Laura Baena
Ashoka Fellow since 2022   |   Spain

Laura Baena

Club de las Malas Madres y Asociación Yo No Renuncio
Laura envisions a society where no women need to give up on their career or their family when motherhood arrives. Laura is reshaping the social definition of maternity in society, changing the…
Read more

Other Organizations and Projects

This description of Laura Baena's work was prepared when Laura Baena was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship in 2022.

Introduction

Laura envisions a society where no women need to give up on their career or their family when motherhood arrives. Laura is reshaping the social definition of maternity in society, changing the labor-maternal system by working with all the actors of civil society and public institutions.

The New Idea

Caregiving is a responsibility that requires essential emotional skills such as empathy, patience, dedication, creativity, and active listening. However, one of the main characteristics of reproductive work is invisibility, as neither mothers nor society gives this role the credit it deserves. TheRead more

The Problem

The lack of work-family balance is a social issue that has been challenging modern Western societies for many decades, especially as a factor that increases gender inequality in the labor system, forcing women to choose between family and career. In Spain, 60% of women give up their careers whenRead more

The Strategy

Through Yo no Reuncio, Laura is changing the labor-maternal system by activating mothers, companies, public administration, and educational institutions as changemakers, so that no woman has to choose between family and a professional career. To turn her vision into reality she has developed aRead more

The Person

Laura nearly died at birth because of a lack of oxygen and firmly believes that this episode marked her character and made her a fighter. She was raised in Málaga, a city in the south of Spain, in a family where she was educated in values of solidarity and love and is always looking after weakerRead more