New UC Law Center to Fight Inequality Alongside WorkLife Law
Twenty-five years after co-founding a center that has advanced the rights of millions of workers and students, Sullivan Professor Joan C. Williams is launching a new center to expand on and grow off the work of the still vibrant .
Joan Williams, founding director of the Center for WorkLife Law, is launching the new Equality Action Center at UC Law SF this summer.
Starting this summer, Williams will lead the new (EAC) at UC Law SF, which will carry on WorkLife Law鈥檚 leadership and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs while starting a new venture to help heal the nation鈥檚 growing class divide.
鈥淚鈥檝e focused on many legal areas over my long career as a professor,鈥 Williams said. 鈥淭his is breaking off one area of work that will focus on leadership programs, DEI initiatives, and bridging the diploma divide in American politics.鈥
Known as a global thought leader and 鈥渞ock star鈥 in the field of workplace bias and diversity, Williams has helped steer WorkLife Law鈥檚 efforts over the last quarter century to expand legal protections for mothers, family caregivers, and pregnant and breastfeeding workers.
Among its many successes, the center has produced research to expose gender and racial bias in various job sectors, pioneered the use of Title IX to protect pregnant and parenting students, and changed the cultural narrative from one of mothers cheerfully 鈥渙pting out鈥 to one of mothers pushed out by hostile workplaces鈥攁ll while keeping issues of race, class and gender at the forefront.
WorkLife Law’s Deputy Director Liz Morris and Senior Staff Attorney Jessica Lee will become co-directors of the center starting this summer.
Williams didn鈥檛 achieve these outcomes alone. By her side for almost the last decade were WorkLife Law鈥檚 Deputy Director Liz Morris and Senior Staff Attorney , both of whom were instrumental in passing and implementing two new federal laws that protect pregnant and breastfeeding workers: The and .
Lee and Morris will assume new roles as co-directors of WorkLife Law this summer. Together, they plan to carry on the center鈥檚 efforts to fight discrimination in jobs and education through research, advocacy, grassroots partnerships, and direct assistance to students and workers.
Some of their recent projects include operating the nation鈥檚 first and only for pregnant and parenting students, building legal rights for pregnant farmworkers through the initiative, and working to ensure employees and students are not penalized for their reproductive health choices.
鈥淲e want to build a country where people don鈥檛 have to sacrifice their family or their health to earn a degree or continue working and keep a roof over their heads,鈥 Lee said.
WorkLife Law Senior Vice President Jamie Dolkas will join Williams at EAC, bringing the center’s successful leadership programs with her.
Williams said much of the center鈥檚 success stems from its interdisciplinary approach, using social science research to document gender and racial bias in the workplace. That research provided the foundation for successful programs, including , which has helped dozens of companies improve worker diversity and performance through evidence-based interventions.
The new EAC will continue to run the program. It will also carry on the highly acclaimed , an executive education course that supports the success of women law firm partners and in-house counsel. Additionally, EAC will keep running , a corporate membership program that offers various programs to help women, people of color, and first-generation professionals excel in the workplace.
The EAC is also launching a new initiative called , which aims to 鈥渇ix the broken relationship between college and noncollege voters.鈥 It will provide roadmaps for reframing divisive issues and offer guidance on how to build cross-class support for tackling issues such as income inequality and climate change.
WorkLife Law Research Director Rachel Korn will join Williams and Dolkas at the EAC starting this summer.
鈥淎 lot of the ways that progressives talk hand a loaded gun to people who promote far-right policies, and I鈥檓 trying to explain how they can be more effective at building interracial cross-class coalitions,鈥 Williams said.
WorkLife Law鈥檚 Senior Vice President Jamie Dolkas and Research Director will join Williams at EAC. Dolkas has been spearheading the work of Bias Interrupters and leadership programs in recent years. Korn has researched the impacts of gender and racial bias in workplaces and helped develop effective strategies to address those problems.
As she embarks on a new chapter in her career, Williams said she feels heartened to know that two organizations with track records of success and high-quality talent will move the world closer to a place where race, gender, and class inequality no longer exist.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 believe how lucky I am to have two amazing leaders in Liz Morris and Jessica Lee to continue carrying on this work that has really shaped and defined my life,鈥 Williams said. 鈥淎nd to be continuing to work with people like Jamie Dolkas and Rachel Korn–they are really making a huge difference in people鈥檚 daily lives.鈥