Erin Callan Montella was the CFO of Lehman Brothers in the months before it collapsed in 2008.  After leaving Wall Street, marrying and having a daughter, she wrote a memoir, Full Circle, about the balance between work and family.  She and her husband have created a foundation to help practice that philosophy and help new mothers achieve that balance in their own lives.

Under The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, new mothers are allowed a minimum of 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave to care for and bond with their children, but many employers compensate their employees for only a small fraction of that time.  As a result, many low- and moderate-income mothers are forced to return to work early.