Kent Dems Women's Caucus

Happy Memorial Day from the Kent Dems Women’s Caucus 🇺🇲

⚠️ Have you seen the news reports on the cases against Uber recently for harassment and abuse of women riders? ⚠️

RAINN has compiled a helpful guide for staying safe while using Uber or Lyft, attached below. Remaining vigilant, trusting your instincts, and prioritizing your safety and wellbeing is crucial.

https://rainn.org/strategies-to-reduce-risk-increase-safety/tips-for-safer-ridesharing/

"Caregiving pressures top factor pushing women out of the workforce, Catalyst finds"

"More than 455,000 women left the US workforce between January and August of 2025, and new research from Catalyst, the global nonprofit accelerating organizational performance and women's progress, reveals the most common reasons for their exits. In a national survey of women who left the workforce over the past year, 42% of those who voluntarily exited reported caregiving responsibilities, including the cost of childcare, as the strongest factor behind their decision to leave...

These findings indicate that structural conditions — such as inflexible working hours, lack of affordable childcare options, and low pay — are driving women’s workforce participation decisions. For many women, who assume the majority of childcare responsibilities, the decision to leave work is fueled by the reality of trying to manage caregiving demands in rigid jobs that were not designed for parents and caregivers."

Join us today: send us a message to get started.

https://www.catalyst.org/about/newsroom/2026/caregiving-pressures-women-workforce

We are proud to be part of the party fighting fiercely for change and justice in the wake of the rampant mass shooting crises in this country.

We invite you to join the Kent County Democratic Party today; it's simpler than you might think. Visit kentdems.com/join to get started.

Four years ago today, 19 children and 2 teachers were killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. We hold their families and their community in our hearts, and we remember each of them.

Remembrance alone isn't enough, we owe these children action. This year, National Gun Violence Awareness Day is Friday, June 5, kicking off Wear Orange Weekend, June 6–7. Join and in wearing orange, show up for your community, and stand with us in the fight for sensible gun reform.

Consider supporting the Uvalde families through and livesrobbed.org. Sending love to Uvalde from Dallas.

"Gender equality is the principle that everyone—regardless of gender—is entitled to equal treatment under the law, equal rights, and equal opportunities to contribute to and benefit from their societies.

The 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) established that women’s rights are human rights. Under the treaty, countries must extend the same civil rights and legal status to women as they do to any other person. CEDAW also outlines reproductive rights for women and asserts that cultural traditions cannot justify gender-based discrimination. As of 2025, 189 countries had ratified CEDAW.

Progress toward equality is critical for the personal success, overall well-being, and freedom of women and girls. But gender equality helps everyone else, too. Experts have documented that gender equality comes with significant social and economic benefits."

Read the below CFR article for more, if interested:

https://education.cfr.org/learn/reading/gender-inequality-explained

Interesting findings on climate change and women’s empowerment from this recently published study:

"A series of advanced estimation techniques provide consistent evidence of a positive link between women’s empowerment and climate outcomes.

Specifically, a 1% rise in women’s labour force share is associated with up to a 0.11% reduction in climate vulnerability, while enhancing resilience by 0.08–0.35%. Improvement in the “Women, Business and the Law” indicator reduces vulnerability by up to 0.17% and increases readiness by 0.05 to 0.2 %.

Notably, women’s political empowerment is found to have the strongest effect, decreasing vulnerability by 0.02–0.2% and boosting readiness by up to 41% across specifications."

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-026-07440-4

Have you been wondering a little more about Kent Dems Women’s Caucus Chair Elise Kolenda?

Elise’s passion for women’s issues began in 2012 at Grand Rapids Community College, where she was active in progressive student organizations including Women’s Issues Now and GRCC College Democrats.

Raised by a widowed mother in a large West Michigan Catholic family with many strong women — including six aunts — Elise developed an early appreciation for the realities, challenges, and contributions of women in everyday American life. Much of her family traces its roots to German and Dutch ancestors who settled in West Michigan generations ago. She is also especially proud of her Polish surname, Kolenda, which comes from her late father and roughly translates to “Christmas carols.”

She later studied political science and economics at Western Michigan University, graduating in 2018. She chose to study economics to increase the representation of women in the highly gender unequal field. During that time, she became involved with the Kalamazoo County Democratic Party, WMU College Democrats, and organizing efforts supporting Gretchen Whitmer’s gubernatorial campaign.

Following graduation, Elise volunteered for Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign through phonebanking and voter outreach before later working for several years at a Catholic church in the greater Grand Rapids area.

Today, Elise is especially interested in the intersection of economics and women’s issues, with plans to pursue graduate research focused on Michigan women’s experiences in the labor market and the economic barriers they face.

Outside of politics and academics, she especially enjoys cooking and supports her local community by teaching members how to prepare healthy vegetarian and vegan cuisine.

Elise considers herself committed to service, community engagement, and the mission of the Democratic Party — values that have guided her involvement in Democratic politics and advocacy work for more than a decade. She is grateful for the opportunity to serve as Chair of the Kent Dems Women’s Caucus and looks forward to continuing the caucus’s work supporting women across Kent County.

'We Need More Politicians Like Gretchen Whitmer' Three times in the past year, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer trekked to Washington, D.C., to meet in person with President Trump to advocate for Michigan.

Interested in hearing from Democratic candidates who will appear on the August 4 primary election ballot for many voters in the Grand Rapids/greater Grand Rapids area?

Our June 3 meeting at 6pm at Kent Dems HQ is the place to be!

State Senate candidates of District 29 and the State House candidate of District 90 will be speaking to us about their campaigns. We invite you to join us!

The Kent Dems Women’s Caucus maintains its strict no-endorsement policy, and none of these candidates are endorsed by the Caucus.

"One of the most consequential civil rights reversals'

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, s*x, and national origin and established the EEOC to enforce these new laws. But the new federal agency lacked concrete data to identify patterns of job discrimination and segregation based on race, ethnicity and s*x. So the EEOC used its power under the Civil Rights Act to mandate that companies with 100 or more employees and federal contractors with 50 or more employees fill out standardized reports with concrete demographic data...

Chai Feldblum, a former EEOC commissioner, argued the absence of EEO-1 data will weaken the federal government’s ability to enforce antidiscrimination laws."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2026/05/20/trump-eeoc-to-eliminate-job-discrimination-data/90145345007/