Equal Pay Day: Here’s what I want you to do today to help

When women and men get to the end of the year, in aggregate they should be able to look back and have earned about the same amount in their paychecks.

But as we know all too well, that isn’t the case: Women have to work on average more than three additional months into the following year to reach men’s annual salaries. That’s why today, April 2, marks Equal Pay Day.

And this year, I have a challenge for you. On this Equal Pay Day, I want you to choose a woman you know and take action to show her she has value.

How you’ll do that is individual to you and to her, but there are so many ways to highlight a woman’s worth. Express to your colleague how impressed you were with her big presentation. Tell your cousin with identical twin toddlers what a wonderful mother she is. Celebrate your grandmother for her tireless dedication to her community.

And if you’re in a position of leadership, I want you to go a step further and invest in a woman. Give her a job or a raise. Assign her to that exciting new project. Mentor her and take an interest in her success.

I can tell you it not only feels wonderful to support a woman, but it can help you on your own journey as well. I’ve certainly found it easier to know my own value after helping other women to do so for themselves.

I want to hear your stories about how you responded to this challenge. And to get you started I’ll share one of my own.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about equal pay and how it applies to younger women just starting their careers. That’s because I’m about to release a book about this topic called Earn It: Know Your Value and Grow Your Career, in Your 20s and Beyond, which comes out May 7.

I co-wrote "Earn It" with my much younger colleague Daniela Pierre Bravo. In the book Daniela shares her amazing story of coming from small-town Ohio to her big-time job as a booking producer on "Morning Joe" in New York City. The path to "Earn It" began three years ago, when Daniela came to me with a pitch for a small project she wanted to launch for women who didn’t have access to big-city opportunities.

I loved hearing about Daniela’s own story, which made it clear she had grit, savvy and guts. So I said, “That sounds like a book! And now I’m investing in you to co-write this book with me.”

That’s how I invested in Daniela, and I’m looking forward to sharing my additional stories and hearing about your own. So send me your stories at [email protected].

Let’s take advantage of Equal Pay Day as our annual reminder that women make only about 80 cents to a man’s dollar. Sadly, at the rate we’re going, it will take nearly 41 years — until 2059 — to achieve parity. For Hispanic women it won’t happen until 2224, and for black women, it’s 2119.

If we want to change it, we need to stand together not only for all women in the workplace today, but for the next generation. Start by supporting a woman in your life and helping her to know her value — and don’t forget to share your stories with us.

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