What happens when your infant child has medical needs you need to tend to, but there is no paid family medical leave in place? You get pushed out of the workforce, an that is exactly what happened to Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director and Co-founder of MomsRising. It was this event, which Kristin appropriately calls an unforeseen "health crisis" that pushed Kristin out of the workforce. She found herself unemployed, taking care of an infant and going down a rabbit hole where she went looking for answers (and stats!) about what moms were facing in the United States... surely she wasn't the only one going through this... That stressful and life-changing event that led to her co-creating and leading MomsRising, a movement of more than a million people working to increase family economic security, stop discrimination, and build a nation where everyone can thrive.  In this episode, Diana has a candid conversation with Kristin about how heer personal experiences led her to join other moms to be advocates for change. Today, Kristin and the entire MomsRising team work hard to ensure that moms' voices and experiences are taken into account when policymakers (at the state and federal level -- yes even the White House!) listen to moms when they're crafting policies. In this powerful conversation they also discuss: Why moms' voices and stories matter What's at stake in the 2024 elections Why we should be vigilant and fight disinformation Why "parental rights" movements like M4L are not winning MomsRising's efforts to mobilize moms all over the country  .... AND MORE!  You can follow (and join) MomsRising -- (they've got members in all 50 states!) by going to MomsRising.org/join   If you liked this episode make sure to check out:  Ep. 19 The Power of Black Moms with Monifa Bandele (MomsRising.org)  Ep. 35: Reimagining Schools without Police with Beatriz Beckford  Ep. 42: Representation, Storytelling and Motherhood with S. Nadia Hussain Ep. 46: Why the Time to #SolveChildCare is NOW with Nina Perez   Make sure to share this episode with your powerful mom friends and subscribe, leave a review and follow @parentingandpolitics on Instagram!  Until next time, don't forget hope is our superpower.