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Volume 6, No. 8
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September 2019
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Work Smart:
A new important resource for women in salaried positions
by Jacqueline Kirley
The American Association of University Women (AAUW) is committed to eradicating the gender pay gap. One way AAUW hammers away at that gap is by offering two-hour workshops, called Work Smart, that help women negotiate for a new job, a raise, or a promotion. The workshops can be conducted in person or online. Facilitated discussions and role-playing teach attendees to gain confidence in negotiating.
A Wor
k
Smart
attendee will learn:
- How to identify and articulate their personal values
- How to develop an arsenal of persuasive responses and other negotiation strategies in order to get a raise or promotion
- How to conduct an objective market research to benchmark a target salary and benefits
- Information about the wage gap, including its long-term consequences
To watch a video on salary negotiation techniques made by AAUW and LUNA® Bar, a corporate sponsor, see:
The Gender Pay Gap Consequences:
Salary differentials affect women from the moment they enter the workforce, often throughout their whole careers and into retirement. In fact, the pay differential grows over time. Why? Because raises and salaries for new positions are tied to the previous salary. Start low, remain lower. Similarly, benefits packages are tied to salaries. Finally, at the end of a woman's working life, Social Security benefits and employer-provided retirement or pension funds are also tied to their salary.
Also, less income over a lifetime also means missed abilities to save and invest. Putting all these factors together, it has been estimated that the gender pay gap can exceed $1,000,000 over a woman's lifetime. These estimates vary based on demographics (women of color have larger pay gaps than white women) and education (the gap is larger at higher levels of education).
Work Smart workshops are funded through major foundations and community and corporate sponsorships, such as LUNA®
Bar. A.J. Conroy, Public Policy Branch Chair of the Chicago AAUW, has organized several workshops in the Chicago area funded by LUNA®
Bar.
One was for Women in Planning and Development. Kathleen Day, President of Women in Planning and Development, gave this evaluation:
"Women in Planning and Development, a Chicago-based, 25-year old professional organization, partnered with AAUW to offer a Work Smart Workshop that, and over a year later, the members are still raving about. We opted to have an industry leader trained in the Work Smart curriculum to tailor the workshop to the fields of urban planning and development. The workshop sold out, the energy in the room was electric, and over a year later, I've been hearing from participants that they learned actionable skills from that workshop that helped them to successfully negotiate a higher salary."
Day continued, "The Work Smart workshop gives women information and exercises they can sink their teeth into and, most importantly, it puts women in a room together to share stories and to practice stepping outside of our comfort zone. When women talk to each other and support each other, they feel more empowered in their work and they make more money."
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Meet Ken Morris, New Treasurer of
Working Women's History Project!
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Photo: Nicky Morris
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Ken
Morris
was recently elected as Treasurer of Working Women's History Project by unanimous vote and succeeds Marsha Katz who has served diligently as Treasurer for the past several years.
Ken brings a wealth of experience to his new role as Treasurer for WWHP, with his background in accounting (in the Comptroller's Office at Northeastern Illinois Accretive Health, for several years). However, Treasurer is only the latest role Ken has had in Working Women's History Project. Ken became involved in WWHP when his wife Joan McGann Morris joined WWHP in 1998, at the time she wrote "Union Train" about the UPS Strike and the Clerical Workers Strike organized by Vickie Starr. Ever since, Ken has played an integral role in WWHP's Theatre Group, acting in plays, orchestrating and performing songs, and often working behind the scenes, recording and helping with the technical components for many events and interviews for Working Women's History Project.
Ken Morris is a multitalented person and musician and has been entertaining audiences in the Chicago area for over 30 years. He plays several instruments, including keyboards, bass, electric and acoustic guitars, and mandolin. One review, in "Letter X," a Chicago poetry magazine, noted he has "a unique, intricate fingerpicking guitar style and soulful voice." Ken believes, "Music and artistic inspiration and the ability to create melodies and songs from something we feel in our hearts is a tremendous gift from God."
Notably, among the interviews Ken assisted with, was an extensive interview of the late Rev. Addie Wyatt, which was conducted by his wife Joan and later used as part of the biography of Rev. Wyatt by
Marcia Walker-McWilliams, in her acclaimed book, Reverend Addie Wyatt: Faith and the Fight for Labor, Gender, and Racial Equality. Ken said that meeting Rev. Wyatt was very inspiring. "She really made us feel like we could make a difference, by truly caring and working to make things better." We know Ken will continue to make a difference for people in his latest role as Treasurer for WWHP.
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Marca Bristo (1953 -2019):
Advocate for People Living with Disabilities
By Amy Laiken
 When Marca Bristo was 23 years old, she likely never predicted that her life was about to permanently change as she dove into Lake Michigan to salvage a pair of shoes that had been accidentally knocked into the water. She struck her head, and the impact left her paralyzed from the chest down.
Bristo's Own Disability Didn't Stop Her
As a result, Ms. Bristo, who became a wheelchair user, refused to let her injury define her and became a decades-long advocate for people with disabilities, pushing for policies at the local, national, and international levels that would improve their lives. She recognized early on that many barriers prevented wheelchair users and others with mobility impairments from accessing public transportation and other types of public accommodations. In her efforts to improve such access, Ms. Bristo used several tactics, including, with other disabled people, blocking CTA buses in 1984 to protest lack of accessibility, and filing a lawsuit that eventually led the transit authority to install lifts on its buses. Some, but not all, CTA el stations have elevators, and more stations will be renovated to include them.
Prior to becoming a full-time advocate for the disabled, Ms. Bristo, who was trained as a nurse and midwife, worked as a family planning nurse specialist at Northwestern's Prentice Women's Hospital.
In 1980, Ms. Bristo was one of the founders of Access Living, the non-profit in Chicago that helps people with disabilities live independently. In August, she stepped down from her role as CEO at that organization. In an obituary in the Chicago Tribune, Andrés Gallegos, Access Living board chair, said, "Marca touched the lives of countless people throughout the country, many of whom don't realize the impact she's had."
Ms. Bristo was also instrumental in writing and passing the Americans With Disabilities Act (A.D.A.),
which prohibits discrimination against disabled people. It was signed into law in 1990. In an obituary in The Washington Post, Marca Bristo was quoted from a 2015 video interview for Rush University Medical Center, in reference to the A.D.A., "The law for the first time enshrined in federal law that disability is a normal part of the human condition, and the world needed to change." She continued, "And that's a huge paradigm shift, for the world to acknowledge that people with disabilities exist and that the world has to make changes for us to be part of it. It's a radical notion."
Marca Bristo was the recipient of many honors over the years, such as the Henry B. Betts Laureate in 1993; and the 1993 United Way of Chicago Executive of the Year Award.
Marca Bristo's Legacy
Ms. Bristo died of cancer on September on September 8th in Chicago, and is survived by her husband, her sister, two children, and a granddaughter. Marca Bristo's contributions to the disability community are numerous, and their effects are her enduring legacy.
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Please join us for this event.
Tickets are now on sale.
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Working Women's History Project
Please contact us through Amy Laiken
312-402-4188
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