Group items tagged

From Unmarried America: "Unmarried America is an information service for America's 106 million unmarried adults -- who head up a majority of the nation's households. Our services focus on your interests as employees, consumers, taxpayers, and voters, regardless of your household size or family structure. You will not find a more comprehensive or reliable source of information about this special population anywhere on the Internet. Unmarried America is a function of Spectrum Institute, a nonprofit corporation with federal tax exempt status." The intended audience of Unmarried America is basically anyone who is not married. This can included single individuals with or without children, gay couples, straight unmarried couples, single adults who live at home, etc. This website says it is targeted towards a special class of citizens, the unmarried. While I appreciate their attempt to keep the category broad and not to discriminate against anyone (except for married folks), their focus ends up being so broad as to not be of much benefit to anyone. Everyone who isn't married isn't really specific enough to constitute a "special population." The website is run by the Spectrum Institute which they state is a registered nonprofit. They do not provide any further information about their registered nonprofit regarding what its goals are, how they are funded, or what they have accomplished. They hint at advocating for the interests of unmarried individuals, but I found no evidence of any actual research or activities on their part. At its root, Unmarried America appears to be four people with an opinion that re-blog news stories.

A large part of their website appears to be broken for me, many things that looks like they should be links are either plain text or broken. I was able to read through several parts of the site though, and it is interesting. I do believe that the site slightly mispresents itself. They seem to be focused on equal rights for everyone, including things like homosexual marriage, and ending discrimination.

Christine, sounds like a lot of us are having the same issues with a lack of credentials on sites. You have to wonder if at least some of this is perhaps intentional. Sounds like an odd organization to me, and I think your opinion about it "their focus ends up being so broad as to not be of much benefit to anyone" is spot on. Really sounds like a 'what organization can we start that a huge number of people will automatically fall into and likely donate'? Seems completely unnecessary to me. As to the website problems - it's always a prudent idea to check your webmaster's final product (especially if he's not actually your employee) because they could easily put up something minimal and take the money and run. However, I will say that people who choose to not be married could be a different demographic deserving their own group. Just doesn't make sense to have it so broad like you point out. Also very ironic that it appears to only have four members in whatever respect you were referencing. Sounds very sketchy.

The Company That Cares website is an effective website that focuses on making companies socially responsible. The website offers three action programs, AIM High, Invisible Differences, and CareDays all stemmed towards developing children for college, helping those with disabilities gain skills to enter the workforce and address other significant issues throughout society. The not-for-profit company is founded by Marci Koblenz, Founder and President, Sandra Cunningham, Founder, Mary Ellen Gornick, Founder. The website also educates employers about the many issues that may be faced by their employees, especially those living in poverty. This website ties into our involvement in MGT 444 in many ways. The website makes employers aware of the many issues that employees face outside of the workplace which can have a direct impact on an employees work life. I feel that websites such as this one make it easier for employers to implement family friendly policies and be more open to the societal issues many employees face. Those companies involved with Companies That Care will more likely handle employees with conflicts between work and home life in more effective ways and the website is funded by companies that care. The companies that help fund this website have definately made a step at understanding the many issues employees face and will be more likely to deal with these issues in a way that will retain workers in the face of some family based conflicts. The Companies That Care's website provides a code of conduct that has ten characteristics. One of the characteristics is to encourage work/life balance and another characteristic is to enable the well-being of individuals and their families through compensation, benefits, policies and practices. Due to these and other of the ten characteristic codes of conduct I think it is clear that Companies That Care encourages family friendly policies in the workplace and more websites such as this should exist.

From Companies that Care: "Center for Companies That Care is a national, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to enhancing the well-being of employees and communities by educating and inspiring employers to practice employer engagement and integrate the 10 Characteristics of a Socially Responsible Employer into their daily business practices. Our Community of Caring is making a difference in communities and workplaces nationwide through community-building initiatives and education about how to be a company that cares." The intended audiences of Companies that Care are employers and managers. Companies that Care seeks to resolve many of the work, life, time, community, and family balance issues identified in our studies this semester. They identify the 10 Characteristics of Socially Responsible Employers and also have created an Honor Roll to recognize companies that meet their standards of social responsibility. The website openly identifies the corporate connections of their board members and sponsors. This could lead the organization to be biased towards their sponsor when awarding their Honor Roll recognition, but it could also be an indication that these companies value the advocacy of social responsibility in the corporate world.

I feel that the website is biased towards dealings with companies that care. The corporate connections they hold are what I feel demonstrate support by other companies that value the family friendly policies this website endorses. I feel the website is credible by being able to pull the support of other organizations, seemingly those involved in healthcare are the websites main supporters, but the few supporters they have underline the fact that the organization is having it's effects on businesses who hold similar values. I expect this website to grow and obtain more support as they seem very genuine.

Women Employed is a non-profit advocacy organization that is working to improve the conditions of working women, especially in the areas of economic and educational opportunities. Women Employed has fought against pregnancy discrimination and sexual harassment, while supporting better work/family benefits for working women. The website discusses major workplace issues affecting women, provides likes to resources regarding workplace rights, and seeks to be a vehicle for networking between other women. Visitors can also donate to the group and become a member via the website, as well. The intended audience for this site is clearly working women who are struggling in the employment area, whether in terms of compensation or in the area of work/family benefits. Someone who wanted to improve their career options or outlook would benefit from this website. Additionally, those who simply want to know what their rights in the workplace are would also learn some beneficial information. Information on workplace rights and why "work isn't working" is ready available and easily accessible to the general public. The website highlights several facts, including the fact that there are 30 million low-wage workers (defined as workers earning less than $8.70/hr or $16,704 per year). Of those 30 million, 60% are women. According to this site, only a third of workers have paid sick time to take care of their children and over three-fourths of the lowest paid workers have NO paid sick time at all. I find this website pretty credible. They seem to be basing their facts upon government statistics, including those from the Labor Department. Though visitors are asked to donate to the group's efforts, no donation is required to access the information or resources. The website's initiatives are also very positive and very needed ones: promoting equal pay for equal work, promoting work/family balance, strengthening Affirmative Action policies (which include women), and en