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sue parks, continued ...Published: September 01, 2010
“She has things set up where women who travel on business can join
established walking groups wherever they travel to,” says her friend
Jordan. “How creative is that?”
What the women in Parks’ local walking group also do is have fun.
“She
is just amazing,” says Judith Rosener, a long-time UC Irvine educator
in gender issues and a major leader in local women’s causes. “Sue has
created this great way to improve your health and also enjoy the
company of other marvelous women.”
In a piece she wrote that
appeared on Parks’ website, Rosener notes: “We’ll find
that our whole day is brighter because of walking. Our bodies will be
happy with the exercise, and we will have become closer to the people
we’re walking with.”
Walking and setting up a Women’s
Philanthropy Fund have a lot in common, as Parks sees it. You establish
goals and then you track to make sure you are staying with those goals.
The right fit was in part because Parks is familiar with economics; she
knows how tough some women have it.
“It takes $68,000 for a
single mother of two to become self-sufficient,” Parks says. “How many
single women with two children have the skills to earn that amount?”
At
the annual breakfast, Parks told the group that the three biggest
problems facing disadvantaged women are transportation, financial
education and work skills to get a higher-paying job. Here’s how
serious the problem is: In a month’s time, United Way gets more than
7,000 calls to its hotline for help – food, shelter, counseling and job
placement. And more than 5,000 of that number come from women. Since it
began in 2002, the Women’s Philanthropy Fund has invested in community
programs that have reached 150,000 women.
Jordan isn’t
surprised at the Women’s Philanthropy Fund’s success: “Sue has
extraordinary focus. And with her business background, Sue is very
comfortable with thinking big. That’s what it takes.”
| sue parks, continued ...Published: September 01, 2010 |
What the women in Parks’ local walking group also do is have fun.
“She is just amazing,” says Judith Rosener, a long-time UC Irvine educator in gender issues and a major leader in local women’s causes. “Sue has created this great way to improve your health and also enjoy the company of other marvelous women.”
In a piece she wrote that appeared on Parks’ website, Rosener notes: “We’ll find that our whole day is brighter because of walking. Our bodies will be happy with the exercise, and we will have become closer to the people we’re walking with.”
Walking and setting up a Women’s Philanthropy Fund have a lot in common, as Parks sees it. You establish goals and then you track to make sure you are staying with those goals. The right fit was in part because Parks is familiar with economics; she knows how tough some women have it.
“It takes $68,000 for a single mother of two to become self-sufficient,” Parks says. “How many single women with two children have the skills to earn that amount?”
At the annual breakfast, Parks told the group that the three biggest problems facing disadvantaged women are transportation, financial education and work skills to get a higher-paying job. Here’s how serious the problem is: In a month’s time, United Way gets more than 7,000 calls to its hotline for help – food, shelter, counseling and job placement. And more than 5,000 of that number come from women. Since it began in 2002, the Women’s Philanthropy Fund has invested in community programs that have reached 150,000 women.
Jordan isn’t surprised at the Women’s Philanthropy Fund’s success: “Sue has extraordinary focus. And with her business background, Sue is very comfortable with thinking big. That’s what it takes.”
