CHICAGO (WLS) — YWCA Metropolitan Chicago was founded in 1876 and is the oldest, women-focused social service organization in the city.

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Their mission is to help eliminate racism and empower women.

Since January 2022, the woman leading that mission has been Chicago native Nicole Robinson.

She grew up on the South Side and attended Chicago Public Schools before earning degrees from DePaul University.

The YWCA Metropolitan Chicago has grown a lot since it was founded nearly 150 years ago.

Robinson says that mission of eliminating racism and empowering women is 50 years old.

“It was born out of this idea that if we want to drive economic equity for women, if we want educational equity, health equity, then we have to center what barriers that women face and then what barriers women of color face specifically, in sort of moving forward and growing and developing,” she said.

Of the organization’s mission, she and how they achieve those goals: “Through driving economic opportunity. And that’s getting women in roles that advance their career. STEM roles that focus on science, technology, engineering, and math.”

She added that there is a pay gap between women and men.

One obstacle to closing it is women accepting higher level jobs and bigger salaries.

“We need to continue to have more programs that support women,” Robinson said. “On the girls front, we’re also growing. We have a program called ‘Tech Girls’ that supports girls that’s on that same path to get them interested in math and science and technical careers.”

For more information:

https://ywcachicago.org/