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Region 10 Women's Bureau and the Twiga Foundation Conduct Flex-Option Report
The U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau Region X and the Twiga Foundation, Inc. of Boise, Idaho have released a new report based on interviews conducted this summer with Region X employers entitled:"Workplace Flexibility - Best Practices and Lessons Learned." Businesses, organizations or agencies located in the Pacific Northwest that had previously implemented flex-options arrangement in their workplace, or had won the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility, or had previously attended Region X Flex-Option events were invited to participate in this project. Although the findings from our report are slightly lower than the results obtained from a national study of 400 employers conducted by the Families and Work Institute earlier this year (94% of their employers are either maintaining their workplace flexibility or increasing it during the recession), a majority of our respondents reported that they are maintaining or expanding their flex-option arrangements in order to find a balance between a declining global and U.S. economy and the needs of their organizations' performance, as well as the needs and concerns of their employees and families.
Employee equity was the number one concern of Region X employers who participated in our report. With increased budget constraints, employers are struggling with removing concepts of favoritism while still maintaining their workforce scheduling and work assignments and providing flexible work environments. Scheduling assignments, particularly for workers who work traditional work hours or are on call 24-7, present the most challenges to supervisors and management. |
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| Twiga Foundation |
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816 W Bannock St.
Boise, Idaho 83702
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BLOCK Fest™ and Twiga Foundation 
BLOCK Fest™ is an early math and science experience designed to help parents appreciate the wealth of opportunities for learning that happens when they engage their children in block play. Through a one-hour guided event, parents learn ways to actively introduce math concepts and vocabulary as they explore blocks with their eager young children. The colorful, research-based exhibit is licensed exclusively by the Twiga Foundation from its developer, the University of Idaho. BLOCK Fest™ enjoyed great success in programs and communities throughout Idaho since its introduction in 2006. In 2008, BLOCK Fest™ was introduced to programs in North Carolina, Texas, Indiana and Washington. Now, the Twiga Foundation is continuing the important work of sharing the message of early math with early childhood professionals and parents nationwide through the work of BLOCK Fest™.
For more information visit www.blockfest.org. |
Twiga Foundation and Cascade Raft Brave the Rapids For Dress for Success!
 This year was the 9th Annual Wild and Wacky Women's Whitewater Adventure. For the past 9 years, the Twiga Foundation and Cascade Raft and Kayak have partnered together to raise money for Dress for Success.
Dress for Success (DFS) is a non-profit organization. DFS began in the Boise Valley in 1999 and is dedicated to helping women break free of the cycle of poverty and government assistance by providing them with appropriate interview attire and coaching them in basic interview etiquette.
This year's Wild and Wacky Women's White Water Adventure was another great success raising over $3,000.00 for Dress for Success thanks to the partnership of the Twiga Foundation and Cascade Raft & Kayak.
Join us next year on Friday August 20th for the 10th Annual Wild and Wacky Women's
Whitewater Adventure! |
Early Learning Business Summit 
The Twiga Foundation is pleased to partner with the Idaho Association for Education of Young Children (IdahoAEYC), Idaho Business Coalition for Education Excellence (IBCEE), United Way, and Idaho Voices for Children to present the Business Summit on Early Learning on November 19 in Boise at the BSU Stueckle Sky Center. We invite you to join with other Idaho business leaders at the summit as local and national leaders share information about how businesses benefit when they invest in early learning. If you have questions, feel free to contact IAEYC at www.idahoaeyc.org or the Twiga Office www.info@twigafoundation.org.
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The Family and Workplace Consortium Passes on a Gift to Twiga Foundation
More than 20 years ago a small group of dedicated parents, human resource professionals and child advocates came together to form the Family and Workplace Consortium in Idaho to encourage quality early childhood education and to give a voice to the emerging field of work-life. For 10 years the FWC sponsored an Executive Breakfast each year in March and brought to Idaho leading business executives who discussed the merits of making work work for both the employer and employee.
A few months ago many of the original volunteers and supporters of this effort came together at an informal luncheon and presented the Twiga Foundation with the balance of the FWC funding which has been invested during the last 10 years. They presented over $11,500 to the Twiga Foundation to continue the efforts of the FWC through Twiga's mission of promoting family consciousness at home, in the workplace and in the community. Twiga would like to graciously thank everyone who supported the Family and Workplace Consortium and promises to continue their commitment to address the challenges of finding work-life options for all working families. |
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States as Employers-of-Choice Project Presents to Strategic Thought Leaders in Washington D.C.
The Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College invited the Twiga Foundation's States as Employers-of-Choice (SAEC) project to participate in a one day "Discussion for Thought Leaders" at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington D.C. as part of the Sloan Center on Aging & Work Strategies Council's annual update and planning meeting. The Sloan Center on Aging & Work has been a partner with the Twiga Foundation on the SAEC project and chose to highlight this project at the Annual Meeting of the Strategies Council as background for a discussion on future projects with state governments.
Twiga Foundation's Director, Patricia Kempthorne, and SAEC Project Manager, Bob Davis, presented a summary of the project activities. During the past year Patricia and Bob have conducted ten state visits, presenting the individual state's survey results and discussing with states how workplace flexibility can help them compete with the private sector in recruitment and better retention of trained and skilled workers. Human Resource managers from four states were invited to Washington D.C. to report their State's flexibility practices in the workplace and strategies for dealing with an aging public sector workforce. Presenters included:
· Karen Hutchins, Director of Personnel, State of New Hampshire
· Ross Tripp, OPM Workforce Planning Manager, Oklahoma
· Carolyn Write, Work/Life Programs Manager, State of Arizona
· Holly Grandy-Miller, Director of Organizational Development, State of Michigan
The Sloan Center on Aging & Work Director Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, PhD, and Michelle Wong, JD, MSW, Research Associate, presented the research highlights from the 2008 States as Employers-of-Choice state survey, which compared employee demographics in the private sector to the public sector. The survey was conducted as part of the SAEC project that focused on demographics of State governments to determine if strategies are in place or need to be developed to prepare for the retirement of baby boomers. The results showed the public sector workforce has 11.3% more of the workforce eligibility for retirement in the next ten years when compared to private sector.
Also attending the meeting were representatives from numerous groups, including Partners for Public Service, CLASP, National Conference of State Legislatures, Women in Government, National Council on Independent Living, National Older Workers Career Center, Empire State University Center for Labor Studies, and WorldatWork. Representatives from the offices of Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho and Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, who are co-chairmen of the bi-partisan Workplace Flexibility Senate Study Group, also, attended the session. | |
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About Us
The Twiga Foundation, Inc., founded in 2005, is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to inspiring, promoting and maintaining family-consciousness at home, in the workplace and in the community.
Family-consciousness begins with an awareness that family is at the heart of our society. More proactive than reactive, this awareness helps us understand that we can maximize our lives and find life in our work when we are conscious of our families - including care giving, individual and family health, community health and safety, education, transportation, environmental concerns, housing, career development and mobility and many other areas that intersect our lives.
Twiga is dedicated to being a voice for family consciousness to strengthen each individual's commitment to themselves, their family and their community. As we focus on the workplace we find workplace flexibility to be a key component in addressing the mismatch between the workplace and family needs. Our efforts are centered around bringing to light an understanding of workplace flexibility as a good business strategy that, additionally, helps to insure a strong workforce for the future through healthy families and communities.
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