Author: molliegoldfarb

I aspire to educate women about their respective rights, as well as inspire future generations to continue the fight for equal conditions in both the private and public sector. I hope to one day represent women in the workforce in order to help them secure a better and more stable economic future, as well as help them break down age-old barriers disallowing equal access and opportunity. I am especially focused on promoting entry into non-traditional pathways for young women. Per these goals, I was fortunate enough to work this summer at the Women’s Bureau, an organization that is an integral part of ensuring women across the nation have the adequate tools to ensure their grievances are heard and addressed, as well as helping bring public attention to the issues of concern to women. 

My experience in serving the public exposed me to the dynamic and multi-faceted definition of “social justice.” Through my experience as a Policy and Research Intern at the U.S. Department of Labor, I utilized relevant skills, such as research, social policy writing, and marketing that enabled me to contribute to the mission of opportunity and access for all women. Moreover, my internship afforded me the chance to really hone in on the strongest aspect or core identity of social justice, which in my personal opinion is teamwork. By working with a multitude of different persons and engaging in conversations of policy, culture, economics, and issues across the board, I was able to clearly understand the fundamental, foundational work that must be attended to before great change can prevail. I also heard from other agency directors similar messages of community and interagency collaboration as key factors in their success. Although involving multiple partners on one issue can be inefficient or convoluted, it also helps identify the broader spectrum of issues persistent in various local communities.

During my time at the Women’s Bureau, I completed many projects, but my research on lactation and compiling a lactation toolkit for federal supervisors and employees served most beneficial, as the work was valued for illuminating the issues at present and in need of future attention. By helping create documents surrounding best practices in lactation spaces and scenarios for further discussion, I was able to help my organization pinpoint certain commonalities across regional offices and potential issues that may arise for nursing mothers in the workplace.

Before beginning my internship, I wish that I had a more sound basis of social policy work and what it entails. However, my supervisors were gracious enough to teach me the ropes and the inner workings of the federal government, and thus I was able to quickly pick up on the pace and style of this type of work. If you are looking to pursue an internship with the federal government or in public service, I would strongly advise taking a class on social policy, movements and/or change because the systems in place can either be confusing or complicated when first faced with them. Don’t forget, an excellent supervisor or co-worker can also show you the way if the path appears dark at first, but you must speak up and ask. 

Thus far, my Brandeis experience has allowed me to set and achieve both communal and intrinsically individual goals. Aside from my academic accomplishments, I began to shape and perfect the goals I wished to accomplish outside of the classroom and vice versa. The considerable advantage of the Brandeis experience is how the classroom and community complement each other, pushing individuals like myself to stretch our goals to the furthest boundaries and spheres of the college experience.

Some may call it a self-awakening, or an epiphany of sorts, where you suddenly see the rudimentary elements of a passion for one subject develop into something more. No, this passion did not develop from the news or the textbook, but rather from my sophomore year Business Law course. Torts, contracts, injury, discrimination—all of it gripped me as relevant and controversial, not merely historical fact or minutiae. Professor Breen engages his students with an intellectual experience rather than the tedium of spit-back textbook verbiage. The fictional cases assigned for us to argue in an essay format made me feel as if I was defending someone’s livelihood or business. I wrote with vigor and true conviction, trying to best present all the facts and assumptions succinctly and with precision.

Throughout the semester, I would arrive at Professor Breen’s office hours with a list of questions to further clarify the complicated UCC (Uniform Commercial Code), Supreme Court precedents, or any other mysteries of the law. As the semester progressed, the national news became a hotbed of discrimination lawsuits and hearings. I listened to the testimony and judge rulings, feeling empowered in that I could now comprehend the myriad legal jargon. I suddenly realized my college experience had come full circle. My knowledge in the classroom began to enhance my understanding of the surrounding world. The exhilaration I felt did not dissipate in the coming weeks but rather laid the foundation for my newfound passion for social justice and the rule of law.

After working at the Women’s Bureau for over six weeks, I have begun to piece together the nuances of different issues in light of the sociocultural norms we experience every day, especially as women in the workforce. My courses as a legal studies student at Brandeis allowed me to approach my internship from a sharply legalistic lens, but also within the context of the world we inhabit. Issues are complex and cannot be solved on a whim but it is important to be persistent or else one will not invoke change.

The women who I have the pleasure of working alongside at the Bureau embody this and have motivated me to see the positive, yet slow-moving, aspects of change. We cannot always look forward and project our hopes and dreams for a better future because of the immense heartache it may create but we should always strive to look back and feel a sense of pride in our journey. As I finish my internship in the coming weeks, I realize I may have only made a minuscule impact on the lives of working women but this is the truest source of comprehensive change.

The Women’s Bureau is a voice for working women. The Bureau was created by Congress in 1920 to promote the welfare of wage-earning women. The Women’s Bureau has been meeting its mandate by identifying, researching and analyzing the topics working women care about most; pioneering innovative policies and programs to address them; and enhancing education and outreach efforts to raise awareness on key issues affecting women in the workforce. Their two main goals are to reduce barriers that inhibit or prevent women’s access to – and retention in – better jobs, and to ensure women’s fair treatment in the workplace.

My coursework as a legal studies student has exposed me to a wide range of controversies regarding the discriminatory treatment of distinct interest and minority groups. As I dived deeper into my studies and independently read books about systematic workplace discrimination, I developed a profound interest in employment law. Soon thereafter, I realized my passions not only consist of advocating for improved conditions and equal opportunity, but also some day sharing my knowledge and advocacy skills with minority and low-income workers so they can acknowledge a situation of discrimination and subsequently self-advocate. Education and advocacy are entangled, and crucial to banish discrimination in the workplace and achieve economic stability and security. Hence, my goals coincide with the mission of the Women’s Bureau because they publish educational materials that are both concise and comprehensible to the average worker and employer.

Moreover, they empower women by aiding them with the proper tools to self-advocate in the face of discrimination or inequality. Additionally, the Bureau hosts multiple community outreach events and focus groups to understand the impact of modern cultural dynamics on issues concerning women.

I am responsible for assisting on specific project initiatives by drafting policy memorandums to underscore issues concerning women in the labor force, including maternity, childbirth, and postpartum policies and rights. I help compile research and data on current sociocultural and economic issues to support policy initiatives, refine methodology, and expand upon the outlined agenda. Additionally, I attend legislative hearings, interagency workgroups, and community events to understand regional constituent concerns and provide information on upcoming initiatives. I am also expected to collaborate with other regional offices to formulate solutions for community-specific issues.

I have recently been asked to look into issues concerning lactation spaces in the workplace by observing federal buildings, hospitals, and private businesses. By conducting this research and analysis, I am able to discern best practices in lactation spaces that should be implemented to help new moms feel supported during their breastfeeding experience. After addressing these best practices and my research with other regional office coordinators, we were able to refine the objective and ultimate goal of my project. My work will hopefully help the Bureau encourage management and other personnel to create effective and comfortable lactation spaces for nursing moms. Additionally, by devising a best practices/educational fact-sheet for supervisors, I hope that this will encourage dialogue and more training surrounding lactation rights provided under the law.

I look forward to continuing my work on this project and also helping the Bureau in some other areas of focus, such as occupational licensure reciprocity in various states. I hope the preliminary research and analysis I conduct this summer will help the Bureau continue to advocate for change and push the agenda forward long after my internship is over!