Tag: equity

creativity

The one thing you can do to create change this International Women’s Day

Christa Avampato
Image by the World Bank. https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/croatia/brief/equal-opportunities-for-all-supporting-croatia-s-gender-equality-agenda

While there is a lot of fanfare on International Women’s Day and much to celebrate if we look at the (very) long arc of history, gender inequities all over the world are vast and sadly, growing. In recent years, women’s gains have been reversed with actions like the repeal of Roe v. Wade in the U.S. and the outsized negative impacts of the pandemic on women such as loss of healthcare, education, and employment opportunities, increased hunger, and skyrocketing gender-based violence. 

Equal pay for equal work is still a distant dream: On average, U.S. women earn 16% less than men who do the same job, making 84 cents for every dollar earned by a man. Women of color in rural areas are paid 44% less than rural white, non-Hispanic men doing the same job, making just 56 cents for every dollar. And let’s not forget women are expected, and sometimes required and forced, to do the lion’s share or totality of work to care for children and a home at great sacrifice to their own personal wellbeing and aspirations.

To truly realize equity and equality of women, we must uplift them in real, tangible, actionable ways. So today, on this International Women’s Day, do this: listen to, encourage, and offer assistance by every means you have to help a woman in your life fulfill a dream they have, whether it’s a personal or professional endeavor. And then tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow do the same. A world of more and better opportunity for women is a better world for all people and all beings. 

Commit to not only celebrating International Women’s Day but making every day a day we move women closer to equity and equality in every way in business, government, and society. Women have more than earned seats at every table everywhere. Build a longer table. Add more chairs. Listen. Respond. Activate. Repeat. Again and again and again. For as long as it takes. Women are worthy.

creativity

A Year of Yes: Equity and equality are everyone’s responsibility

Christa Avampato

It’s a terrible thing to have someone work with you under the guise of collaboration, smile, and then swoop in and take credit for your team’s work. That recently happened to me, and I was in the unfortunate position of being the only one to sound the alarm about it. Very often it’s a lonely path to be the truth, to call out poor behavior and misinformation. And, it has to be done. If we don’t stand against injustice, if we remain silent, we become complicit. For all of you who stand strong, raise your voice, and take action in the name of equity and equality, I see you, I hear you, and I’m with you. And I’ll continue to be with you until we all have equal opportunities.

creativity

In the pause: Bravo to Time’s People of Year – #TheSilenceBreakers Who Launched the Rallying Cry #MeToo

Christa Avampato

Thank you to everyone who shared their story so that others with stories could be free to tell them. Because of you, people are being held accountable for their actions. Our fight to be heard and believed isn’t over. We have many more miles and years to travel together to find true equality and equity for all, and no one can deny that we’re on our way.

time person of the year

creativity

In the pause: As a white person, I have not done enough for my non-white neighbors

Christa Avampato

On this day of commemoration and service, I have a confession: as a white person, I have not done enough for my non-white neighbors. Yes I have volunteered, befriended, listened, learned, and dedicated large portions of my career to help people who look different from me. As I was reading and reflecting on Dr. King’s legacy in light of the recent comments by Congressman John Lewis, I realized I must do more.

I read the full Letter from a Birmingham Jail for the first time in many years and this quote had a powerful impact on me:

“First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action;” who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a “more convenient season”. Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.” ~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It is a letter that is sadly aligned with the situation in which we now find ourselves on the doorstep of the inauguration and the Women’s March. We can not afford to be moderates. Our only hope for justice for all people is to stay informed, speak up, rise up, and join together. We cannot be silent. We cannot sit on the sidelines. Now is the time for action, for the positive peace that Dr. King referenced so beautifully in his letter 54 years ago. And it cannot just be the oppressed who rise; it must be all of us from all walks of life, all races, creeds, and genders that stand together not waiting for a more convenient season but making today and every day our season to do what’s right. The days of lukewarm acceptance are no longer an option.