Talk:Sara Horowitz

Proposed edits

I work for Sara Horowitz's organization, Freelancers Union, and we want to update her bio to be more reflective of her recent work. The changes will rely primarily on information culled from feature articles in the New York Times, Slate, Wall Street Journal, and the Village Voice.

Below are the proposed changes. Please let me know if you have any issues or concerns. And my apologies if I am misstepping in any way. Though I'm a long-time lurker on Wikipedia, this is my first posting and I want to make sure I do it correctly. Thanks!

Djlavoie77 (talk) 17:13, 6 March 2015 (UTC)djlavoie77

Sara Horowitz (born January 13, 1963) is the Founder and Executive Director of Freelancers Union, the 254,000-plus member organization that represents independent members of the U.S. workforce.

Early Life:

Horowitz grew up in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. She is the daughter of a labor lawyer and granddaughter of a former vice-president of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. She graduated from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations with a B.A. degree in 1984 and was awarded its Labor Prize. She earned a law degree cum laude from SUNY Buffalo Law School in 1989, and a MPA from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1995.

Professional Work

In the early 1990s, Horowitz was misclassified by her employer as an independent worker instead of a full-time employee, preventing her from receiving employer-provided health insurance and benefits. Recognizing that a growing number of Americans worked independently without a system of employer-backed support systems, Horowitz founded the nonprofit Working Today in 1995 to represent the needs of freelancers and bring them together to create power in markets and in politics.

In 2003, Working Today became Freelancers Union to provide benefits, resources, and advocacy for the nation’s growing independent workforce.

Freelancers Union

Freelancers Union is a non-profit organization that serves individuals who do not work in traditional 9 to 5 jobs or under the umbrella of a large corporation. Currently, it has over 254,000 members nationwide and has grown its membership by 410% since 2007. Typical services provided by Freelancers Union include access to benefits such as health insurance and retirement plans, networking opportunities, professional development, and advocacy.

Freelancers Insurance Company

Recognizing that independent workers lacked access to affordable health insurance, Horowitz launched Freelancers Insurance Company in 2008. Freelancers Insurance Company (FIC) was the first-of-its-kind social purpose health insurance company to meet the needs of the independent workforce. It provided high-quality, affordable health insurance to over 25,000 freelancers and was selected as a B-Corporation for having met high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability. It had a 95% re-enrollment rate.

Freelancers Medical

Freelancers Union opened two no co-pay primary care centers for their members in Brooklyn and Manhattan. The centers offer free yoga and meditation, in addition to traditional medical care.

New Mutualism

New Mutualism is a collaborative model conceived by Sara Horowitz. The model entails combining the networks and efforts of freelancers to create an environment of growth that is self-sustained and beneficial for all involved parties.

Awards and Recognitions

A MacArthur Foundation “Genius” fellow and deputy board chair of the New York Federal Reserve, Horowitz has long been a leading voice for the emerging economy. Her work as a social entrepreneur has been profiled in the nation’s leading news outlets including the New York Times, BusinessWeek, Forbes, Slate, and Fast Company.