Future Ready Greensboro
Becoming Family Forward NC’s First Certified Community
Greensboro employers want to attract and retain the best employees, and they want those employees to be happy and healthy.
Greensboro leaders want a city that is prosperous, resilient, and ready for the future, with:
• a vibrant workforce that includes young professionals, working parents, and caregivers who feel supported, and
• businesses that want to stay in Greensboro or relocate to the area.
Research shows family-friendly workplaces improve workplace productivity, recruitment and retention; grow a strong economy; and support children’s healthy development.
Yet only seven percent of current Greensboro employers offer paid parental or family leave, and employers in a majority of industries surveyed by Action Greensboro say they offer no child care support to their employees.
Action Greensboro and Family Forward NC are partnering to increase the number of greater Greensboro employers who provide family-friendly workplace benefits and become Family Forward NC Certified Employers.
Our goal is for Greensboro to be declared the first Family Forward NC Certified Community by February of 2025.
GREENSBORO CAN BE THE FIRST FAMILY FORWARD NC CERTIFIED COMMUNITY
To fill the gap, Action Greensboro and the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation’s Family Forward NC are partnering to increase the number of greater Greensboro employers who provide family-friendly workplace benefits and become Family Forward NC Certified Employers. Family Forward NC is an innovative initiative of the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation to improve children’s health and well-being and keep North Carolina’s businesses competitive. The Family Forward NC Employer Certification designates employers that offer best-practice policies in one or more of five main areas:
- Paid leave and wages
- Child care
- Accommodations for pregnant and breastfeeding workers
- Health and wellness benefits
- Scheduling practices
Our goal is for Greensboro to be declared the first Family Forward NC Certified Community by February of 2025.
As the first Family Forward NC Certified Community, Greensboro will have the opportunity to show current and future Greensboro businesses, residents, and families that we are a place where they can thrive.
WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
It’s business smart.
- Greensboro’s growing economy means we’ll have a projected 23,000 new jobs by 2029. We need a steady pipeline of talent to support this growth and ensure success for current and future residents.
- Guilford County needs more than 30,000 people to obtain a degree or credential by 2030 to reach our state’s attainment goals.
It’s family friendly.
- Millennials and Gen Z’s, who make up nearly 50 percent of Greensboro’s workforce, are more likely to leave a job to gain work-life balance. As these generations become parents, family friendly workplaces are becoming an important part of creating a vibrant Greensboro.
- Guilford County, like most of North Carolina, is a child care desert for infant and toddler care. There are, on average, three infants and toddlers for every child care space available. Increasing child care support has been shown to bring parents back to the workforce – especially women.
So Greensboro can be future ready.
- Our children are our future workforce. In Guilford County in 2022, less than half of all third-graders were reading on grade level. Grade-level reading by fourth grade indicates future success and well-being. Decades of research show what children need to build strong brains and meet this goal:
- supported families and communities
- health and development on track from birth
- high-quality birth-through-age eight learning environments with regular attendance
HOW DO I GET INVOLVED?
Employers:
Become a Family Forward NC Certified Employer! Certification will:
- help you stand out and attract and retain talent.
- show you care about Greensboro’s children, families, and future.
- help us reach our goal of naming Greensboro the first Family Forward NC Certified Community.
The first step is to fill out our online eligibility check. To be certified, employers must:
- Have a minimum of five employees located in NC working at least 30 hours per week
- Allow 100% of the employees working at least 30 hours per week to be eligible for benefits
- Have written policies available to all employees
If your workplace is eligible, you’ll be directed to complete the full application. Start your application today! You can also email Family Forward NC with any questions at familyforwardnc@buildthefoundation.org.
Community Members:
You can help by:
- sharing this handout with your employer (or other local employers!), or sharing the link to the Family Forward NC Employer Certification eligibility check and application.
- supporting local businesses that are certified! Check out the full directory of Family Forward NC Certified Employers here!
Join these companies making the pledge to be Family Forward!
- Arts Council of Greater Greensboro
- Bell Partners
- Bernard Robinson & Company
- Boulton Creative, Inc.
- Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey, & Leonard LLP
- Brown Investment Properties
- Charles Aris, Inc.
- Children and Families First
- City of Greensboro
- Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro
- Delta Dental of North Carolina
- Greensboro Chamber of Commerce
- Greensboro College
- Guilford County
- Guilford County Partnership for Children
- Kindermusik International, Inc.
- Machine Specialties, Inc.
- Miriam P. Brenner Children’s Museum
- Ready for School, Ready for Life
- Richardson Properties
- shift_ed
- The Brooks Group
- Truliant Federal Credit Union
Future Ready Greensboro Steering Committee
Heather Adams, Guilford County Partnership for Children
Meridith Berger, Greensboro Chamber of Commerce
Enoch Bowles, Honda Jet
Ashton Clemmons, NC General Assembly
Carly Cooke, Guilford County
Zac Engle, Kontoor
Lisa Finaldi, NC Early Childhood Foundation
Sherita Gatling, Center for Creative Leadership / SHRM
Mary Herbenick, Guilford Non Profit Consortium
Ed Kitchen, Bryan Foundation
Megan LeFaivre, Ready for School, Ready for Life
April Larkins, Christman Company
Lecia Marsh, Cone Health
Candace Martin, Action Greensboro
Alex Maultsby, Ramseur Maultsby Employment Law
Andrea Miller, Ready for School, Ready for Life
Mindy Oakley, Armfield Foundation
Elizabeth Paul, shift_ed
Susan Schwartz, The Cemala Foundation
Jessica Short, Arch MI
Cecelia Thompson, Action Greensboro
Ashlee Wagner, Charles Aris
Jill White, Womble Bond Dickinson
Marshall Yandle, City of Greensboro
OUR SPONSORS
Thank you to the following organizations for your generous support to make Greensboro the first Family Forward NC Community!
Family Forward NC is an initiative of the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation.
