Media coverage of VCW presentations and appearances is on the In The News page
U.S. House of Representatives Candidate Forum Hosted by League of Women Voters of Vermont | June 2022
VCW joined other cosponsor organizations in the League of Women Voters of Vermont’s candidate forum on issues that affect Vermont women and families. VCW Executive Director Cary Brown moderated the forum. Participating candidates included Becca Balint, Democrat; Sianay Chase Clifford, Democrat; Molly Gray, Democrat; Liam Madden, Republican; Louis Meyers, M.D., Democrat; and Anya Tynio, Republican. Event video.
Vermont Women in Higher Education Annual Conference | March 2022
VCW Executive Director Cary Brown and Commissioner/Co-Chair Kellie Campbell, Ed.D. presented the workshop Women in the Workforce together. The presentation covered research and data about the impacts of gender wage gap and the COVID-19 pandemic on women in Vermont and ways we can emerge stronger.
Building Bright Futures State Advisory Council Meeting | October 2021
VCW Co-Chair Kellie Campbell and Change The Story Communications Director Al Johnson-Kurts presented to state early childhood leaders in October of 2021. The meeting was focused on COVID-19’s impact: the significant challenges for and vacancies in Vermont’s child care and mental health workforce, and the impact on families. Meeting video (Kellie and Al’s presentation, with data about Vermont women on these topics, starts at minute 47).
Vermont Bar Association Annual Meeting | October 2021
VCW Executive Director Cary Brown joined a panel with Mathew Barewicz, Xusana Davis, Steve Ellis, Curtiss Reed and Jim Rodgers, addressing how COVID disproportionately affected certain jobs, people, and businesses. The October 2021 presentation, COVID Impacts on DEI: The Way Forward for Improvement of Systemic Issues included statistical analyses and in-depth discussions about the path forward.
UVM Larner College of Medicine’s Gender Equity Initiative Education Series through the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion | October 2021
Setting the context for this October 2021 conversation, Essential at Work and Home: Women and COVID-19, VCW Executive Director Cary Brown incorporated women’s unpaid labor and caregiving roles and then addressed the pandemic's impact on women’s workforce participation, closing with policy solutions for recovery. Event video.
Lieutenant Governor’s “Seat At The Table” Conversation Series | March 2021
Lt. Governor Molly Gray hosted an International Women’s Day “Seat at the Table” conversation, The Economic Well-Being of Vermont Women with Xusana Davis, the Executive Director of Racial Equity for the State of Vermont, Jessica Nordhaus, the Director of Change the Story VT, Meg Smith, the Director of the Vermont Women's Fund and VCW Executive Director Cary Brown. Panelists presented data and discussed policy changes and initiatives to address the short-term and long-term economic needs of Vermont women as our state responds and recovers from COVID-19. Event video.
9to5: The Story of a Movement Vermont PBS Community Conversation | January 2021
Better pay, respect, opportunities for advancement, ending sexual harassment: those were some of the reasons that activated the women's movement and workplace rights groups like 9to5 in the 1970s. In January 2021, PBS Vermont hosted a statewide community conversation following a preview of the film 9to5: The Story of a Movement directed by Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar. With questions from the virtual audience moderated by Executive Director of Vermont Works for Women Rhoni Basden, Janet Selcer co-founder of 9to5 in Boston and VCW Executive Director Cary Brown addressed progress made since the 1970's and the work yet to do. Event video.
Legislative Women's Caucus Presentation | May 2020
VCW Executive Director Cary Brown presented research and analysis on the impact of COVID-19 and Vermont Women in May 2020.
Vermont Attorney General Video, Preventing Sexual Harassment In The Workplace | June 2019
In June 2019 Attorney General T. J. Donovan released a video providing an overview of Vermont’s workplace sexual harassment laws and a summary of employer obligations under those laws. The video provides the definition of workplace sexual harassment, explains Vermont employers’ obligations to appropriately respond to claims of sexual harassment, and provides links to resources such as the Vermont Department of Labor’s model sexual harassment policy. In the video, President of the Rutland Area Branch of the NAACP Tabitha Pohl-Moore moderated a roundtable discussion with VCW Executive Director Cary Brown and Shirley Jefferson, the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Diversity at Vermont Law School. Produced with assistance from WCAX TV, the video was a joint project between the Attorney General’s Small Business Initiative and Civil Rights Unit. Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace video.
Vermont Department of Libraries Tuesday Talks | February 2019
This lunch hour speaker series was focused on events or trends in Vermont that affect state employees. VCW Executive Director Cary Brown presented on Vermont Women: The Pay Gap, Representation, and Advancement in February 2019. Event poster.
Book Launch of Screwnomics: How Our Economy Works Against Women and Real Ways to Make Lasting Change | May 2018
VCW's Executive Director Cary Brown joined journalist, professor, and author Rickey Gard Diamond in a discussion on the state of women's economics at this book launch event in May of 2018.
Strolling of the Heifers Noontime Brown Bag Lunch series | March 2018
VCW Commissioner Emilie Kornheiser lead the community discussion, Women and the Economy, in March of 2018 as part of Brattleboro’s Strolling of the Heifers noontime brown bag lunch series.
Greater Burlington Women’s Forum Brown Bag Lunch | March 2018
VCW Chair Commissioner Lisa Senecal was a featured panelist in the discussion, Beyond #MeToo: Reckoning with Workplace Sexual Harassment in March 2018. The conversation considered questions like: When is it safe to speak up? What happens if we do say something? Who do we turn to if we decide to speak up? How might the passage of new laws in Vermont change the climate? Event video.
Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Bill Press Conference | February 2017
In February 2017 VCW Executive Director Cary Brown spoke a press conference at the State House introducing H.196, a bill proposing to create a Family Leave Insurance Program within the Department of Labor that would have provided employees with 12 weeks of paid family leave funded by contributions from employers and employees. Cary's comments included findings from VCW's feasibility study: “We came up with some interesting findings: new moms with access to paid family leave work more hours and return to work…They are 39 % less likely to rely on public assistance. That would translate to up to $271,000 savings to Vermonters. Additionally, in Vermont we’d see a $277,000 savings in costs due to infants being born healthy…and if we had a program, between 2 and 3.4 million dollars Vermont families would save, due to reduced child care costs. We could see an estimated 1800 Vermonters elevated above the poverty threshold, who would otherwise be below.” Event video.
Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FaMLI) Coalition Launch Event | October 2017
The Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FaMLI) Coalition to establish a statewide family and medical leave insurance program launched in October 2017. Speakers at the launch included: Cary Brown, Vermont Commission on Women; Former Governor Madeleine Kunin; Sascha Mayer, Owner of Mamava; Claire Kendall, Co-Executive Director of the Family Center; Tara Hodgkins, Mother and Caregiver.
Greater Burlington Women’s Forum Brown Bag Lunch | October 2016
Women in Politics: at The Podium and Behind the Scenes was a multi-partisan panel discussion about some of the different ways women decide to step into leadership in October of 2016. Moderated by VCW Executive Director Cary Brown, panelists addressed the question, "What does it take to prepare, sustain and succeed on the campaign trail and in office?"
Women In Corrections: Re-Imagining Justice Conference | December 2016
VCW cosponsored this conference in December 2016 at Vermont Law School (VLS), along with Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform, VLS’s Criminal Law Society, and the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. This was a day-long community conversation about criminal justice in Vermont—what it looks like, its challenges and successes, and examining reforms and alternatives to mass incarceration. VCW Executive Director Cary Brown moderated a panel discussion. Conference presentations.