Kristin Maschka

Equal Pay Day and Tax Day both fall on April 17 this year due to a simple calendar coincidence. But the connection between the two and the financial impact for women -- especially mothers -- is no coincidence.

April 17, 2012 is the day that symbolizes how...

Today's mothers and fathers have an uphill battle. Here we are struggling to share parenting and employment in a world that still expects us to be in traditional family roles, and a government institution comes along to tell us that when dad takes care of the kids it's "babysitting", but...

Our family makes its way through an annual New Year's resolution process that serves us pretty well.

2010 was different.

Our family is dealing with

1. Don't choose what to do. (Choose what NOT to do -- quickly.)

My career has been propelled most by the times I started down a path, realized it was not a good fit and quickly chose NOT to...

Every October, National Work and Family Month gives me flashbacks.

When I became pregnant, I was a manager at a high-tech company. I worked at least fifty hours a week and, thanks to a recent merger, my position would now include...

Recently, one of my clients said to me in frustration, "My team and I are so busy with our work that it drives me crazy to have to deal with all these internal political issues that waste my time."

A tweet from the Unversity of Chicago Urban Education Institute last week pointed me to this Washington Post article, Study: Single-Sex Education May Do More Harm Than Good.

I have always been opposed to single-sex schools myself, even...

Last Monday morning I found myself stuck to the chair in my kitchen. I just couldn't seem to make myself move from the kitchen to my home office to get started on the various projects of the day. So I tweeted my malaise to the Twitterverse.

"I.am.procrastinating."

Though I'm not sure I welcome the picture of myself as a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich oozing Velveeta cheese, I appreciate Career Diva's post "Working Women are like Philly Cheesesteaks" on the sandwich generation and it's impact on women's careers in...

Last week I read a few new articles on work-life balance that brought to mind a mantra I have about organizational change.

In the battle between well-intentioned policies and the unwritten rules of any workplace, unwritten rules win every time.

From the Sloan...

Our daughter headed to middle school this year, and as a former Director of Technology for a K-12 school, I felt like I should have a grand plan for teaching her what she needs to know about computers, the...

When my husband and I read The Wizard of Oz to our daughter several years ago, we discovered that L. Frank Baum wrote a sequel, The Marvelous Land of Oz, in 1904 and it was included in the old book we were using so we read that to her...

Fast Company magazine published online an article on education reform How to Spend $100 Million to Really Save Education. An article I appreciate because it challenges the popular narrative around public education now such as "charter schools and strong MBA style leaders" are THE answer.

That same week...

Recently I led a chapter meeting for our local Mothers & More chapter on "The 6 Biggest Money Mistakes Mothers Make." Here are the "mistakes" I discussed with the moms:

1. Making "To Work or Not To Work" Decisions Based Solely on Short-Term Family...

I noticed that a number of people find my blog because they are searching for information on dealing with a gap in their resume due to time out of the workforce to care for family. They land on this post, "How to Explain Gap in Resume: Caring for Family...

What an amazing way to celebrate my 10th Mother's Day! Watching my own story on the big screen! Whew, I'm glad I already have the evening gown I'll need for the premiere. I bought it for the day my...

When our daughter was born, my husband had just started his second year at a law firm and I had just been laid off from a part-time job. We sat down together to decide whether I should look for a new job or not. The question we asked ourselves was,...

Before our daughter was born, I had a pretty full life. If I think of my identity as a pie, the pan was completely full. I had healthy slices of Wife, Employee, and Me—my personal interests, my relationships, and my health. I figured the same would be true when I...

Over breakfast yesterday, and again today, I read in the LA Times about Caster Semenya, the South African runner accused of being a man, Runner Caster Semenya has heard the gender comments all her life. And even in the midst of our family morning rush, I have to...

Last year, at the California Governor's Conference on Women, Maria Shriver sat on stage chatting with the Dalai Lama. As she talked, he paused, squinted, then pulled a baseball cap out from his robes and placed it squarely on his head. The stage lights were in his eyes.