On April twenty-second, some American children stayed out of school but they were not punished. They were with their parents. As Faith Lapidus tells us, it was Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. The Ms. Foundation for Women started the program seventeen years ago, in 1993. At first it was just called Take Our Daughters to Work. Gloria Steinem and other foundation leaders pointed to studies showing that self-image suffers as girls become teenagers. They can lose trust in their abilities and intelligence, especially in areas like science, math and technology. So the Ms. Foundation planned a day for parents in New York City to show girls all the possibilities for them in the professional world. But there was so much interest, the organizers decided to make it national. At first, girls mostly followed their mom or dad around at work to learn about their jobs. Later, employers and schools began to offer organized activities. But from the beginning there were protests  from parents and others about the exception of boys. So in 2003 the day was renamed Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work. 2007 was the last year that the Ms. Foundation for Women headed the program. Now, the event is run by a twelve-person group called the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Foundation. The event is connected with Mattel, the company that makes Barbie dolls. Carolyn McKecuen is president of the foundation. She says a total of about thirty-three million children and adults are involved in the program. About one-third of the adults work at large companies or nonprofit organizations. Another third are in small businesses. The rest work in education. Carolyn McKecuen says the numbers from this year's event are not final yet. But early reports suggest that participation was up at least ten percent from last year. And she says the foundation is hoping to find support to expand the program internationally. She says there are lots of requests from other countries for information about how to set up similar programs. How many years did the Ms. Foundation for Women head the program?
17 18 14 10