On December 4, 2011, the Livingroom Conversations Website went live and I co-hosted a demonstration Living Room Conversation gathering with my conservative partner Amanda Kathyrn Roman. I'm still feeling the glow. I expanded my understanding of where we might find common ground across party lines around reducing the...

Did you know that this year the federal government promoted a week dedicated to telework?
The intent was to encourage government agencies to overcome obstacles and discover the advantages of virtual work. General Services Administration administrator Martha Johnson explained, "Telework is revolutionizing the way government works, helping us...

I work from home. So do all the people who work with MomsRising.org and MoveOn.org, the two organizations I co-founded. It works great for us and has for years, and so, when I read that the number of U.S. telecommuters dipped to 8.7 million in 2009...

I just got back from a Dr. Pepper plant in Texas where managers told me about people laughing at work a lot more since they began the transition to becoming a High Performance Work Place (HPWP). As a person who has been writing a book about work practices that...

This year I have yearned for a Democratic primary race in California. Somehow in our great state, up until last week, all we were able to field in our governor's race was one Democrat. He's a fine Democrat. Heck, he was my Governor when I was a kid over 3...

Compromise is a dirty word when it means that we fail to meet basic needs ... when it means that our country's future is compromised. U.S. citizens and businesses cannot afford a compromise on health care that is politically feasible but does not both reduce health care costs and provide...

Did you know that Kraft Macaroni and Cheese is formulated differently for countries in Europe than for the U.S.? I didn't either until I read The Unhealthy Truth, a book about the toxicity of America's food supply.

The fact is, that in 2008, Kraft removed artificial...

Baby products throughout the United States are saturated with toxic flame retardants, and it is going to stay that way if the bromine industry has its way. Parents would be outraged if they were aware. Because of an antiquated California flammability standard, California Technical Bulleting 117 (TB117), the foam in...

Sunday is Mother's Day! At MomsRising.org this week is a bit like the week before Christmas in the retail world. Once a year Mothers are front page news and MomsRising.org does our best to call attention to the peaceful revolution we are working to spark--a revolution that creates...

Yesterday the Washington Post fed the insecurities of American workers with the headline, "As Cuts Loom, Will Working From Home Lead to a Layoff?" My response "Only if we are committed to a work model inspired by the 1950s and 'working stupid' by rigidly adhering to old work models that...

MomsRising named this column A Peaceful Revolution because it is about envisioning and embracing culture change that enables parents to excel at home and at work. Win-win solutions are more accessible than most of us realize. This weekend the New York Times highlighted such an opportunity that far too...

(or A Long Term Solution for Our Auto Industry)

There is a reason that the U.S. auto companies are bankrupt and it is not just that we are having an economic downturn. That has merely accelerated the crisis. Last week we the taxpayers gave the automakers a one month reprieve...

This weekend MomsRising.org hosted a remarkable conversation. I do confess that I was deeply anxious about gathering a multi-dimensionally diverse group for conversation about the women's movement of the 21st century at the Omega Institute. Having national organizers, local organizers, child care experts, environmentalists, bloggers, social entrepreneurs, an age range...

I was on Jet Blue yesterday and had the time to watch the news -- CNN, ABC, FOX and I can only begin to tell you how much the news folks were nattering about Rev. Jackson's remark about Sen Obama -- talking in shocked or righteous tones about what was...

Written by Mary Olivella, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, and Joan Blades

Every once in a while a word or phrase is introduced into the lexicon that sheds light on a widespread practice which hasn't yet entered the national consciousness. These phrases take hold because we need them.

A few days ago,...

"You've got to be kidding me!" was the first thing we thought after hearing on Tuesday that Nancy Nord, the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), doesn't support legislation to greatly increase resources for her agency to stop toxic products from reaching children. Right now there is only...

Yesterday I stood with MomsRising.org, MOMS (Make Our Milk Safe) and Friends of the Earth members babies and small children holding signs to rally for AB 706 in front of Don Perata's Oakland office. We sang about brominated and chlorinated chemicals to the tune of Frère Jacques in front...

This new blog is about consciousness raising and culture change. Very few Americans realize that there is deep bias against mothers in this country and that we are undermining family's ability to care for children. I began to understand this a few years ago when I learned that equal...

Next Monday AB 706, a precedent-setting bill which bans two classes of toxic fire retardants used in our furniture is scheduled to be heard in the California Senate Business and Professions Committee. Advocates for the bill fear it could be killed because the sale of these chemicals to is hugely...