The Columbus Women's Commission is seeking 100 central Ohio employers to take the pledge to improve gender- and race-based inequity in the workplace.
The campaign is called "The Columbus Commitment: 100 Adopters. 100 Days. 100% Committed."
First Lady Shannon Ginther chairs the commission.
She points to data that shows white women in Columbus earn on average 83 cents on the dollar for every dollar a man earns.
"So what that means is that we just passed March 15 of this year; it took a woman until March 15 of this year, a white woman, to earn what a man earned last year," Ginther said.
Ginther notes the disparities are even greater for Latina and Black women.
The pledge is a voluntary, employer-led commitment, and does not require companies or organizations to submit pay or employment data to the city of Columbus.
"We're encouraging, of course, companies to share their best practices and things that they see that are working and maybe even 'Aha' moments that they've had, in terms of their journey to pay equity and gender-based equity in the workplace, but we do not collect any of that data," Ginther said.
Nearly 300 employers have signed the pledge so far, committing to learning and implementing practices that address the gender pay gap and other workplace equity issues.
The campaign to recruit 100 new adopters continues through July 3.
For more information about The Columbus Commitment and the work of the Columbus Women's Commission, click here.
