REACH Women's Network hires first executive director as next growth step

Winston-Salem Journal
By Richard Craver    November 22, 2024

REACH Women’s Network, a local nonprofit with the mission of advancing economic development and promoting gender equity, has experienced remarkable success in expanding its reach in the Triad.

 

An acronym for Recognize, Encourage, Advance, Connect Her, REACH was founded in 2018 to support local working women and draw attention to issues of gender equity in the workplace.

 

The nonprofit based at Salem Academy and College has 274 members, representing a diverse range of ages, ethnicities and professions, with year-round programming impacting thousands of working women.

 

The growth has led REACH organizers to hire in October Megan Hoyt as its first executive director.

 

Hoyt, who holds a bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University and a master’s degree in social work from UNC Chapel Hill, has more than a decade of experience in nonprofits, fundraising and career development.

 

Julia Townsend, REACH founder and co-president, said: “REACH has accomplished a great deal as a volunteer-led organization with only one part-time coordinator and a strong board of directors, advisers and membership.”

 

“Now we are ready to take our momentum to the next level with the leadership of a dedicated executive director.

 

“In Megan, we saw the perfect skill set and enthusiasm for carrying on and expanding our work in helping REACH members strengthen their skills, connections, and impact in their individual workplaces.”

Among REACH’s initiatives are: an annual spring conference; a leadership and mentoring program that pairs REACH women mentors with Salem College students; the Pink Couch panel discussion series; and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging training.

 

More information about REACH can be found at www.reachwomensnetwork.org.

 

Hoyt took time recently to discuss her new position and goals for REACH. An edited version follows:

Q. What has intrigued you about REACH, and how will you bring your personal and professional experiences into your new job?

A. REACH has been built by the incredible work of volunteers and one dedicated program coordinator for the past five years. I have been moved by the warmth of our members, boards of directors and advisers. They are successful leaders of industry and passionate advocates for their communities. Their strategic vision made me curious about this role and their powerful leadership excites me for the possibilities ahead.

I am standing on the shoulders of these dedicated women who have been committed to strengthening each other and our community. I have built my career across a range of nonprofits, working in both large and grassroot organizations. I created professional development programming as a career coach for Wake Forest University alumni. I am proud of my education as a macro social worker because of the profession’s commitment to social justice.

I am grateful for the ways that each of these experiences has prepared me to lead this organization.

Q. How can REACH expand its overall reach in the Triad, encompassing each of the acronyms, and how it can differentiate itself from other women’s workforce advocacy and development groups?

A. There are many women’s organizations across the Triad doing meaningful work to fulfill the social, professional and philanthropic needs for women in our area.

REACH is uniquely focused on advancing economic development and promoting gender equity. To support the career development of our members, we offer one-on-one networking opportunities through our Conversation Partners program, customized mentoring curriculum through our Women Mentoring Women workshops, and personal boards of directors through our REACH Groups in partnership with the WFU Center for Private Business.

Our mission extends into our community through our Community Survey of Women in the Workplace, our Pink Couch Panel Series, our Winston Welcomes Women program in partnership with Greater Winston-Salem Inc., and our annual REACH Women’s Conference.

Q. What do you perceive as the top challenges Triad women face in advancing in the workforce?

A. Across industries, sectors, and job functions, women face challenges to advancing in the workforce.

While every person’s situation is unique, research from national studies and our Community Survey of Women in the Workforce indicate three common themes that contribute to these challenges: compensation that values their contributions; opportunities for advancement; and workplace cultures where gender bias or stereotypes are unchecked.

Pay equity and fair compensation are important for women. From our research, only about half of respondents indicated satisfaction with their salary or hourly wage, with BIPOC women reporting lower satisfaction than white women, and women earning less than $50,000 reporting lower satisfaction than women earning more than $50,000.

Advancement opportunities, pace of career advancement, and advancement policies are all areas where women indicate challenges. National data highlights the “broken rung” explaining how women miss vital opportunities for advancement beginning with the first promotion to manager.

Finally, gender bias, stereotypes and discrimination still impact women’s ability to advance. Biases about women’s ability to lead, ageism and intersecting identities of race, gender and disability, all negatively impact women in the workforce today.

Q. What incentives or changes are needed to keep them in the workforce?

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A. Women have been clear about what they need to feel equipped and valued in the workplace: comprehensive policies and benefits that support families; flexible work arrangements; and inclusive workplace cultures that encourage growth.

Policies and benefits that support families could include paid time off, paid parental leave, access to mental health services, fertility benefits and on-site or subsidized childcare. Respondents to our survey indicated that a lack of access to childcare was the No. 1 reason why they felt they didn’t advance in the workforce.

Working parents need safe, reliable, affordable childcare. Without it, families are forced to make difficult choices about work that might limit their options. 77% of respondents indicated that flexible work arrangements were very important or absolutely essential and were preferable to a reduced number of hours.

Women want to work; they just need flexibility about when. Finally, workplace cultures that encourage growth provide leadership development opportunities, mentoring and sponsorship, support for career re-entry and strong networking opportunities.

Q. How has the 2023 survey results been implemented by REACH and what are some of the results/response so far?

A. The survey is an initiative focused on providing employers with actionable information to support women in the workplace, with an aim toward positioning Winston-Salem as a city where working women thrive.

The survey was conducted in the fall of 2022 and top-line results were unveiled at the REACH Women’s Conference in April 2023. More than 300 conference attendees contributed to supplemental qualitative research about what employers could do to improve workplace culture for women and reduce stress in the workplace.

The survey report has been published on our website, available as a printed executive summary, and shared with local employers ever since.

Employers use the results as a resource for benchmarking their own best practices. We are proud of the number of area employers who support women in their organizations to become members of REACH as part of their professional development. We are actively seeking grant opportunities and funding partners to launch another CSWW in the coming year, to measure progress towards this initial benchmark survey.

Q. What do you envision REACH’s role being in 5-10 years?

A. When I was earning my graduate degree, I once heard a social worker ask a powerful question, “How are you going to work yourself out of a job?”

This approach to work seems counterintuitive. But as I’ve worked in nonprofits that seek to solve complex challenges, the question has remained with me.

In my role at REACH, it challenges me to ask, “What would it mean for Black, Latinx, Asian and white women to achieve pay equity in the workplace? How would our society be different if we chose women to lead companies and organizations with the same confidence as their male counterparts? What difference would it make for our economy? For working families?”

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Those questions emphasize the long view, of course; the work of REACH will still be crucially necessary over the next decade. REACH is committed to elevating the collective voice and influence of women in the workplace. Our Pink Couch Panel Series is a bellwether for important community conversations.

Our research captures real-time insights about the state of women in the workplace and provides actionable information to employers. Our emergent childcare advocacy work brings together partners doing meaningful work for families and our economy.

Over the next five to 10 years, I envision an organization committed to our mission with expanded capacity to make meaningful change for women in our community and across our state.

rcraver@wsjournal.com 336-727-7376 @rcraverWSJ

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This article is shared with permission from Lee Enterprises, the parent company of the Winston-Salem Journal.