About Women's Leadership Edge
Women’s Leadership Edge is a membership program to take your organization’s commitment to advancing women to the next level. Members receive practical evidence-based tools not only for women, but also for sponsors, mentors, professional development directors, and organizational leaders to enable your organization to effectively retain, support, and advance women from within.The content is designed for a broad audience, and our online member portal means that anyone and everyone in your organization can easily utilize our high-quality programming.
Learn more about our Membership Benefits
An Initiative of The Center for WorkLife Law
The Center for WorkLife Law at UC Hastings College of the Law is a research center that has pioneered cutting-edge research around women and the workplace. For over 15 years, WorkLife Law has done ground-breaking work creating innovative programs for advancing women leaders. Our current initiatives include an executive training program for women law firm partners and in-house counsel, programs and best practices for advancing women leaders, case studies on major law firm rainmakers and new models of legal practice, research on how experiences of gender bias differ by race, and an innovative working group on pregnancy accommodation.
We work with a variety of stakeholders, reflecting WorkLife Law’s core belief that many different parties must play a role in order to achieve significant social and organizational change around work-life issues. WorkLife Law works with employers to identify and prevent discriminatory practices, assists employees who may be experiencing pregnancy discrimination or caregiver discrimination at work, operates a Family Responsibilities Discrimination Hotline for both employers and employees, and provides technical guidance to state and federal policymakers who seek to develop public policies to prevent caregiver discrimination.
Learn More About WorkLife LawAbout Joan C. Williams
Professor Joan C. Williams has played a central role in reshaping the conversation about women and work over the past quarter-century. According to The New York Times Magazine, Professor Williams has “something approaching rock star status.” She is a Distinguished Law Professor and Founding Director of the Center for WorkLife Law at University of California, Hastings. She has authored eight books and over 90 academic articles and book chapters, including “Deconstructing Gender” (1996), one of the most cited law review articles ever written. Her latest book, What Works for Women at Work: Four Patterns Working Women Need to Know (2014) offers savvy advice to help women navigate office politics and thrive in high-powered careers.
Williams was awarded the American Bar Foundation’s Outstanding Scholar Award (2012), the Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award (2012), the ABA’s Margaret Brent Award for Women Lawyers of Achievement (2006), and the Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award for Unbending Gender: Why Family and Work Conflict and What to Do About It (Oxford University Press, 2000).
Meet our Team
Director of Women's Leadership
Jamie Dolkas is the Center for WorkLife Law’s Director of Women’s Leadership. Prior to joining WorkLife Law, Jamie was a Staff Attorney at Equal Rights Advocates (ERA), a national civil rights organization dedicated to advancing gender equality in education and employment, where her practice focused on sex discrimination litigation, best practices training, and legislative advocacy. Jamie co-founded the Bay Area Equal Pay Collaborative, a coalition that educates workers, students, and employers about equal pay laws, salary negotiation strategies, and best practices. Jamie has written on various matters relevant to working women. She co-authored Expecting A Baby, Not A Lay-Off: Why Federal Law Should Require the Reasonable Accommodation of Pregnant Workers (ERA, May 2012) and Family Responsibilities Discrimination: The Interplay of Title VII, FMLA, & ADA (NELA 2010). Jamie also contributed a chapter in the anthology, The Opt Out Revolution Revisited (Center for WorkLife Law 2012), which she co-authored with Joan Williams. Jamie is an alumni of the Women’s Policy Institute, a year-long legislative advocacy training program for women leaders; she graduated with highest honors from the University of California, Berkeley, and cum laude from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.Development Associate
Chelsey Crowley is the Development Associate at the Center for WorkLife Law, where she is in her second year as coordinator of the Hastings Leadership Academy for Women. Prior to joining WorkLife Law, Chelsey worked at the Center for the Study of Women at UCLA, an internationally recognized center for research on gender, sexuality, and women's issues, where she contributed to research and publications. She also interned at Home Street People’s Ministry in Salt River, South Africa, a small grassroots organization focused on community youth and issues of hunger and poverty. A student of international human rights, Chelsey graduated Phi Theta Kappa from Chaffey College and magna cum laude from UCLA, with high honors and distinction.
