Lean In, Learn During AFSCME’s Upcoming Webinar on Eleanor Roosevelt

by Kate Childs Graham  |  March 22, 2013

Eleanor Roosevelt – the very model of a modern woman leader – once famously and facetiously recommended to future first ladies, “Lean back in the parade car so everybody can see the president.”

During this year’s Women’s History Month, there has been a lot of talk about the need for women to “lean in” – or step up – in order to move up in the workplace. In Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead, author and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg tells women they need to “lean in” to claim their place at the table. Some have criticized Sandberg for not understanding the real plight of working women. Others have praised her work as a step forward.

Amidst this chatter about “leaning in,” Brigid O’Farrell, author of She Was One of Us:  Eleanor Roosevelt and the American Worker, said that the best way for women to improve their working lives is by joining a union. O’Farrell wrote:

In 1936, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in her My Day column that there were only two ways to bring about protection for workers – “legislation and unionization”…Sisters can cheer on the struggle for equality among the CEOs, but also use that struggle to remind people of what is needed in the “other women’s movement.” We can seize this moment of discussion and organize.  As Eleanor Roosevelt told delegates to a CIO convention, “We can’t just talk. We have got to act.”

This Wednesday, March 27 at 8 p.m. EDT, O’Farrell will lead the AFSCME Online Leadership Academy’s newest webinar, “Eleanor’s Voice in Leadership and Labor History.”  This leadership course for women will examine Roosevelt’s leadership and her relationship with the labor movement. Like many union women, her labor story is not widely known. A proud union member for more than 25 years, Roosevelt was a champion for all working people, especially women.

This course will be initially offered as a live webinar and later launched as an OnDemand course with interactive learning activities. Click here to attend the live webinar on March 27 at 8 p.m. EDT. If you are unable to connect to the online portion of the course, you can listen in by dialing 1-877-534-5630 and entering access code 2265380409.

Contact AFSCME’s Education Department at 202-429-1256 or education@afscme.org if you have any questions.