As we wind down our work activity and begin to focus on family and celebrating the holidays, I want to reflect on all that we’ve created and contributed this year. We began the year with hope and a glimpse of a future without COVID. And we end the year with a renewed commitment to workplaces that work for families. We’ve never been clearer about our vision for families and their children to thrive, and we are so grateful to the businesses and leaders who contribute to this vision.

The pandemic brought many lessons that continue to inform our work and that have deepened our commitment to our mission, vision and values. Each of our team members has a deep commitment to anti-racism. We meet on a regular basis to expand our learning about anti-racism and we look to the teachers, mentors and leaders in our communities who embody it day in and day out. We bring our learning into everything we do to support our community.

Our team at Family Friendly New Mexico has accomplished a lot, including workshops, an online Awards Luncheon, the Platinum toolkit, as well as several new partnerships. Of particular note was the workshop on the Healthy Workplaces Act, which attracted over 50 people representing over 35 New Mexico businesses.

One of the buzzwords this year has been the “Great Resignation,” something we reframed as the Great Recognition. There is the recognition that a good job or career must not come at the expense of our own health, mental health and well-being, or that of our loved ones, particularly those family members we’re caring for at home. There is the recognition that working hard for an income below the poverty level is not just. There is the recognition that being treated poorly at work by employers and customers is not what we’re meant to be doing with our lives. There is the recognition that earning a high salary isn’t compensation enough for long hours that make it impossible to sustain our relationships outside of work. In case you missed it, we wrote about this here: The Three A’s of Rebuilding Your Workforce.

Looking forward to what’s ahead in 2022, we are returning to our extremely popular annual awards luncheon [hopefully] in-person! We are beyond excited about this and hope you’ll save the date to be with us on April 28th, 2022. We’re also looking forward to participating in the international Work & Family Research Network annual conference, which brings together hundreds of researchers and practitioners to develop best practices for the future of work.

Wishing you a healthy and happy holiday season from all of us at Family Friendly New Mexico! May we all find the reflection and restoration that will carry us forward into the future.

Family Friendly New Mexico will be winding down for the end of 2021 and will be giving our staff some much needed rest. Our offices will be closed on December 24th and will reopen on January 3rd.

Giovanna Rossi
Results strategist & President/CEO
Collective Action Strategies, LLC

Giovanna Rossi is a results strategist and the President/CEO of Collective Action Strategies, LLC, a consulting firm dedicated to improving the health and lives of women and families through personal, policy and leadership development. Giovanna holds a Master of Science degree in Public Policy from the London School of Economics, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies from the University of New Mexico. Giovanna was the first ever women’s health policy advisor for the state of New Mexico and was a women’s studies adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico. She is passionate about improving the health and lives of women and families through work-life policy, economic self-sufficiency and health for women, making sure all children are supported and thriving, and addressing gender inequities in programs, policies, and services. She is the founder of Well Woman LifeTM, which supports women to achieve their highest level of fulfillment and well-being and founder of the Family Friendly Business Award®. Giovanna is host of The Well Woman show on NPR One, a regular panelist on New Mexico PBS In Focus, contributor on Forbes.com and a 2018 Women of Influence honoree.