Many of us thought that the government would do right by moms and stop depending on us to be their social safety nets. We thought the Senate would pass the Build Back Better Act and usher in historic investments just in time for the holidays.

That won’t happen, so here we go again.

Almost three years into the pandemic, with millions of women pushed out of the labor force, and we are still not being seen. Almost three years into the pandemic and we still don’t have paid leave or affordable childcare. The child tax credit is being taken away from us and moms are left paying the price, literally and with our health.

Even though we have been working tirelessly to push the government, we’re not surprised that we were lied to or that things seem to be ending this way. For the past six months, the Marshall Plan for Moms has been working on a Plan B. This week especially, it is important to remember that the government is not the only actor that can bring relief and change for moms: the private sector has a powerful role to play too.

As we enter 2022, our vision is clear and we have a plan, one that is not dependent on a few good men, but one that is rooted in unleashing our own power. So, don’t lose faith. Don’t lose hope. Don’t lose your sense of power and control. This is just the beginning.

Join our Marshall Plan for Moms LinkedIn group to join our growing community. Forward this message to a friend and have them sign our petition. We can do this together.

If you don’t already know that motherhood is broken, you’re not paying attention. Certainly not to the news, which for the last year and a half has chronicled the steady bleed of 1.8 million American women from the workforce. Certainly not to the business world, which has decried a mass labor shortage despite record unemployment for women. And certainly not to the moms in your life, who are maxed out, burnt out, and — when it comes to support from their government, their employers, and their communities — shit out of luck.

One reason is clear: childcare in America is a mess. Recently, Marshall Plan for Moms polled moms across the political spectrum to find out how the pandemic has impacted mothers, and how lawmakers can help. Nearly half of those surveyed said childcare is too expensive to rationalize their return to work. Though the government has some existing measures of support, a lack of adequate funding makes those resources inaccessible to many, and inadequate for many more — meaning 6 out of every 7 eligible children don’t receive the childcare subsidies they need.

We call ourselves the greatest country in the world, but when it comes to our nation’s most fundamental function — caring for the next generation — we’re among the worst.

It’s time to establish infrastructure for mothers to thrive in the workplace, and for their children to succeed in the classroom: paid family leave, universal pre-K, higher wages for caregivers, and so much more. By passing Biden’s current infrastructure package, Congress has the chance to do just that.

Yet, some politicians are still stalling, fearful that funding a comprehensive childcare system is somehow a political risk. Those politicians aren’t just lacking a moral backbone — they’re missing a huge opportunity to coalesce bipartisan support.

According to that same Marshall Plan for Moms poll, over two thirds of all female voters believe the government doesn’t adequately support moms generally, while a 65 percent majority say the government hasn’t done enough to help moms through the pandemic. Many of those moms across the political spectrum experienced underemployment or income reduction during the pandemic — and now face substantial challenges in trying to re-enter the workforce.

Over two thirds of all female voters believe the government doesn’t adequately support moms generally, while a 65 percent majority say the government hasn’t done enough to help moms through the pandemic.

But if those moms were united in their challenges, they’re also unified in their preferred solutions. At a time when Democrats and Republicans can agree on very little, over three quarters of all female voters — including 83 percent of moms — support policies provided by a Marshall Plan for Moms. That’s more than four in five liberals and 73 percent of conservatives.

We also found that 73 percent of all female voters, including 77 percent of all moms, would support a candidate who shares their views on core parenting-related issues — even if that candidate is from a different political party.

With new data in front of us, and our broken system laid bare, politicians have zero excuse for inaction. So, here’s our message to them, on behalf of moms across the country: we have good news! Passing childcare reform isn’t just good for American families — it’s good for your political futures, too.

Right now, you could pass big policies with widespread bipartisan support — policies that give millions of children the education, resources, and care they deserve, and parents the support and flexibility they need. Those don’t fall on your desk every single day.

America, at its core, is a nation of future seekers. And as a country reliant upon women’s labor, paid and unpaid, it’s long past time politicians care as much about mothers’ futures as they do their own political ones. Congress must pass this bill so we can care for our kids and ourselves — or risk losing our workforce participation, and our votes, for good.

Congratulations on successfully passing the American Rescue Plan, and thank you for your tireless advocacy for the American people. Because of your work, millions of Americans can now put food on the table, receive a vaccine, and finally see a light at the end of the tunnel in this pandemic. We are grateful for that.

As you know, women have been hit particularly hard by this pandemic. Women made up all of the jobs lost in December of last year and women of color are unemployed at higher rates than the rest of the population. Collectively, women lost one million more jobs than men in 2020. This is a national crisis. The ARP provided temporary relief through stimulus checks, expanding the CTC for one year and helping with childcare needs. And while we recognize The American Families Plan would extend that much needed support for a few more years — as moms, we don’t believe this is enough.

While economists are still studying the impacts of this pandemic, we know that this pandemic set us back decades toward achieving women’s equality. Women — particularly women of color — are the most likely to live in poverty, are overrepresented in low-paying occupations, and are far more likely to lack access to sick leave and health care benefits. Black women are paid 62 cents for every dollar that a White man is paid, and Latinx women make even less at 54 cents. In addition to the urgent need to pass paid family leave and affordable childcare, we call on you to make the expansion of the CTC permanent at up to $3,600 annually and ensure it is distributed on a monthly basis. The administration has momentum on its side and should use it to make the next big fight a fight on behalf of mothers.

New polling shows this is also what the American people want: 56% of voters overall and 74% of Democrats are in favor of making the CTC permanent, and we see the same strong support among people of color with 85% of Black voters and 70% of Latinx voters supporting its permanence.

While we know that the CTC will help cut child poverty, we also know that the permanent expansion of the CTC will provide critical relief to mothers who are juggling needs at home — including serving as teachers and nannies — with demands at work, or trying to get back into the workforce. As mothers, we say loud and clear: we need help. Many moms want to be at work right now, but have either been laid off or can’t return because of demands at home. It is time for our government to have our backs.

We promise to stand by you and do whatever it takes to make this critical relief for families permanent.

We look forward to working with you on ways we can help mothers during this crisis.

Signed,

50 Moms from 50 States

Noelle Kelso
Alabama

Christi Elliott
Alaska

Rebecca Leavenworth
Arizona

Sasha Demskie
Arkansas

Sarah Gold
California

Kristina deVries
Colorado

Elpida Bauman
Connecticut

Lauren Hoban
Delaware

Christina Schubiger
Florida

Sandra April Keith
Georgia

Donna Daum
Hawaii

Christine May
Idaho

Mary McVay
Illinois

Valencia Roberson
Indiana

Mercedes Ironside
Iowa

Lee Green
Kansas

Sarah Moore
Kentucky

Erica Simmons
Louisiana

Elizabeth Castro
Maine

Regina Akaachiak
Maryland

Melissa González
Massachusetts

Muriel Maclin
Michigan

Christine Anderson
Minnesota

Valeria Haley
Mississippi

Toni Hankins
Missouri

Jennifer Bain
Montana

Jamie Smith
Nebraska

Maria Silva
Nevada

Courtney Stranahan Johnson
New Hampshire

Yazmeen Aikens
New Jersey

Jane Gamble
New Mexico

Marjorie Hedgepeth
New York

Jennifer Dickman
North Carolina

Christina Morris
North Dakota

Latha Srinivasan
Ohio

Amanda Rangel
Oklahoma

Julia Considine
Oregon

Meiriana Chinnici
Pennsylvania

Suzanne McDonald
Rhode Island

Amy Lyn Reeves
South Carolina

Candi Brings Plenty
South Dakota

Blair Walsingham
Tennessee

Shaniss Girtman
Texas

Marie LaChance
Utah

Amanda Witman
Vermont

Alysia Berman
Virginia

Rachel Black
D.C.

Evelyn Dial
Washington

Michelle Phillips
West Virginia

Kelly Hoppe
Wisconsin

Alexis Maybank
Wyoming

Additional Signatures:

Aisha Nyandoro
CEO of Springboard to Opportunities/Founder of Magnolia Mother’s Trust

Stacey Rutland
Founder of Income Movement

Reshma Saujani
Founder of Marshall Plan for Moms

About This Project
Magnolia Mother’s Trust, Income Movement and Marshall Plan for Moms came together to send a letter to the White House on behalf of mothers calling for a permanent expansion of the Child Tax Credit. All three of our organizations are centered on mothers and feel that their voice is central to the discussion around the Child Tax Credit given the disproportionate economic impact that have faced because of the pandemic.

Since the release of my book, I’ve spoken to thousands of women and girls from all over about perfection and bravery — moms, teens, girls in my programs at Girls Who Code, college students, you name it. Over and over, it’s the same conversation about how we only do the things we excel at, don’t always speak up for ourselves, and let fear of failure hold us back.

But never in a million years did I think I’d be talking to an astronaut about bravery, fear of failure, even imposter syndrome. I mean, astronauts are just about the bravest people there are right? They’re not scared of anything, right? Wrong.

I know because I recently had the amazing experience of doing a one-on-one video call with astronaut Christina Koch. She had read my book, Brave Not Perfect, and wanted to talk to me about it and my work with Girls Who Code… while aboard the International Space Station. It was an amazing conversation and I’m so grateful for her candor. Here’s what I learned:

1. First, even in space — it’s all about practicing small acts of bravery

“You’ll just have stuff float away on you and you won’t even notice it and you’re grabbing it and you look like an idiot and you’re free floating yourself and your butt is in front of the camera.”

I always talk about performing small acts of bravery — sending an email with a typo, picking up a new hobby — to build up our bravery muscles. Guess what? Astronauts have to practice small acts of bravery too.

Living on the International Space Station, Christina said, is like living in a fishbowl. People back on Earth at NASA are constantly watching you. That means getting comfortable with making mistakes on camera, like losing things to gravity. So even though astronauts do things that are classic definitions of brave it’s still possible to not feel brave in other ways, or to feel the pressure of needing to be perfect.

2. Second, people pleasing is overrated

When I was writing Brave, Not Perfect, I spent a lot of time thinking about how women are socialized to be people-pleasers. It struck me as so important that I dedicated a whole chapter to it. We worry about being liked. We don’t want to seem rude. We go so far as to shrink ourselves in order to avoid conflict.

What does that mean in space? Yes, Christina told me, part of being an astronaut is going through flight school and learning to spacewalk…but it’s also about collaborating and addressing conflict and saying what you think. You are, after all, living really close quarters with very few people for a very long time. Like she said, astronauts don’t have the option of not getting along and not operating efficiently. It takes a certain level of bravery to stop worrying about pleasing everyone else and put yourself first. But in the end, it’s better for everyone.

3. Third, we can all beat imposter syndrome using these five words

When we got on the phone, I mentioned that earlier that day I’d been talking to Secretary Hillary Clinton who was so interested (and maybe a little jealous?!) to hear that I was going to meet Christina. And Christina, the woman who holds the record for the longest space mission for a woman and was a part of the first all-female spacewalk, was surprised to hear it! It was like she couldn’t believe that Secretary Clinton knew her name.

So we started to unpack the imposter syndrome that so many girls and women face — especially in STEM. I asked her what helped when she felt that nagging question of “do I belong here?” coming on. And she said she would just tell herself, “these people think I’m awesome.” I loved that. Like Christina said, it’s a slightly more “pointed and surgical” than just telling yourself “I’m awesome.” These people, all around me, looking at me, watching me, they think I’m awesome. They think I’m brave, and so that must be true.

I’ll be honest, I never expected someone to hear that someone like Christina would struggle with bravery, imposter syndrome, being comfortable with failure. And the more I think about it, the more I realize bravery can feel like rocket science. It’s hard to grasp, we aspire to practice it, and we look up to those who do. But once you get it, there’s nothing stopping you. It’s freeing. And women like Christina show us that we can all get there, even if we fail along the way.

When it was time to wrap up, I brought my son Shaan and his friend Walter in so Christina could give them a virtual tour of the space station. I will never forget Shaan asking to see her “costume” (… her spacesuit). Or the look on his face while he watched her do backflips and throw gravity-defying M&Ms into the air. That was when I realized it: the first astronaut my son got to meet was a woman.

And I couldn’t help but imagine a world, a braver world, where that’s true for all little boys and girls.

In reality, the reason she had to end her campaign is simple. On an increasingly white, male, rich playing field Kamala chose to be brave, not perfect. And we punished her for it. Her campaign slogan was “fearless,” not flawless. And media, culture, voters, couldn’t live with that.

Because this country isn’t ready for fearless women, for brave women. Not really. And so we scrutinized her within an inch of her life. We put her record, her demeanor, her strategy, her staff, her family under a microscope. We held her to a higher standard than every single one of her fellow candidates.

The headlines make it seem like she couldn’t get anything right. She lacked momentum. She didn’t pay enough attention to Iowa. She had an irreparable record on crime. Her campaign was full of infighting. Underfunded. Outspent. Unelectable. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a story about how the colorway of her t-shirts failed to deliver voters in rural America.

Consider the question of her qualifications, which according to some were thin. Sen. Harris is a U.S. senator elected with 7.5 million votes. By comparison, Pete Buttigieg is a 37-year-old mayor with no federal or state government experience elected with just over 8,500 votes; and Andrew Yang is an entrepreneur with no prior political experience whatsoever.

Consider the question of her record on crime. As a prosecutor, Sen. Harris took a tough-on-crime approach at a time when women and black candidates “faced intense pressure” to do so. By comparison, rightly pointed out by Campaign Zero co-founder Samuel Sinyangwe and many others, Vice President Biden is leading in the polls despite writing the Crime Bill and Mayor Pete is up in the polls even after his police force killed a black man during the campaign.

Consider even the spotlight on her campaign’s workplace culture, which seemed to many to be the nail in her coffin. Sen. Harris faced criticism for a dysfunctional, mismanaged, and mistreated staff. But it’s no coincidence that the two candidates who’ve had media laser-focus on their workplace cultures are women. It’s well-documented that women face higher penalties for ethical transgressions than men do.

Let me be clear: I did not endorse Senator Harris for President, nor have I endorsed any of the Presidential hopefuls. And to be sure, she is not without flaws. But I would have liked the chance to see a black woman on the ballot, to have her ideas in the running. We didn’t just deserve Sen. Harris’ voice, we needed it. With her gone, as Sen. Booker said, we’ll have more billionaires than black people at the next debate.

When she announced her campaign on Martin Luther King Day, drawing a crowd 20,000 strong, Sen. Harris proclaimed, “Lord knows, I am not perfect. But I will always speak with decency and moral clarity.” The Senator made good on her promise, but we failed to meet her even halfway.

If we want more women in public office, we have to let them run — bravely, authentically and sometimes even messily. We have to check ourselves when we question their credentials or their “likability.” It’s a courtesy we don’t hesitate to extend to their male counterparts.

We need to give these women the space to be brave not perfect, or we will all suffer the consequences. Worse, our Democracy will.

In the United States, a software engineer can expect to make about $106,000 a year. That means at any given company, someone with a background in computer science can expect to make more than double the $44,000 salary of the average American worker.

These are the kinds of jobs that can lift entire families into the middle class. They are the American dream realized. They are the future of our country and our economy.

But right now, not all Americans have access to these jobs. Our girls, especially, are getting left behind or are being pushed out.

The odds are stacked against them in more ways than one. Although girls express interest in computer science at an early age, they begin to drop out in middle school because our culture tells them that computers and tech are for boys. They learn all about people like Bill Gates and Albert Einstein and Mark Zuckerberg, but not about Ayanna Howard or Katherine Johnson or Ada Lovelace.

By the time women leave college, only 1 percent of them will graduate with degrees in computer science. And when they enter the workplace, they are likely to face discrimination, or worse, harassment that forces them out of their job. From the classroom to the workplace, women face far too many barriers to a successful career in tech.

At Girls Who Code, we’re on a mission to change that. We’ve set out to educate, equip, and inspire girls with the computing skills they’ll need to pursue 21st-century opportunities. Ultimately, we want to close the gender gap in tech entirely.

But we can’t do it alone; we need help from Congress and state legislatures. Last year, we released a policy agenda with four recommendations for lawmakers across the country committed to closing the gender gap in tech. This agenda includes recommendations to track and report data on computer science participation, expand computer science courses to all middle schools, increase exposure to women and other underrepresented minorities in tech, and fund professional development with a focus on gender inclusion.

I’ve seen firsthand how computer science skills can change the trajectory of a career, the future of a girl, a family, a community. I’ve seen it with countless Girls Who Code alumni.

Consider Diana, a first-generation American whose mother worked as a live-in housekeeper in an affluent neighborhood just to make sure her daughter could have access to a quality education. Diana participated in our first-ever Summer Immersion Program in 2012, and went on to be the first woman in her family to go to college and major in computer science. Today, she is an engineer at Tumblr in New York City.

Diana is just one of our alumni. In seven years, Girls Who Code has reached more than 185,000 girls in communities across the country. Half of the girls in our programs are black, Latina or, like Diana, come from low-income households. We know that our alumni are majoring in computer science at a rate 15 times the national average. And we’re just getting started.

We believe that a commitment from lawmakers, combined with grassroots programs and resources — such as our free Women in Tech lesson plans — can guarantee a more equitable and competitive future for the U.S.

Imagine what would be possible if every girl in the country had a chance to learn computer science and to thrive in the field. Let’s give them a real shot at achieving their greatest potential so that they may become the leaders, visionaries, changemakers they were meant to be.

Changing policy to change the face of tech was originally published in Biden Forum on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

When I started Girls Who Code five years ago, people thought we were crazy. It seemed like nobody was paying attention to what girls were up against — some people didn’t even know what coding was, let alone see the importance and need for an organization focused on teaching girls to code. But we persisted… and it’s working:

88% of our alumni have declared a CS major/minor or are more interested in CS

42% of our alumni are from underrepresented groups

39% of our alumni take AP CS

By spring of 2018, we’ll be 50,000 girls strong — and in every state across the U.S.

In 2017, women decided to take a stand and use their voices. We’re going to take this momentum and make lasting change for women, forever.

With your support over the past six years we’ve made tremendous progress and have seen girls use technology to change their lives and the world around them. Girls like Alexis, Victoria, Ashley, Jennifer, and Schyel, who created the Trash-Talk game to combat catcalling and street harassment. And these girls are just a few of thousands of girls who are using their Girls Who Code experience to make a difference.

This is a problem we can solve. Now is the time to flood the gates with a generation of girls who will code and program the innovations of the future. With your support, we can continue to build a movement to teach girls everywhere to be change agents in their communities.

Donate today to help us change the lives of girls across the country.

I represent the American dream — I’m the daughter of refugees, and today I’m the CEO of a national nonprofit. I believe in this country and believe in the opportunity and importance of lifting up girls like me. It’s what motivated me to run for public office (twice). Even though I lost those races, they helped me see that in computer science classes across the country, girls are being left out and left behind by the fastest growing industries in the country.

I decided to do something about it. I paid $5 for the domain girlswhocode.com and handpicked 20 girls in NYC in a borrowed conference room to learn to code. It was an experiment — and it worked. It’s now been five years: we’ve reached 40,000 girls and done our fair share of teaching, but we’ve learned a lot from them as well. We aren’t just addressing a need — we’re building a movement, and we know we can reach so many more.

There are 500,000 open computing jobs — good paying jobs — and the gender gap in the industry will continue to grow if we don’t do something about it quickly. I want to close the gap and it breaks my heart to have to turn away thousands of girls every year from our Summer Immersion Programs. So we decided that the best way for us to close this gap even faster was to expand what Girls Who Code has to offer. Part of this was the launch of our New York Times best-selling book series in August, to allow every girl, regardless of access to technology, to have exposure to coding.

But what really makes Girls Who Code special are our programs — which is why I’m so excited to announce the creation of a brand new program called Campus. We’re bringing our tried and true curriculum and launching it in more cities on a timeframe that works for girls’ busy schedules. We piloted the program this past summer and reached 100 girls. In summer 2018, we plan to reach over a thousand girls with programs in six cities — New York, Denver, Chicago, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.

We’ve specially designed Campus to give girls an edge for college with in-depth learning and a project-based approach — perfect for getting girls a head start towards changing the world. These courses are also special in their own right — for the first time ever, we’re offering courses that go deep in subjects like Website Design and Development, Wearable Tech & Fashion Design, and iPhone App Development. We’ve also heard from younger girls who want to be able to have the immersive summer coding experience — so we’ve opened Campus up to girls from 6–12th grade. And we’re already seeing results: 80% of Campus program graduates say they’re more likely to pursue a major or minor in Computer Science because of Girls Who Code.

We’re not alone in building our movement. All great ideas take investors, and I’m happy to have Deloitte as a partner and problem-solver with on how to close the gender gap in tech. With their support, we’re able to offer $250,000 for scholarships for Campus so that any girl can participate in this program, regardless of financial need. Deloitte and Girls Who Code share a commitment to make a difference so that everyone has the opportunity to succeed, from the classroom to the workplace. As Deloitte Consulting LLP Principal Deepa Purushothaman puts it, “Today, the girls learn to code; tomorrow, they bring their skills, confidence, knowledge, and leadership to the workplace.”

Ready to join our movement? Learn more about Campus and apply for a Campus program near you!

My parents came here as refugees seeking shelter in this great country. Everything I have done in my life and career is because of the opportunities I’ve had as an American citizen, and I want the same for the next generation—which is why Girls Who Code is a home for all girls, regardless of their immigration status. To our amazing and dedicated teachers and facilitators, thank you for showing our girls what bravery looks like, inside and outside the classroom.

I want to say without question and unequivocally: Girls Who Code stands with and for all girls, including our undocumented sisters.

Our only requirement for girls who want to join our Clubs or summer programs is that they want to be change agents in their homes, community, and the world and see coding as a vehicle to do that. We don’t ask about their grades or immigration status — economic opportunity, gender, and birthplace shouldn’t be determining factors in whether a person can be a make a change in the world. Some of the biggest ideas and brightest innovations in history have come from unexpected places.

I know that our girls are already concerned about these issues and are doing something about it—like Roxane, Isabel, Caroline, and Clare, who created a website designed to help immigrants find resources. In that same spirit, the Girls Who Code team wants to recognize some of the organizations who are equipped to help in ways that we can’t. Lean on these resources, and share them with your friends, families, and communities.

• United We Dream
• We Are Here to Stay
• Define American
• Dream Act Toolkit

With love and support,

Reshma & the Girls Who Code team