeted overnight because I had this new title, one of which I was really proud.” Upon discovering that over 40% of highly qualified women leave jobs after becoming mothers, Robinson was inspired to increase opportunity for this underserved segment of the workforce. In 2016, The Mom Project was born.
Before she became a founder, Robinson saw a startling disconnect during her tenure at Proctor & Gamble working with the Pampers brand: Women and moms hold enormous consumer spending power, yet are wildly undervalued in the labor markets. This helped her crystallize The Mom Project’s mission. At the core of this is the belief that women and caregivers should not be forced to choose between their careers and their families.
The digital talent marketplace connects parents with a variety of work types, from contract to full-time, and currently has over 400,000 members — 90% of which are female and 40% ethnically diverse — and 2,000 partnered companies. “I believe that when you empower women, when you empower moms, you’re not only impacting them, but you’re impacting their children, their families, their communities. You see these really incredible downstream impacts on society,” says Robinson. Since the company’s founding, The Mom Project has connected members to over $100 million in economic opportunity.
As DE&I becomes a top initiative in America today, Robinson offers companies and staffing providers wisdom from experience. Along with outlining specific strategic priorities — and making them business imperatives — companies should focus on building an environment where diverse candidates feel valued. “How are you building a company to support these individuals so they don’t leave?” Robinson explains. “Start backwards.”
2023 DE&I Influencers List