Ellen Cassedy
Ellen Cassedy is known for co-founding 9to5, an organization coordinating improved working conditions for office workers.
Biography
Cassedy was working as an office worker at Harvard University when she met Karen Nussbaum. After going to a weekend workshop for office workers, the two realized that many office workers faced challenges in the workplace. They formed the 9to5 organization in the Boston area with a group of eight other women, all located in Boston.Cassedy wrote series of newspaper articles with Nussbaum that shared ideas from their book, 9 to 5: The Working Woman's Guide to Office Survival. They advocated for better working conditions for working secretaries. Cassedy was the editor of the 9 to 5 newsletter. She spoke against changes to affirmative action programs in 1975, and during the Reagan administration she worked on affirmative action programs.
Cassedy also wrote the one-woman play Beautiful Hills of Brooklyn that was inspired by diaries written by her great-aunt. The play was made into a film with Joanna Merlin playing the lead character, and won awards at multiple film festivals.