I, Too, Am Qualified

While job hunting, my husband, Michael Lindenberger, and I noticed that we weren’t getting any responses from employers even though our resumes matched their required skills and qualifications.  Fearing our age may be a factor, I suggested taking graduation dates off our resumes. It was disheartening to think that age discrimination in the workplace is alive and well, but we knew it was a plausible explanation for the lack of interest from employers.

We started an awareness campaign called I, Too, Am Qualified, to bring to light that age discrimination is impacting workers 40 and older (and some even in their late 30's). We created a compelling visual campaign through photos of people who have faced ageism. For those who don’t want their photos taken, we anonymously share their stories. As more and more people are responding to the campaign, we are continuously exploring ways to expand our reach while learning as much as we can along the way.

We want the victims of age discrimination to know that they are not alone and what they have experienced is unfortunately shared by many. We are striving to bring awareness to a form of discrimination that is normalized in society. We ARE qualified and the time has come to put corporate America on notice.

Please visit our website and follow us on Twitter to learn more, and please call your senators to sponsor and re-introduce the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act.

_ Nancy Fingerhood is the founder of I, Too, Am Qualified, a website that houses a collection of age discrimination stories.