At Glamour we talk to a lot of important women—astronauts, pro athletes, executives, and the occasional first lady. And while they span the professional spectrum and live all over the world, we’ve found that high-ranking women tend to have one thing in common: They’re truly excited to hold the door open for the women coming up behind them. In our Future Forward series—part of our College Women of the Year coverage—we asked some of those industry leaders to welcome the next generation to the table with their hard-earned life and career advice. Dawn Huckelbridge, the founding director of Paid Leave for All, shares hers below.
If you think everyone deserves government-funded paid leave—to bury a loved one, welcome a child, or heal from an injury—then you and Dawn Huckelbridge have a lot in common. A founding director of Paid Leave for All, she’s fighting every day to make sure that the more than 75% of Americans without access to paid leave through an employer can one day be guaranteed it.
“I don’t think people get how truly bad it is,” Huckelbridge tells Glamour. The US, she points out, is the only wealthy nation in the world that grants its citizen zero days of paid leave.
It was a natural move for Huckelbridge to take up the cause in 2019: By then she had already held leadership roles at Supermajority—a female-led political action committee—and Planned Parenthood, so she was no stranger to fighting for people’s rights. At the time the cofounders saw an opportunity: “If the organizations that had been working on [paid leave] joined forces, they could become bigger than the sum of their parts,” she says.
As the organization’s founding director, Huckelbridge is at the steering wheel of their strategy to win an inclusive paid family and medical leave policy—with bipartisan support—by the end of 2023.
The pace of their race to get there has been nothing short of breakneck: Just months after the launch of Paid Leave for All, the coronavirus pandemic devastated the nation, and millions of Americans found themselves in dire need of the exact type of support a paid leave policy would offer. “Our work really went into fast-forward,” she says. And it hasn’t slowed down since.
“I think legislating has become a lot harder in a Congress where there’s very little compromise, and there are so many problems to solve,” she says. “But I think you have to keep at it, and you have to do your best to succeed within a system in order to reach a position to change it.”
That’s one suggestion Huckelbridge will offer when she mentors Noella Williams, a 2022 Glamour College Woman of the Year who’s also advocating for change. She’s sharing more career advice—and how to keep fighting for what you believe in when the road feels impossible—below.
Glamour: What was your first childhood dream job?
Dawn Huckelbridge: It varied between a ballerina and a writer.
What was your first actual job?
The first paycheck I ever got was when I was eight years old, and I got paid $10 to be in the Cleveland Ballet’s Nutcracker. But babysitter and swim teacher came not long after that.
Does your current job align with your college major?
I think it does. I studied communications and political science at Northwestern University, and then later I studied gender and social policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. I continue to enjoy writing and social justice. I like the idea of using words to make political and policy change. And gender equity was just something always at the heart of my political beliefs.
What was the moment you realized, “Okay, I might actually be successful….”
I think success is a subjective, evolving thing. And to me, it’s about, of course, the impact of your work and also your relationships. And it’s how you help other people shine and work together. But anecdotally, I guess when I accepted one of my earlier jobs, I took a little bit of a demotion. And I was warned that there wouldn’t be room for promotion. But the work was something I cared really deeply about. And I took it and I just put my head down, and I worked really hard. It turned out in the few years that I was there, I got promoted three times—from an assistant to a deputy director. And I think what that taught me early is that that is a way to create a path for yourself is just to work hard to become trusted and impactful.
How do you deal with rejection in your field?
I think, ultimately, and in advocacy, you face setbacks, and we’ve certainly faced a slew of them, and extreme highs and extreme lows. I think what you do is take the hit, then you take a beat, and you get back up. I think it has to do with conviction, and remembering why you do the work. You have to take the time to take care of yourself emotionally and physically. But you should always go back to the mission and think about why you do the work that you do.
Is there a piece of career advice you wish you’d learned in college?
I would say sometimes rejections are a blessing. Sometimes jobs or outcomes that don’t make sense at the time will make sense years later. So, even when you feel like you’re off your path, you never know where something will lead you—or what you can learn.
What’s the most valuable career lesson you’ve learned through experience?
I like to say this to young women: Make real friends in the workplace and start young. Don’t just make contacts, colleagues, or social media friends. I found that I was really lucky to make real friends in my 20s, while I was in graduate school and while I was working on the Hillary Clinton campaign. And while the work brought us together, it was the real trust and friendship that sustained us. Now a lot of those women have run for Congress, served in administrations, led major newspapers. I think if you find people who you trust and respect early, and genuinely support each other, you may just find you’re helping each other find jobs.
What’s the best life advice you’ve been given, not related to your career?
When I was growing up, my older brothers were role models and mentors to me. And they were always pushing me to train harder, to argue smarter, to run faster. I would go running with one of them and he never let me give up when I got tired. He would sit down and he would rest with me. But then he always encouraged me to go farther. I think that taught me that if you don’t win right away, you don’t stop trying. You take care of yourself, of course, but you also sprint harder on the hills. And I think that’s a lesson that I carry with me to this day.
What does the future of advocacy look like?
It’s hard to say. The stakes are so high for democracy itself. And legislating has become a lot harder in a Congress where there’s very little compromise. It can be frustrating, but I think you have to do your best to succeed in the system in order to see any change.
What makes a résumé or cover letter stand out?
Passion. Also, I would say good grammar. I really like an Oxford comma.
Name the people whose Stories you’ll never skip over on Instagram.
I use Instagram in more personal than professional ways. So I always watch my friends’ Stories. It’s how I keep up with travel and babies. My niece recently joined, and I watch her Stories for her soccer updates. She’s a superstar.
Fill in the blank: People would be happier doing their work if _____.
They knew they had the peace of mind of paid leave.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
