Tending: Parenthood and the Future of Work
Looks like a book.
More like the seed of a movement in disguise.
What is Tending?
Today, most parents in America are facing crippling challenges. We were struggling before COVID, but now we’re drowning. It doesn’t have to be this way. Now is the time to take a stand for parenthood. Supporting parents is good for everyone, especially in our workplaces.
“Tending: Parenthood and the Future of Work” is the story of Amy Henderson’s raw and vulnerable quest to understand modern parenthood. Her journey brings her into intimate conversations with hundreds of parents, scientists, employee activists, business leaders, and other innovators.
Through these heartfelt conversations, Amy learns three main things:
1. It's harder to be a working parent in the U.S. than in any other developed country in the world.
2. There is an epidemic of shame among working parents.
3. And yet, parenthood, possibly more than anything else, neurologically primes us to develop skills that are critical for success in the modern workplace.
Armed with these insights, Amy launched TendLab, which began as a consulting business to help companies unlock the power and potential of parents at work, and has transformed into something much bigger. The new TendLab is a gathering place for incubation and instigation, bringing together the changemakers across business, research, technology, and politics to forge a better path forward for working families.
'Tending,' goes deep into the stories behind this pain to help us understand how our work cultures are broken, and how we can heal them. A testament to the power of parenthood, community, and collective action, 'Tending' is a call to action for all of us.
Read the book to get inspired to play your part in building a better future.
“Tending: Parenthood and the Future of Work,” will be published by Nationbuilder Books on Mother's Day 2021.
Reflections on Tending: Parenthood and the Future of Work
"Amy Henderson's Tending represents a vision and project beyond herself. She expresses both courage and passion which is exactly what these kind of endeavors call for. Along with practical applications - my favorite being the Eleven Practices - Amy's perspective, not only on the family, but on the global implications that can serve our community is groundbreaking and represents a core part of our nature as human beings.
Most of the people I admire and respect in the world and throughout history, who've pioneered anything, have wanted to 'change the world.' Amy's in that club now! Her purpose and ambition for this kind of awakening and the benefits to be realized are profound. This book needs to be both read and utilized."
“Tending is a brave, raw, powerful book. It tells a tale that must be told and retold until our society -- our workplaces, our government, and our culture -- finally comes to value care just as much as career. Amy Henderson is a great narrator; she makes us feel like we are in the room, on the floor, or climbing the walls right there with her. But she also conveys a mass of useful and important information along the way. Highly recommended!”
"What Amy has written so eloquently is how we take those superpowers that we gain as parents and reframe it in such a way that corporate America, employers, that the other power structures that govern how we are supported, understand it and value it."
About the Author
Amy Henderson is one of our nation’s leading voices on the critical role of parenting and caregiving in developing the future of work. Amy is a mother to three kids and the founding CEO of TendLab, where she is catalyzing a movement to recognize and realize the value of parents in the workplace. Armed with the revelation that parenting develops career-critical skills, Amy wrote “Tending: Parenthood and the Future of Work” to further the Tending movement. Amy also started and co-leads the FamTech Founders Collaborative, a network of over 130 founders who are solving for the needs of caregivers.