Parker BlackmanParker Blackman is the Board Chair for PL+US, a nonprofit organization working towards providing paid family leave for every American by 2022. He has been involved in various philanthropies and nonprofits for the past 25 years and has experience working as a Program Director, Grant Maker, Executive Director, and COO. Blackman is passionate about progressive social change and enjoys being involved in social and political movements. He uses his professional and well-known voice to speak as an advocate for the millions of Americans that deserve access to paid family leave.
Kristin Rowe-FinkbeinerKristin Rowe-Finkbeiner is a twenty-year advocate for paid parental leave, and the cofounder of MomsRsising.org. She also is a successful author and public speaker in Washington state, where she currently resides, working for the Economic Opportunity Institute. Beyond her advocacy for paid parental leave, she also speaks up against overall lacking equality within the context of healthcare, education, and workplace justice. She co-authored the book The Motherhood Manifesto, with cofounder Joan Blades, that addresses paid parental leave, which was subsequently made into a documentary on PBS. She also urges action through her podcast "Breaking Through with Kristin row-Finkbeiner" to shift public policy. Her overarching goal and passion lives in the fact that she is a monumental advocate for woman and family rights within the US, especially within the context of paid parental leave.
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Katie BethellKatie Bethell is the founder of the Paid Leave for the United States (PL+US) organization. She graduated from the University of Washington with a B.A. in Comparative History of Ideas. Currently, she is the founder of PL+US, but she wasn’t always the founder of PL+US. She has been working towards paid parental leave for over 15 years. She was the campaign director at MomsRising.org, where she helped get bids for policies that are family-friendly. In an interview, she said, “I think winning paid family leave in the U.S. would be an incredible, transformational moment for our country. The first-ever policy that gives anybody the right to paid time off—that’s HUGE for our families and something that will help literally everyone. I’m inspired by the vision of that."
Apollo GonzalesApollo Gonzales is the Digital Grassroots Engagement Director for PL+US. He currently serves as the board chair for Resource Media. Apollo graduated from American University in 2007 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, Legal Institutions, and Economics and Government. According to his Linkedin, he “focuses on building personal and institutional knowledge and capacity around digital practices that win good social campaigns.” With PL+US running many campaigns towards earning paid parental leave, Apollo is able to do his work effectively. It appears that PL+US is not his only working grounds, however. He is able to identify and define target audiences, and lead organizations through the process of adopting and building teams. He states that he has spent nearly a decade developing campaigns for social good campaigns, meaning that he only works for companies that he believes are for the good of the people, like PL+US!
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Nick AllardiceNick Allerdice is the Secretary for PL+US as well as the Vice President of Global Campaigns for Change.org. He leads campaign teams in over 18 countries to support Change.org's nearly 120 million users to win campaigns that they are passionate about. As traveling the world is a huge part of his job, Nick has noticed a drastic need for change in the United States paid parental leave. Resulting in his determination, he has been able to incorporate proper parental leave policies in companies such as Starbucks and Walmart.
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Kirsten GillibrandKirsten Gillibrand is an American lawyer, former U.S. congresswomen and a current junior Democratic senator for the state of New York. She has been talking about paid family leave for over 5 years and has proposed the Family Act bill, which would give employees 12 weeks paid family leave, for new parents, sick caregiving, or being ill themselves. Gillibrand has proposed the bill every congressional session since 2013, and it has finally starting to gain more bi-partisan support, seen as a way to win the support of female voters.
Erin Thornton
Erin Thornton is a board member of PL+US along with Hive, an organization that helps others strategize ways to advocate and create a social impact in their communities. She is also co-founder of EMC, Every Mother Counts which raises awareness for mothers and childbirth everywhere. Thornton's main goal is to help global health, women and girls and international development through policy and public engagement. She is a Duke and Yale University graduate and has worked with companies such as Starbucks and TOMS. In 2010 she was even recognized as one of the “Top 40 Leaders in Global Development Under the Age of 40”. |