ST. LOUIS — The group Rung for Women is now focusing on helping women launch careers in fields where they are underrepresented, such as technology and geospatial industries.
"We know that in 2022 there were 70,000 available tech jobs," said Leslie Gill, the president of Rung For Women. Those jobs had an average salary of $85,000, she said.
The shift is part of the nonprofit's refocus on helping women pivot to high-demand careers within industries growing in the region. For example, geospatial falls under the tech sector, but because it is being heavily invested in within the St. Louis area with the launch of a National Geospatial Intelligence Agency facility, the group wants to commit to that particular field.
Gill is looking at preparing women for job titles like geospatial analyst, technologist, and scrum master -- roles that women have historically been unfamiliar with, she said.
Women have had a particularly hard time during the pandemic with caregiving roles and making ends meet.
"We know that during COVID, women sort of bore the brunt of parenting and caregiving and had a lot of time to think about 'what's next for me?'" Gill said.
She said when women can live their life with purpose, it becomes a different life. When women aren't living paycheck to paycheck, they have the agency to pivot and have the savings to recover more easily. That's why Rung For Women is making the refocus efforts at no cost to women members.
"The only tuition is the commitment of time," Gill said.
Applications are now open for their next cohort, which will start in Spring 2023. The opportunity is open to anyone who is at least 25 years old and makes $50,000 a year or less.
Gill said she's asking women to not only invest in themselves but to consider changing the outcome of their careers and building wealth to change the trajectory of their families.
"When you are living a life fulfilled with purpose, your life is completely different," Gill said.