On June 25, 2021, the Washington State Women's Commission hosted its summer plenary meeting and its first in-person plenary meeting since the start of COVID-19. 

In this session, the Commission discussed the impact of COVID-19 on women, specifically its disproportionate impact on women's economic opportunity and workplace participation.

The Commission viewed presentations from Sarah Calkins Holloway, Senior Partner of McKinsey & Company; Nicolas Petrosky-Nadeau, VP for Macroeconomic Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco; and Allison Spector, Partnership Subcommittee Co-chair for the Interagency Committee of State Employed Women, on each organization's respective findings on gender disparities in the workforce in the aftermath of the pandemic. Their findings indicate that between working men and women, the U.S. saw the largest drop in participation from working mothers, reinforcing and heightening the need for better care infrastructure, labor policies, and supports for working women.

These needs will continue to guide the Women's Commission in its advocacy and partnership-building in the coming year, as the Commission reaffirms its commitment to improving the lives of women and girls in Washington State by dismantling systemic barriers that have only been made more evident by the pandemic.