New York Women in Communications president Ashley Miles talks with Doug Simon about how to deal with the complex challenges facing women in today’s job market on the latest “PR’s Top Pros Talk” video interview.

Miles, who is also the founder and CEO of Franklyn West, starts out with a scary bit of news: “80 percent of all jobs lost in January were women,” she says, “that’s five million jobs lost for women in the past year.”

This creates a challenge for New York Women in Communications, Miles says. She tells Simon that the aim of the organization is “all about helping women propel forward in both their professional and personal lives and throughout the communications industry.”

To achieve that goal, she says that NYWICI is “stepping up in this critical time to shine a spotlight” on the stats regarding women in the industry, as well as conducting “very robust research” to inform the solutions it offers to CEOs and leaders across.

Along with taking a deep dive into statistics, the organization is launching #WomenHeard, a research-driven platform and call-to-action Initiative. Miles says that the research that NYWICI is currently undertaking with the help of two major research partners will both inform a WomenHeard podcast and a student bootcamp.

“There's a crisis happening with the college students,” she says “So, we want to make sure we're getting in front of them and giving them the information, the tools, the resource, the community and access to land their next job.”

But students are far from NYWICI’s only focus. Miles also zeros in the problem facing older workers and those from diverse backgrounds. And in all these areas, she says that it’s the job of the industry’s leaders to take the first step.

She also gives some advice on what to do if you’ve been working in a market sector that has taken a big hit during the pandemic.

“Don't underestimate yourself. We all have unique strengths and qualities that apply to multiple businesses and industries… “If you really apply your unique strengths and superpowers to what a company needs to get to the next level, there's so much opportunity out there for you.”

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