Women in the Workforce | One Detroit Future of Work Town Hall

Women in the Workforce: Affordable Childcare for Working Moms

All across Michigan a shortage of childcare availability and rising childcare costs have persisted leaving some working women few other options than to stay home and forego a job for parenthood.

According to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics federal study, nearly 1.1 million women left the workforce from February 2020 to January 2022. As childcare centers closed in 2020, a disproportionate number of women with children under 10 years old — 23% compared to 13% of men — considered leaving the workforce, according to a McKinsey & Company report.

Women in the Workforce data

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s latest announcement, a bipartisan investment that plans to provide free or low-cost childcare to more than 150,000 kids and their families, expands her efforts to re-strengthen Michigan’s childcare industry and allow more women to get back to work. How the efforts will begin to roll out across the state are still to be seen.

One Detroit’s September Future of Work virtual town hall explores the impact of childcare on women in the workforce. This town hall continues One Detroit’s cumulative, ongoing conversation involving women in the workforce and their impact on the future of work.

Guest host Trudy Gallant-Stokes speaks with Charity Dean, a commissioner on the Michigan Women’s Commission, and Terry Barclay, the CEO of InForum, a business accelerator for women, about the decline of women from Michigan’s labor force, the impact of childcare and online learning on women in the workforce, and how Michigan’s latest childcare legislation is geared to help working women and their families.

Watch Livestream:

Future of Work Town Hall Participants:

Future of Work Town Hall Guest Host | Trudy Gallant-Stokes, Owner, Gallant-Stokes Productions

Trudy Gallant Stokes Headshot

Trudy Gallant-Stokes has more than 30 years experience in all aspects of the media. Her background includes work as a radio reporter and anchor at WSPD-AM in Toledo, Ohio and WOMC-FM in Detroit. She has also worked as a reporter, anchor/host and producer at WTOL- TV in Toledo, Ohio & WTVS (Detroit Public Television) where she hosted “Detroit Black Journal,” “Video Detroit” and produced several award-winning documentaries, including “Sidewalk High,” which is part of the American Archive of Public Broadcasting.

She has served as the Detroit Correspondent for “BET News” (Black Entertainment Television) and for “Nightly Business Report” on PBS. In addition, she has served as a contributor to “Black Enterprise” magazine, writing several cover stories. Trudy is an honors graduate of Michigan State University, with a degree in telecommunications.

Panelist | Charity Dean, Commissioner, Michigan Women's Commission

Charity Dean Headshot

Charity Dean is the President and CEO of the Metro Detroit Black Business Alliance (MDBBA). The MDBBA serves as the Black Chamber of Commerce serving Black businesses in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb County. Charity is the former Director of Civil Rights, Inclusion, and Opportunity for the City of Detroit where she was responsible for investigating civil rights violations in the city of Detroit.

She currently serves as the President of the Grandmont Community Association and as an advisory committee member of the Detroit Women’s Leadership Network and is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Charity Dean was also a fellow with the Michigan Political Leadership Program and is currently a member of the Wolverine Bar Association and the State Bar of Michigan. In 2019, Charity was appointed by Governor Whitmer to the Michigan Women’s Commission. She also serves on Oakland University Alumni Association Board and on the board of Neighborhood Legal Services of Michigan. Charity was named Crain’s Detroit 40 under 40 in 2020 for her role in leading the City of Detroit’s small business response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Charity earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Oakland University and her juris doctorate from The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, where she also currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law. A lifelong Detroiter, Charity lives in the city with her husband Erik Dean and her children Elijah and Lauren.

Panelist | Terry Barclay, CEO, Inforum

Terry Barclay advises top management on how to build gender-balanced businesses and capitalize on the world’s fastest-growing market – women. Barclay enjoys building alliances, steering change and consistently delivering mission-critical results, and she considers herself fortunate to have the opportunity to meet and work with some of the most fascinating, accomplished, inspirational business and public leaders in the world.

Since joining Inforum as CEO in 2001, Barclay has grown the organization tenfold to become the largest of its kind in the country. Inforum has launched several successful industry-specific leadership, economic development, and research initiatives that have played a role in Michigan’s economic resurgence. In early 2020 in response to the changing market due to COVID-19, Inforum launched Virtual Inforum to keep its members informed, invested and inspired through quality content in a wholly virtual format.

Barclay is also the co-author of the” Michigan Women’s Leadership Report” and the co-editor of two books, “The Road to the Top is Not on the Map: Conversations with Automotive’s Top Women” published in October 2019, and The Road Forward: More Conversations with Automotive’s Top Women” published in May 2021.

She’s a frequent virtual speaker, podcast host, and panel moderator where I share insights and facilitate conversations on leadership and how to be a powerful male ally for gender inclusion.