Mothers & More Announces Business Award Winners

February 20, 2003 – Dow Chemical Women’s Innovation Network (WIN) and Project Enlightenment of the Wake County, North Carolina Public School District have been chosen as the national winners of the 2002/2003 Mothers & More Business Awards. This year marks the ninth year of the awards given by Mothers & More, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of mothers through support, education and advocacy.

Dow Chemical Women’s Innovation Network is the recipient of Mothers & More’s Employer Program of the Year Award. The award recognizes businesses that have adopted policies supporting their employees in their roles as parents. WIN consists of a group of employees working together to maximize the contributions of Dow women by helping them to define and realize their own personal visions of success. WIN’s mission is to champion cultural change to maximize the individual professional contributions of all Dow women. 

Mothers & More’s Facility of the Year Award goes to Project Enlightenment, a comprehensive pre-school mental health program within the Wake County, North Carolina Public School system. The project provides services including a research center with a lending library, classes and workshops for teachers and parents, and a free call help service which provides advice for problems ranging from speech delays to sibling rivalry. The Facility of the Year award recognizes service establishments that invest in amenities that accommodate the needs of customers with children in their job of parenting. 

"Mothers & More believes that mothers have the right to fulfill their caregiving responsibilities without incurring social or economic penalties," said Kristin Maschka, President of Mothers & More. " By recognizing these programs, Mothers & More hopes to highlight creative ways of structuring work so that mothers can care for their families and achieve in the workplace, and creative ways in which businesses and community organizations can support mothers as they perform the daily work of caring for children."

Mothers & More is a non-profit organization with a national membership over 7500-strong. The organization has been supporting mothers faced with the challenges of all the work that they do – both paid and unpaid - for over 15 years. Mothers & More is currently gearing up for the Mother’s Day launch of a mothers movement that will publicly explore the challenges facing mothers while promoting ways to make mothers and their work truly count in American society. For more information, go to www.mothersandmore.org or call 800-223-9399.

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