October 17th marks the 5th annual National Flex Day, first launched by 1MFWF supporter organization Working Mother. 1 Million for Work Flexibility is proud to carry forward the torch and lead this year’s celebration by encouraging employers and employees across the country to unite behind the need for more flexibility.
As part of the process for advancing flexible work, it’s crucial to evaluate where things stand currently. What is the state of national flex? In our Nationa Flex Day event, panelists Brigid Schulte (New America), Ian Reynolds (Johns Hopkins University), Andy Cuneo (Polycom), Sara Sutton (FlexJobs & 1MFWF) discuss this issue, and look at what the future looks to hold for work flexibility.
About Brigid Schulte
Brigid Schulte is the director of the Better Life Lab and The Good Life initiative at New America. Brigid is a journalist and author, who writes widely for publications including The Washington Post, Slate, Time.com, the Guardian and others. She was a long-time staff writer for the Washington Post and Washington Post magazine, where she won a number of reporting and writing awards and was part of the team that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. Her 2014 New York Times bestselling book, Overwhelmed: How to Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time (Sarah Crichton Books/FSG) was named a Washington Post and NPR notable nonfiction book of the year, was translated into a number of languages, including Russian, Portuguese and Korean, and helped spark a national conversation about overwork, burnout, productivity, busyness, gender roles, the toll that outdated policies and cultural attitudes are taking on modern lives, and how to move forward.
Brigid has spoken at events around the globe, been quoted as an expert or featured in numerous publications, including Forbes, Fortune, the Atlantic, The Times of London, Macleans, the Irish Times, The Financial Times and Fast Company, and has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, the Katie Couric Show, MSNBC, CNN, Morning Joe, the BBC, CBC, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, NPR’s Morning Edition, Tell Me More, On Point, the Diane Rehm Show, the Leonard Lopate Show, the Bob Edwards Show, Efecto Naim with Moises Naim, the Australian Broadcast Company, and other television and radio programs.
Brigid has a BA in English and modern languages from the University of Portland, and an MS from Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia with her husband, Tom Bowman, who covers the military for NPR, and their two children.
Don’t miss Brigid’s upcoming event on Thursday, Oct. 26, from 12:30 to 2: Redesigning Work: Making Flexibility the Solution, not the Problem, as well as the Better Work Toolkit on work-life conflict, health and designing systems using behavioral science.
About Ian Reynolds
Ian Reynolds is Director of WorkLife and Community Programs in the Office of Work, Life and Engagement at Johns Hopkins. In his position, Ian oversees the delivery of a variety of programs designed to assist faculty and staff achieve healthy worklife effectiveness. These include childcare, backup care, and eldercare services; lifespan workshops; the Breastfeeding Support Program; flexible work arrangements; staff recognition; and housing and relocation support.
From 2014–2016, Ian also served as President of the College and University Work-Life-Family Association (CUWFA). Comprised of approximately 100 member institutions across the United States and Canada, CUWFA supports a diverse group of professionals contributing to the development of worklife programs and policies on college and university campuses. Ian holds an MA in American Studies from the University of Wyoming, and he received his BA in American Studies from Skidmore College. He lives in Columbia, MD with his wife Stephanie and their three boys.
About Andy Cuneo
Andy Cuneo is a Senior Communications Manager at Polycom, a global communications leader that helps organizations unleash the power of human collaboration. He has been with Polycom for 3.5 years, learning about how both his colleagues and Polycom customers use video collaboration in a unique way. His fascination with voice and video communications started more than 7 years ago when he began working with several international collaboration companies.
Andy is a 14 year PR veteran and, prior to his time with Polycom, he served as Polycom’s outside PR lead while with global PR agency Hill+Knowlton. Andy has spent most of his time working in the technology space. During his years in the PR agency world, Andy worked with clients in the educational, automotive, energy and security technology spaces. Andy lives in Herndon, VA—about 15 minutes from Polycom’s Herndon Experience Center—with his wife Alison and their two young children, Elizabeth and William.
About Sara Sutton
Sara Sutton is the founder and CEO of FlexJobs, which she started in 2007 as a result of her own need and desire for work flexibility, as well as the founder of Remote.co. She believes that a modern workplace should address the needs of today’s workforce, and that utilizing workplace technology to support telecommuting and flexible work will achieve societal, environmental, and economic benefits for both employees and employers. In support of those beliefs and her interest to spread awareness about work flexibility as an important topic, Sara launched 1 Million for Work Flexibility in 2013. For her work in the employment and technology fields, she was honored to be named a Young Global Leader (class of 2014) by the World Economic Forum. Sara is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, and lives in Boulder, Colorado, with her two children.
photo credit: BigStockPhotos.com
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