August 26, 2025
Commissioners highlight urgent statewide recommendations to help women and Michigan’s economy thrive
LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined the Michigan Women's Commission on Women’s Equality Day for a virtual event debuting the 2025 MWC Pathways to High Wage Careers report. Commissioners also joined the event to highlight the most urgent and impactful statewide recommendations to support economic security for Michigan women.
“Every Michigan woman deserves a fair shot to land a good job so she can pay the bills, put food on the table and provide for herself and her family,” said Gov. Whitmer. “That’s why we’ve made historic investments to make community college and skills training tuition-free, help thousands of small businesses succeed and so much more. The recommendations in this report from the Michigan Women’s Commission will help us build on the progress we’ve already made, create even more good jobs and put more money back in people’s pockets. Let’s keep working together to help everyone ‘make it’ in Michigan.”
The Michigan Women's Commission is housed within the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity and plays a big role in the state’s strategy to expand economic opportunity and prosperity for all Michiganders.
"It’s critical that we uplift these recommendations that will support women’s economic security and make critical investments in our workforce and our state’s economy,” said Susan Corbin, director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. “Opening more pathways for women to succeed in high-wage careers is good for women, and good for Michigan’s economy.”
In FY24, the Michigan Women's Commission launched a statewide effort to understand and address the systemic barriers preventing women from entering and thriving in high wage careers. Through seven roundtables, interviews, supporting research and public-private partnerships, MWC convened women from across Michigan to surface the real-world challenges and possibilities that lie ahead. These conversations included women entrepreneurs, tradeswomen, caregivers, nonprofit leaders, employers, corporate executives and ecosystem stakeholders. While their perspectives were diverse, the message was consistent: there is no shortage of talent, but there is a shortage of support.
This report synthesizes the key learnings from those engagements into actionable categories — apprenticeships, small business ownership and corporate initiatives — with a final section highlighting the most urgent and impactful statewide recommendations.
Key Report Highlights
These six core recommendations build on existing success, offer a high return with low barrier to implementation and drive measurable economic benefit for Michigan:
"The Women’s Commission sought out a variety of perspectives to gain a comprehensive understanding of the pressing challenges that women face across the state,” said Cheryl Bergman, executive director of the Michigan Women’s Commission. “In alignment with our mission, the recommendations outlined in the report offer opportunities to create policies and legislation that will help both women and Michigan’s economy thrive."
Participants in the virtual event included: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; MWC Executive Director Cheryl Bergman; Commissioner Dr. Tracy Joshua, Financial Freedom Committee Chair, Vice President of External Supply Chain, Kellanova; Commission Vice Chair Lisa Cawley, Managing Director, Accenture; Commissioner Andrea Hunter, Chapter President, Detroit Downriver APRI; Commissioner Charity Dean, President & CEO, Michigan Black Business Alliance; and Commissioner Muna Jondy, Immigration Attorney, Law Office of Muna Jondy moderated the conversation.
View the Pathways to High Wage Careers report.
Learn more about the Michigan Women’s Commission at michigan.gov/mwc.
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