I am a mother.

Parenting, should you traverse that path, is one of the greatest challenges you will ever face. It is rewarding, frustrating, impossible, glorious-all rolled into one of the shortest longest times. My daughters have taught me patience, forgiveness, forced me to be more compassionate to others, and exceptionally disciplined with my focus, time, and energy.

I do not believe that parenting, or being a mother is the only fulfilling option for people to take. Having children, and being a full-time employee has opened my eyes to the realities of the many competing priorities parents have to manage. It has exposed the vast flaws in our American labor system, wherein we expect parents and caregivers to operate at 100% in both realms, rarely offering any of the necessary support structures.

Inclusive workplaces do not ignore the diversity of their employees’ life experiences, they lean into them. Creating inclusive workplaces takes into account the many pathways that people travel to arrive at the office every day. We give people the education, tools, and supports necessary to bring their authentic selves to work.

Parents who have babies and young children are expected to be back to their “normal” selves in as little as 12 weeks (if you’re lucky), and because of income disparities, women often opt-out of their careers in order to raise their families. This prevents them from being on track to be promoted, and removes them from leadership and executive opportunities. This pattern reinforces the stereotype that women cannot be both parents AND formidable executives, and for junior and midlevel workers, emphasizes the lack of representation at leadership level.

For marginalized communities, there is almost no help available for families—food stamps, cash aid, health care, mental health care, prescription drugs, preschool, and infant care are incredibly difficult to secure—and so we have millions of Americans who are left out and left behind from having fulfilling and rewarding careers. Because most health care is associated with full time work, rather than vocational or hourly employment, we have millions of under or uninsured Americans.

For this reason, I am deeply committed to creating opportunities for underrepresented people to get a foothold in the creative, technology, advertising, marketing, and design industries. I also am a tireless and unwavering advocate for workplace equity programs, interventions, and ERGs. I commit to specific actions and accountability measures, and get others to coalesce around these movements.