We are passionate about protecting the reproductive and maternal health access of all workers in the U.S.
We envision a future of work that protects reproductive and maternal health for all.
At Gender IDEAL, we started in 2020 focusing on an IDEAL vision of work that is inclusive, diverse, equal in access and leadership for all genders, especially women of color, women of different sexual orientations, gender identities, religions, economic backgrounds and abilities.
When the Dobbs Ruling stripped access to reproductive health services, including abortion, for million of workers in the United States, we shifted our focus to engaging the business community in supporting and protecting the reproductive and maternal health benefits of its workers. We believe that a performance standard defining the reproductive and maternal health benefits businesses should provide to workers and their dependents will inspire companies to meet that standard.
Why Our Work Matters
Fifty percent of Americans get their health insurance through an employer and women comprise 47 percent of the workforce; therefore, reproductive and maternal health is a labor issue. A majority of workers say they would not accept a job in a state that has recently banned abortion. In a post-Roe world where access to a full range of reproductive and maternal health services is now dependent on geography, businesses have an opportunity to differentiate themselves by offering benefits that protect access to reproductive and maternal health services to their workforce.
Today there is no way for a company to demonstrate - with transparency, rigor and accountability - whether it’s meeting a high standard in protecting the reproductive and maternal health of its workforce. Given the importance this issue holds for workers - especially millennial and Gen Z employees - there is an opportunity to create a way for businesses to affirm their commitment to reproductive health with their current and potential workers. Similar approaches like Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, the B Corporation movement and LEED certification for green-building standards have created a race-to-the-top in those sectors. Our approach replicates these successful strategies to create positive change.
Support our work
Gender IDEAL is a 501c3 organization. We have a business model that at scale will be financially sustainable. While we grow, we depend on the support of philanthropists like you who believe that together we can create a future of work that is IDEAL for all gender. Donate below or reach out to talk about larger funding opportunities. Thank you for your support!
Meet the Team
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Flory Wilson
FOUNDER & CEO
Flory has spent 20 years working at the intersection of business, impact and sustainability. She started her career working for the federal government’s development finance bank (DFC) on investment policy. She spent 10 years growing the B Corp movement and working with the nascent impact investing community on impact measurement. She focused her passion on gender, equity and the workplace in 2020 by launching Gender IDEAL. With the fall or Roe v. Wade in 2022, Flory created the Pro Repro Playbook to help companies protect the reproductive health of their workers.
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Emma Russon
LEAD DEVELOPER
Emma began her career in consulting and discovered a passion for designing and building data tools. While pursuing a master's in Data Science, she worked as a freelancer to explore applications of her degree in spaces of music and audio. Since graduating from U.C. Berkeley, she has worked as a Data Scientist in health care consulting and continued freelancing for nonprofits and small businesses.
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Varda He
RESEARCH FELLOW
Varda has worked with both nonprofit organizations and private sector firms based in the US, China, and Ireland on a variety of issues including education and public health; she is highly interested in exploring how the public and private sectors can work together to help advance gender equity. Varda holds a B.S. in Business from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University Bloomington and an M.A. in International Relations from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
Meet our Standards Advisors
This group of powerhouse leaders and subject-matter experts are helping to develop the first reproductive and maternal health standard for U.S. corporations. We thank them for their time and expertise!
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Amy Beacom (she/her)
FOUNDER AND CEO
Center for Parental Leave Leadership
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Jennifer Weiss-Wolf (she/her)
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Birnbaum Center for Women’s Leadership @ NYU Law
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Kanika Harris (she/her)
DIRECTOR OF MATERNAL HEALTH
Black Women’s Health Imperative
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Mia Dell (she/her)
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, ADVOCACY
AFL-CIO
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Morgan Hopkins (she/her)
PRESIDENT
All Above All
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Oriaku Njoku (she/they)
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
National Network of Abortion Funds
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Natalie Silverman (she/her)
COFOUNDER
Fertility Matters @ Work
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Shawnie Hawkins (she/her)
SENIOR DIRECTOR, WORKPLACE EQUALITY PROGRAM
Human Rights Campaign
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Shelley Alpern (she/her)
DIRECTOR, CORPORATE ENGAGEMENT
RHIA Ventures
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Sunita Thakkar Mahtani (she/her)
VICE PRESIDENT, CORPORATE ENGAGEMENT
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Inclusion Statement
At Gender IDEAL, inclusion, diversity, and equity are the core of who we are and what we do. Our commitment to these values fuels our work and inspires us to focus on advancing our mission. We generate better ideas with a range of perspectives; bringing together our unique identities and lived experiences helps to advance the collective progress of women and people of all genders in the workplace.