FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

MEDIA CONTACT:
Ian Quartin
iquartin@cleoinstitute.org
305-573-5251

The CLEO Institute and its Board of Directors are proud to announce that, as of March 1st, 2023, we will offer a new comprehensive and inclusive parental leave policy. We will now provide a total of 18 weeks of paid leave for primary caretakers, following a birth or adoption, and 4 weeks of paid parental leave for non primary caretakers. This policy is part of CLEO’s commitment to climate and gender justice, while creating a workplace that values equality, well being, and work-life balance. 

The United States is the only industrialized country—and one of only four in the world—to offer no paid parental leave (to anyone – men or women). Today, only 12% of U.S. employees get paid leave through their employers. Lack of paid parental leave for new mothers also helps perpetuate the gender pay gap, since one of the reasons women earn less than men is because they take time off – sometimes much more than six months – to care for a young child. This is sometimes referred to as “motherhood penalty”. 

The CLEO Institute is a women-led organization that believes in equal pay and closing the gender gap, as well as fostering women’s empowerment and supporting women’s rights as a climate solution, based on the well- researched Project Drawdown. The climate crisis is not gender neutral. 

Environmental and climate justice organizations, like The CLEO Institute, cannot promote diversity, equity, inclusion, or justice if they are not providing parental leave to their staff, to care for their children. By modeling what is fair and just, we can do right by our employees and help set an example for others to do the same

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About The CLEO Institute

Founded in 2010, The CLEO Institute (CLEO) exists for the sole purpose of building climate literacy and spurring climate action. As the only women-led nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Florida that is exclusively dedicated to climate change education, advocacy, and engagement, CLEO is viewed as the go-to regional source for credible, vetted climate science. The CLEO Institute is a 501(c)(3) working with communities across Florida to build climate literacy and mobilize climate action for a just, resilient future. Learn more at cleoinstitute.org.