{"id":66561,"date":"2021-11-21T16:36:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-21T20:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/?post_type=bu-article&p=66561"},"modified":"2023-04-21T11:38:24","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T15:38:24","slug":"new-beginnings","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/id-kayla.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/magazine\/articles\/2021\/new-beginnings\/","title":{"rendered":"New Beginnings"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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Photos by Eric Moran<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

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For 43 years, Gilda Nardone has helped Maine residents manage life changes, from navigating divorce to switching careers<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n
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November 21, 2021<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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The American divorce rate rose dramatically during the 1970s, leaving many women financially insecure, especially those who\u2019d never done paid work outside the home.<\/strong> In 1975, a pair of California activists\u201457-year-old divorc\u00e9e Tish Sommers and 55-year-old widow Laurie Shields\u2014formed the Alliance for Displaced Homemakers to advocate for the needs of such women, taking up the motto \u201cDon\u2019t Agonize, Organize.\u201d They lobbied for state and federal programs to help former homemakers successfully enter the workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Maine, two freshman female lawmakers took up the cause, sponsoring a bill to establish a Displaced Homemakers Program for their state. The bill passed in 1977 with an appropriation of $10,000. Within a year, the program had an advisory council and an ambitious young executive director, Gilda Nardone<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nardone (\u201979) applied for the job as she was finishing the final credits for her master\u2019s degree in educational administration from Wheelock College. A former childcare worker, Nardone had developed an interest in adult education during her time at Wheelock, and she felt strongly about supporting women through transitions. She had recently become divorced, and both her mother and grandmother had been young widows, forcing a transformation from homemaker to breadwinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gilda Nardone is the executive director of New Ventures Maine, an organization that helps Maine residents of all socioeconomic backgrounds find a job, launch a small business, start or return to college, or get a handle on their finances.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Nardone began her work by organizing support groups for displaced homemakers in Maine. Soon, women in the groups began identifying what else they needed for training and support. \u201cThey were the ones who said, we need to learn how to write a r\u00e9sum\u00e9, how to interview, how to decide what a good job might be for me at this point in my life,\u201d says Nardone. She listened to their requests and began building a curriculum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the next 43 years, Nardone led her organization through transitions of its own. In 1994, the Displaced Homemakers Program changed its name to the Maine Center for Women, Work, and Community. \u201cWe had broadened our audience,\u201d says Nardone, \u201cand we wanted a name that gave a sense of women moving forward.\u201d What had begun as an underfunded effort to help mid-life and older women build confidence and transfer homemaking skills to the workplace had become a statewide organization teaching women of all ages business and entrepreneurship skills and advocating for women\u2019s economic interests on the state and national levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, the organization renamed itself New Ventures Maine to reflect further expansion in its services and target population. It had begun coordinating conferences to introduce girls to careers in trade and technical fields, expanded its training and support for entrepreneurs, and added financial literacy courses<\/a>. While the organization retained its focus on empowering women, its services became available to all Maine residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, New Ventures Maine (NVME) has 19 staff members, 17 locations throughout the state, and a budget of nearly $2 million. It\u2019s supported by state and federal funds, and by private grants and donors. Through free classes and individual coaching, NVME helps Maine residents of all socioeconomic backgrounds find a job, start or return to college, launch a small business, or get a handle on their finances. The organization provides intensive services to more than 1,400 people each year and reaches thousands more through conferences and financial coaching. As the pandemic has pushed so many people\u2014particularly women\u2014into unexpected life and career adjustments, there has been a renewed emphasis on the importance of NVME\u2019s services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Confronting Change<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Nardone says there are at least two keys to successfully navigating transition: be patient with the process, and listen to as many guiding voices as you can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSometimes change happens to<\/em> people. Sometimes people want to make it happen,\u201d Nardone says. Either way, it\u2019s common for people facing change to be confused about what their next steps should be. \u201cAnd people who aren\u2019t comfortable sitting with the unknown can move too quickly,\u201d she says, \u201cmaking a decision without having thoroughly thought it through or done the research.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True transformation takes time, Nardone says, which is why many of NVME\u2019s programs are multiweek courses rather than one-session workshops. The organization\u2019s popular career-planning programs use a framework to guide students along. \u201cFirst you have to explore\u2014you explore the external environment, and you explore your own internal environment, assessing your skills and interests. Then you begin to identify some areas of focus. You do more research on those and test them out,\u201d Nardone explains. \u201cIt\u2019s a cyclical process, rather than a straight line. You\u2019re assessing, reflecting, integrating information, making decisions\u2014and then, often, starting that process again at a different level.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sometimes change happens\u00a0to<\/em>\u00a0people. Sometimes people want to make it happen. And people who aren\u2019t comfortable sitting with the unknown can move too quickly, making a decision without having thoroughly thought it through or done the research.<\/div>