1. We support strong, pro-equity and pro-family candidates.
Our goal is to build an Oregon where all mothers and families can thrive. To do this, we need to build a strong political voice for mothers and to elect more pro-equity and pro-family decision-makers. So we’re pooling our resources – and yours! – to get involved in races across the state, to educate candidates about the economic issues impacting mothers and families, and to elect key pro-family candidates who will champion the strong, family-friendly public policies that Oregon families need. Together we send a powerful, strategic message that we simply cannot send alone – and we’ll win!
2. We mobilize feminist mothers to participate effectively in the political process.
This country has a long history of undervaluing the work of caring for a family. Our whole economy is still built on the idea that women should just provide this care for no or low wages – and often at the expense of holding a job themselves. And yet, the work mothers do builds communities, economies and nations. To change the way things work we have to get active and show up – in elections, in the legislature and everywhere in between. Sometimes we also have to be the decision-makers ourselves.
But, as everyone knows, mothers are busy. And too often participating in our political process falls off the “to do” list. The problem is, without mothers actively speaking up for what we need it’s too easy for our elected officials to focus on the people they DO hear from – and forget about mothers and their families entirely. Our goal is to build more political power for mothers and their families – and to do that we try to make the political process so easy to understand and so convenient to participate in that more mothers can jump in – kids and all! When more of us do, we know that the issues we care about – public programs that help our families thrive, time off to have a baby or care for another family member, affordable and high-quality child care, protection against discrimination, fair pay, and a equal treatment for all families, to name a few – will move from the back to the front of our elected officials’ minds – and agendas. Best way to jump in? Donate to support our work and help make sure your voices are heard during elections.
3. We educate candidates about our pro-equity, family-friendly policy platform.
If no-one knows what it looks like to raise a family in an equitable, family-friendly state with a family-supportive economy, how will we ever get there? The Mother PAC has defined what this could look like and we actively share our vision for a mother-friendly, family-supportive Oregon with the people who have the power to make it so. Stop for a minute and imagine an Oregon that looks like this:
- Caregiving is valued and supported in all aspects of our communities.
- Paid family leave and paid sick days are available to all – so we can care for ourselves and our families without losing our jobs.
- More parents can find part-time work with equitable pay and benefits and on-the-job flexibility – so it’s possible to care for our families without forfeiting our financial stability.
- Child care is affordable, high-quality, and readily available to everyone who needs it.
- Health care is not tied to our jobs.
- Women have the freedom to choose when, how and whether they become mothers.
- Every Oregon family, however it is configured, is treated equally.
- Women, mothers and people of color don’t suffer financially because of discrimination and institutionalized racism and sexism
- There are more mothers in elected office who support the economic security of all mothers
Worth fighting for, isn’t it?