RG10 Subgroup 14: Ellen Galinsky collection on Families and Work Institute

Families and Work Institute (FWI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that studies the changing workforce, family, and community. Based in New York, New York, it was co-founded in 1989 by Ellen Galinsky and Dana Friedman. A Board of Directors was formed in the early 1990s. FWI is a preeminent think-tank and is known for being ahead of the curve, identifying emerging issues, and then conducting rigorous research that informs employers, employees, parents, teachers, states, communities, and policy makers. Work focuses on three major areas: the workforce/ workplace, youth, and early childhood. FWI research provides actionable information and practical applications.

Studies overseen by Galinsky include The Early Childhood Public Engagement Campaign (PEC), Ask the Children (ATC), Mind in the Making (MITM), and the long-running, ongoing National Study of the Changing Workforce (NSCW). Outreach projects to engage for-profit corporations include the Corporate Leadership Circle (CLC), When Work Works (WWW) campaign and award, and the Work-Life Legacy Awards (WLLA). The institute’s efforts have been funded by grants from the A. I. Mailman Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Ceridian Cares Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, The Commonwealth Fund, Ford Foundation, and Heinz Endowments. A former vice president at Bank Street, James A. Levine, and his research and education effort, The Fatherhood Project (Fatherhood), were brought under the auspices of FWI in the early 1990s. Other employees of FWI with experience at Bank Street include Communications Manager Barbara Norcia-Broms. In 2020, FWI published reports on the lives of employees with disabilities, an effective workplace index, and flexibility during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020-2021, FWI released five new reports based on the 2016 NSCW.

Many thanks to Ellen Galinsky and Christine Zarett for their contributions to the biography and history notes.

Ellen Galinsky, President and Co-Founder of Families and Work Institute (FWI), helped establish the field of work and family life during the time she was at Bank Street College of Education, where she was on the faculty for 25 years (1964-1989). Galinsky is a graduate of Vassar College (1964) and received her master’s degree from Bank Street College (1970). She holds honorary doctorate degrees from Marshall University and Bank Street College. She is a leading authority on work, family, and child development issues. She’s conducted research on child-care, parent-professional relationships, parental development, work-family issues, and youth voice. This theme of actionable research recurs throughout her work.

Research by Galinsky and her team is articulated in her numerous reports and publications. Her more than 100 books and reports include the best-selling Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs, Ask The Children, and the now classic The Six Stages of Parenthood. She has published over 300 articles in journals, books and magazines. She was a presenter at the 2014 White House Summit on Working Families, the 2000 White House conference on Teenagers, and the 1997 White House Conference on Child Care. She was a planner/participant of the March 2010 White House Forum. She served as the elected President of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the largest professional group of early childhood educators, and she directed the Work-Life Leadership Council for The Conference Board. Galinsky has worked with numerous corporations on work-family issues, including Johnson & Johnson, AT&T, and Levi Strauss, & Co. She is a frequent speaker abroad in such countries as the United Kingdom, Australia, France, New Zealand, Germany and Sweden (see International Global Project sub-series). She has also participated in international seminars and planned international conferences. Since 2016, Ellen Galinsky has served as the chief science officer and executive director of Mind in the Making at the Bezos Family Foundation.