Equal Pay Day Takeaways for Next Gen Girls – Straight from Fair Pay Icon Lilly Ledbetter
Her voice is filled with power.
When she speaks the whole room sits up a little straighter.
And, as Lilly Ledbetter gazes levelly into the camera and in her unmistakable accent tells her story, hundreds of women and girls imagine themselves in her shoes.
Because her story is as current as if it had happened today…and her fearlessness will take us all into tomorrow.
Last week on Equal Pay Day I was honored to join fair pay icon Lilly Ledbetter and a panel of leaders working towards pay parity to discuss where we are, how far we’ve come, and what steps we’ll need to take for the next generation of workers.
Thrilled to have Être girls joining online, I knew they’d want their questions answered and a few takeaways to keep on hand. To watch the entire conversation, click the video above. To join today’s girls and hear what Lilly and these changemakers want you to know, keep reading.
Remind us about Lilly’s story.
Hailing from Alabama, Lilly Ledbetter's journey is an AP class (a masterclass, really) in grit and perseverance. A dual breadwinner with her husband, Lilly broke barriers at the Goodyear tire factory by becoming one of very few female managers. Despite facing gender discrimination and sexual harassment daily, Lilly was a loyal Goodyear employee for 19 years.
What happened after 19 years?
Lilly received an anonymous note at work with three names of male colleagues on it, and their pay. She realized at once that she was being paid a staggering 40% less than her male counterparts and, gathering her courage, she took Goodyear to court. As last week's event website explained:
“In a landmark case against Goodyear, Lilly initially emerged victorious, only to face a devastating setback on appeal. Undeterred, she embarked on an eight-year legal battle that culminated in a historic showdown at the Supreme Court. Although the Court ruled against her due to strict filing deadlines, Lilly's perseverance captured national attention, with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's impassioned dissent serving as a rallying cry for continued advocacy.”
All of this resulted in passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act 15 years ago, extending the statute of limitations for filing pay discrimination claims and ensuring that future claimants like Lilly will be able to recover lost wages that were fairly earned.
Who else was there?
Think:
Dr. C. Nicole Mason Keynote speaker and President & CEO, Future Forward Women, New York Women's Foundation. Dr. C. Nicole Mason runs Future Forward Women, a legislative exchange and policy network building our future political, economic, and social power and influence. Important note: don’t miss her TED Talk on The Gift of Being Difficult and the Power of Disruption.
Amy Cross Founder, Gender Fair. Amy Cross is the innovative leader behind the Gender Fair Index, which does independent data analysis of companies’ gender metrics. Gender Fair promotes pay transparency and their app is a valuable resource right at your fingertips. Fun fact: they rate colleges too!
Holly Corbett Contributor, Forbes. Holly Corbett is a Forbes contributor who covers gender equity, as well as a multi-platform storyteller and leader for social impact. Want to dive into her stellar writing? Trust us, you do. Follow her here.
Kate Kelley EVP, LILLY Social Action Campaign. Kate Kelley is both Associate Producer of the upcoming feature film LILLY and EVP of Partnerships for the accompanying LILLY Social Action Campaign. Gratitude notes: Kate facilitated Lilly’s participation in The Epic Mentor Guide and remains a mentor herself for girls everywhere.
Uma Iyer Chief External Affairs Officer, National Women’s Law Center. Uma Iyer is the Chief External Affairs Officer at the National Women’s Law Center, where she leads resourcing initiatives, research, campaigns, and communication. Extra credit: The National Women’s Law Center was the original championing organization behind Lilly Ledbetter’s historic case.
Kristin Molinari Cohen Chief Marketing Officer, sparks & honey. In addition to advising C-suite execs, Kristin Molinari Cohen heads marketing for sparks & honey, producing reports that give voice to next gen insights. Like what? Check out Future of Giving, The Equity Effect and Gen Z Complexities.
What are five things we should know from this panel before we even get to the workplace?
1. Negotiate hard for your very first salary.
“We haven’t achieved equal pay yet. These cents and these dollars, every day, every week and every month and every month…you’re short-changed for the rest of your life. To young women today…if they do not get their rightful pay in the beginning, it’s gone forever, simply because raises are generally a percentage of your pay. So, you need to get it upfront.” – Lilly Ledbetter
2. Because the pay gap is not a myth – it’s real.
“Women lose more $1 million to the pay gap over their careers materially. What this means is that it will take women much longer to reach critical milestones like home ownership. It’s less money to save for college for their children, pay down a debt or start a business…I want to be very clear that the gender pay gap is real.” – Dr. C. Nicole Mason
3. It’s okay to talk about pay with your friends and colleagues.
“Think about the face that you’re probably talking a little bit more to your girlfriends about how much you get paid…right? So even though those types of dinner table / water cooler conversations are incredibly important…the imperative is also on employers to make sure they’re encouraging those conversations…. Normalizing these conversations, talking about money, talking about pay is really important.” – Uma Iyer
4. There are great resources tracking what companies pay.
“I started Gender Fair because I realized that we didn’t have the ERA, and I realized that we didn’t have the ERA because women didn’t have money to get elected. So, I realized that I wanted to do something that would help women extract money from companies and make companies fairer. That’s why I started Gender Fair…we definitely need to get more money into the hands of women.” - Amy Cross
5. Remember that you are worth the whole dollar.
“These girls already know they are worth the whole dollar, so I’m passionate [about gender equity] because I want to make sure they get it when they get to the workforce.”
The last takeaway was from me, and I think about it every time Être brings girls into a boardroom and I hear them ask about pay. You are worth the whole dollar. Not 84 cents, 69 cents, 59 cents or 57 cents of it as the National Women’s Law Center tells us.
You are worth all of it.
To every rising woman and girl eyeing the workforce for the first time, Lilly Ledbetter and each of these leaders are talking to you on this panel.
They remember what it feels like to negotiate a salary or raise for the first time. They know how it feels to see money in their bank accounts and know that they worked hard to put it there. And they will fight hard to ensure that your hard work doesn’t result in less pay than the guys working next to you.
With deep thanks to Forbes, Gender Fair: A Public Benefit Corporation, sparks & honey, National Women's Law Center, the Lilly Social Action Campaign and, of course, Lilly herself, I am hopeful that Lilly’s story will serve as a clarion call for every company ready to welcome today’s girls into tomorrow’s workforce.
Looking forward,
Illana
ÊXTRAS: Three more links about (and from) Lilly you'll want to bookmark: this Forbes piece on the 15th anniversary of the Fair Pay Act by Holly Corbett, Lilly's speech at the 2016 Forbes Women's Summit, and her stadium-shaking DNC Convention speech in 2012.
