There are a lot of women, including women of color, working here at all levels. The work force is very diverse. For instance, my unit is headed by a black woman with two adult children; the two lead managers are a black mother of two young children and a Filipino gay man; and the managers are a white mother of a newborn, a latina, a black father of a toddler from Sierra Leon, a black mother of an infant, a biracial mother of three, and a white father of two adult children. Maternity leave is 16 weeks paid (supplemented with leave, but also even if you have no leave), and you can take up to a year off worth approval (and people have gotten that approval). I took 5 and 7 monthes with my two pregnancies.

I have worked for the City and County of San Francisco for 6 years, and most of the departments that I worked in were great! The salaries are set (and public information), so I never worried about being under compensated compared to my coworkers. There is one department that I left and would highly recommend to be avoided - the Public Utilities Commission. The environment was extremely stressful, and women were treated unfairly by being bullied and overburdened, while the men were generally more relaxed with a normal work load.

Great medical benefits, job security, nursing rooms are becoming more and more common, most offices are close to BART.