TodaysMama Announces Partnership with League of Women Voters and Sittercity.com
July 30, 2007FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MamaVote Initiative
(Salt Lake City, Utah and Washington, D.C.) -- TodaysMama, a leading developer of personal, professional and parenting resources for women and mothers everywhere, today announced strategic partnerships with the League of Women Voters and Sittercity.com to develop the MamaVote initiative.
The MamaVote is a non-partisan initiative designed to bring a positive, proactive voice to political life, featuring voices from across the political spectrum. The initiative will offer insight and perspective from articulate individuals in both major parties, as well as from alternative voices.
"We created the MamaVote to educate and inspire mothers with information and perspective about participation in government -- as voters and as public servants," said Rachael Herrscher, co-founder and CEO of TodaysMama. "I can think of no better partners than the League of Women Voters -- one of the most influential and enduring contributors to our nation's political education and its public policy process -- and Sittercity, the nation's first and largest matchmaking site for parents and sitters."
"We are delighted to participate in the MamaVote initiative," announced the League of Women Voters. "The MamaVote's purposes and activities are closely aligned with the League's core mission of encouraging informed and active participation in government, increasing understanding of major public policy issues, and influencing public policy through education and advocacy."
Visitors to the MamaVote section of the TodaysMama website (http://www.todaysmama.com/mv.html) can tap into a broad array of educational resources about the deeply significant role women and mothers can play in the political process, from the local school board to the federal level. The site contains timely educational articles from TodaysMama, the League of Women Voters and other sources, columns, blogs, polls, debates and interviews from political and thought leaders ranging from local public servants to cultural and entertainment figures, national elected officials and candidates.
The first two MamaVote exclusive interviews were held with Danish film director Eva Mulvad, whose Enemies of Happiness garnered the Best World Documentary award at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival; and Christine Todd Whitman, former Environmental Protection Agency director and New Jersey's first female governor.
The MamaVote site also contains links to voter registration information, current political events and a variety of political sites from across the spectrum.
In the current political environment, U.S. women are significantly under-represented in public office, relative to their share of the population and their level of voting involvement. There are currently 87 women serving in Congress (71 in the House, out of 435 total, or 16.3 percent) and 16 in the Senate (out of 100). Though women provided the majority of votes in both 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, the U.S. ranks 66th in the world in the percentage of women in national parliaments -- trailing such nations as Iraq, Cuba, South Africa and China. In 2004, women voted at a 65 percent rate, compared with 62 percent of men.
Most analysts believe that women constitute the vast majority of swing voters, making election cycles potentially more dynamic and less predictable.
Reliable, free child care provided by Sittercity.com will enable even more women to vote on election-day 2008. TodaysMama and Sittercity.com will provide a list of available cities and locations by October 2008.
"We are honored to partner with TodaysMama and the League of Women Voters to make it easier for women to vote in key U.S. cities by providing them with reliable election-day child care," said Genevieve Thiers, founder and CEO of Sittercity. "The nation and its children will benefit tremendously from having even more mothers involved in the process of electing public servants."
About TodaysMama
TodaysMama (http://www.todaysmama.com) provides personal, professional and parenting resources designed to foster a greater sense of identity, empowerment and connection for women and mothers everywhere. Founded in 2004, TodaysMama produces regional "Mama" resource guides for a growing number of U.S. cities; develops and manages the central TodaysMama Website; and oversees an expanding national franchise and licensing network. Currently, TodaysMama has local franchises or licenses in: Houston; Phoenix; Las Vegas; Santa Cruz; Seattle; Salt Lake City; and Washington, D.C., in addition to its nationally-focused Web presence. The company is currently exploring additional community franchises throughout the U.S.
About the League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, has fought since 1920 to improve our systems of government and impact public policies through citizen education and advocacy. The League's enduring vitality and resonance comes from its unique decentralized structure. The League is a grassroots organization, working at the national, state and local levels. There are Leagues in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Hong Kong, in addition to the hundreds of local Leagues nationwide. The League of Women Voters of the United States and the League of Women Voters Education Fund operate at the national level with grassroots support from state and local Leagues.
About Sittercity.com
Sittercity.com®, the inventor of online caregiving, is the Web's leading parent-sitter matchmaking site for child care and pet care, dedicated to making the process of finding a caregiver fast, easy, safe and fun. With access to hundreds of thousands of sitters nationwide, parents of children or pets can find a wealth of qualified caregivers in their area by using Sittercity's four-step screening process, which includes references, parent-to-parent feedback, personal interviews and background checks. Registration for sitters is free, and parents pay $7.99 per month for an annual membership, which gives them unlimited ability to post jobs, and search, contact and hire sitters in their areas. A true pioneer in its field, Sittercity.com has been featured by hundreds of media outlets, from the Today Show to the Wall Street Journal. It received a Webby Worthy Award in 2005, won the Women's Business Development Center Rising Star Award in 2005 and won the U.S. Small Business Administration Champion Award in 2006 from President Bush. For more information, visit the company Web site at www.sittercity.com.
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