WCC Announces Rethinking Affordability Symposium
New York, NY – March 31, 2026 – Women Creating Change (WCC), in partnership with Women.NYC and Barnard College, will host Rethinking Affordability: Economic Justice, Work, and the Future of Opportunity on May 7, 2026, at The Ethel S. LeFrak '41 and Samuel J. LeFrak Theatre, Barnard College, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027. The convening will bring together policymakers, labor leaders, entrepreneurs, funders, and advocates to examine the economic forces shaping opportunity for New Yorkers.
Full-time work in New York City no longer guarantees stability. Rising costs for housing, transportation, caregiving, healthcare, and debt are outpacing wages, benefits, and workplace protections. For women and gender expansive New Yorkers, especially women of color, immigrants, and caregivers, these pressures accumulate over time and reflect deep structural inequalities.
This symposium reframes the conversation from affordability to economic mobility.
New York City’s economy depends on care workers, human services providers, frontline laborers, educators, and small business owners. These sectors are dominated by women and immigrants, yet many of the people sustaining the city are being priced out. Workforce instability is not a personal hardship. It is a civic and economic risk.
“We cannot call this a thriving city if the people who power it cannot afford to live here,” said Sharon Sewell-Fairman, President and CEO of Women Creating Change. “Economic mobility is foundational infrastructure. When wages, caregiving systems, housing, and workforce protections are misaligned, the burden falls disproportionately on women. This is about building systems that value work and the people who do it.”
As part of WCC’s 2026 focus on key issues, Rethinking Affordability symposium builds on findings from the State of NYC Women Conference and examines occupational segregation, pay inequity, unpaid care work, and long-term economic insecurity.
Economic Security Is Unsustainable
The symposium will explore how workforce instability affects housing, healthcare, and caregiving. It will also examine how AI and automation are reshaping jobs and highlight reskilling, workforce transitions, and entrepreneurship as ways to support economic mobility.
Participants will gain:
- A framework for understanding the cost of working and living in New York City
- Insight into how wages, benefits, caregiving, and housing systems intersect
- Policy and systems level strategies to stabilize and retain the city’s workforce
- A forward looking lens on AI, automation, and inclusive economic transitions
- Strategies to expand access to entrepreneurship, capital, and business support
- Cross sector partnerships designed to strengthen economic mobility
Grounded in WCC’s research on economic security and pay equity, this symposium emphasizes that women’s economic stability is essential to sustaining New York City’s workforce and civic life.
Why This Moment Matters
New York City is at a turning point. Economic pressures are changing who can afford to remain in the city. Rethinking Affordability symposium in NYC brings together policymakers, workforce leaders, entrepreneurs, funders, researchers, nonprofit executives, and advocates to address these challenges.
Without structural investment, inequality will deepen and displacement will accelerate. The symposium is supported by Women.NYC and Barnard, whose partnership with WCC advances equitable economic opportunity and workforce stability for women and gender expansive New Yorkers.
About
Women Creating Change (WCC), formerly known as the Women’s City Club of New York, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting the rights of women and gender-expansive individuals, ensuring they have the power to shape the future of New York City.
Founded in 1915 by suffragettes committed to promoting responsive government and improving conditions for the women of New York City, WCC works to advance gender equity by equipping women of color, women experiencing financial hardship, and gender-expansive individuals with the knowledge, tools, and resources to advocate for the issues that matter most to them. WCC collaborates with partners, policymakers, and advocacy groups to drive real change in economic justice, education, health care and reproductive justice, and safety. Through our research, advocacy, and leadership development programs, we empower women to shape policy, strengthen communities, and transform systems.
We're committed to building a more equitable New York City together with women and gender-expansive people from underrepresented communities. Visit wccny.org.
Media Contact
For interview requests or media inquiries, please contact Lynsey Billet at lynsey@anatgerstein.com or 347-361-8449.