Center For Women and Work at Rutgers

http://smlr.rutgers.edu/cww/

This website is a work in progress by the School of Management and Labor Relations Center for Women and Work. Their main focus areas include 1) Workforce Development, 2) Education and Career Development, 3) Women's Leadership and Advancement, and 4) Working Families. The main mission of this group is to address the advancement of women in the workplace, conduct cutting-edge research on successful public and workplace policies, provide technical assistance and programs to educators, industry, and governments, and engage issues that directly affect the living standards of New Jerseys' and the nations' working families. Gender equity projects and research is also at the heart of their mission. Overall this website is very informative for all viewers. It is a good source of information and research on a wide range of topics that deal with women, work and families. It is a credible website with much information and the capability to take donations. They have links to the Working Poor Families Project and other related blogs and organizations. I am impressed with the New Jersey Time To Care project. This is a project to offer paid leave to workers faced with family illness or crisis for a six-week period of partial wage replacement over a 12-month period. This initiative will cover leave to bond with a newborn or newly adopted child or to care for a seriously ill child, parent, spouse, domestic partner or civil union partner. This will cover all workers who have earned $143.00/per week for 20 weeks. Great for part timers who would usually only be granted unpaid leave. (This in itself is a separate website that is very informative, as well.) I like the design of the (CWW) site and the way they offer links to those who may want or need more information. The Sloan Center on Innovative Training and Workforce Development is also packed full of good information. Their link takes you to The Center of Women and Work's (CWW) Innovative Training and Workforce Development (ITWD) page. These projects conduct research and evaluations on innovative workforce development policies, programs, and solutions. Their research is focused on understanding how to prepare underserved populations to compete in today's high-skill economy with a particular attention paid to women and non-college educated workers. I would recommend this site to anyone interested in Leadership Development. These principles can be applied to all workers, not just women. Rutgers School of Management seems to do a great job of sharing and updating their website's information and content.

The Families and Work Institute.

http://www.familiesandwork.org/

The website is very well organized with plenty of information that is easily accessible. The "About" section, of the website, covers the history of the organization along with information about their mission, work and staff. The organization conducts their own research that is utilized by numerous government and private organizations. The website does have an "Our Work" section that goes into depth about their research and projects. These projects cover Work and the Workplace, Youth, and Early Childhood. They also have the "support the work project" tab that brings communities, employers and the public sector together to help families that are hurting in today's economic crisis.
Every five years the Institute conducts research on the changing workforce and how work effects family. The "Past Projects" tab lists the past projects with a brief synopsis of each.
The organizations that help fund the projects are household names like Allstate Insurance, American Express, AT& T, Boeing, Ceridian, Ford, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Motorola, GE, General Mills, DuPont, Mobil, Merck and the Sloan Foundation. Contributions from individuals are also accepted.
The intended audience seems to be policymakers, media and family program organizers. The Institute seems to be ahead of the curve by uncovering emerging issues on work and families through their research and its' findings. They definitely support agents of change in business, youth and early childhood development by fostering and encouraging education and community engagement. The website is informative for the general public, but it seems to be geared more toward the knowledgeable leader or reporter who has been aware of family and work issues and is interested in current trends and research.
My critique of this site is that it is credible and very informative. It appears to be bi-partisan and truly representative of researching the behavior and needs of families in the workplace. Past project reports are available for purchase. There has also been research done involving the elderly and family caregivers.
I was not aware of the amount of research this institute performs until I accessed the projects pages and saw that the list of past and current topics is somewhat significant. The most interesting research is the ongoing study on the changing workforce that currently compiles research from the last 20 years. I also learned that the healthcare industry offers the best flexibility work schedule options to their workers. Manufacturing, Hotel and Restaurant businesses offer the least flex scheduling options.

My website choices are; Families and Work Institute and The Rutgers Center for Women and Work. I am currently preparing my reports.
Thanks!